This weekend, for its second European round of 2024, the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook returns to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the sixth time. Invariably one of the most popular events on the calendar, the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS has grown from strength-to-strength in the intervening years.
Famously a TCE-only event for its inaugural edition in October 2017, the first Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS welcomed close to 20 TCR cars (the tin top discipline was riding high in its third year of operation), as well as BMW’s relatively new M4, and even three ‘Mercedes Test Teams’ getting to grips with the then-brand-new AMG GT4. Stuttgart’s newboy was ultimately bested by a duo of SEAT Leóns from Bas Koeten Racing and Red Camel-Jordans.nl, but drama for runaway leader KTM, plus tight on-track action, and a championship underdog – Synchro Motorsport – rising to the occasion, incredibly, from 9th in the overall standings meant CREVENTIC’s first Spa sojourn created more than its fair share of headlines.
The Ardennes’ typically changeable weather was absent upon CREVENTIC's return in October 2018, and there were further changes to-boot. GT cars, including the upgraded-for-2019 Porsche ‘991.2’ GT3 R, joined their TCE brethren on the grid for the first time, and the larger grid – now fielding nearly 60 cars – faced the challenge of 12 uninterrupted hours around the 7.004km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (the now-traditional ‘overnight intervention’ would return for 2019). Championship drama was also a welcome talking point as a spin at La Source on the opening lap left eventual champion PROsport Performance with plenty of work to do. That Scuderia Praha led more than two-thirds of the 237 laps to take a commanding third win of the season hardly dented fan enthusiasm.
The history books might suggest the Czech team’s second win at Spa the following season – its third of five in 2019 en-route to that year’s Overall GT Teams’ ‘Europe’ championship – was similarly straightforward, though this was far from the case. Indeed, the third edition of the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, held for the first time in its now-traditional April timeslot, remains the closest edition to-date, and one of the closest 24H SERIES events in history. Incredibly, the Ferrari beat long-time rival Herberth Motorsport to the line by less than eight seconds after taking the lead on the penultimate lap.
Since its return in 2022 from a brief sabbatical, the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS has continued its much-anticipated evolution, with larger grids, closer fields, the Malmedy City Parade, history-making performances (Phoenix Racing’s distance record from ’22 still stands, and Haas RT and the Saintéloc Junior Team were on top for the first time in ’23 in qualifying and the race, respectively), and high-profile debuts, with Porsche’s 992-gen GT3 R and Toyota’s Supra GT4 EVO the most recent additions. McLaren’s Artura GT4 joins that list in 2024.
What the future holds for the event, of course, nobody knows. That it will prove entertaining seems a foregone conclusion!
