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Total 24 Hours of Spa
26th to 31st July 2016
It wasn't long before it was clear that the 69th running of the Total 24 Hours of Spa was going to be an unpredictable, yet extremely hard-fought endurance race. During the first safety car intervention, following a two-car crash on the Kemmel Straight, several teams spread their tactics over different cars which prompted a flurry of lead changes. No fewer than seven different brands led the race at one point or another.
At the first points scoring opportunity after six hours, the no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 lead from the no.6 and no.1 Audis, but the competition was not far behind.
During the night hours, the two Continental GT3s of the Bentley Team M-Sport came to the front, occupying first and third spots halfway through the race and giving them important points for the championship. In second was the no.6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8 LMS ahead of the no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 in fourth, which was still on the lead lap.
For the second year running, it was a BMW that won the highlight of the Blancpain GT Series, the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 of Maxime Martin, Alexander Sims and Philipp Eng ran a faultless race, even resisting a sudden downpour 30 minutes from the end to take their most prestigious win of the year. The adverse weather conditions did influence the other podium positions, though: the no.8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental which ran second for much of the second half of the race, dropped to fourth in the end. A late Full Course Yellow (FCY) pitstop gave the no.88 AMG-Team AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG the necessary boost to claim the runner-up spot, finishing five seconds ahead of the no.28 Audi Sport Team WRT R8.
It also secured victory for Mercedes-AMG in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
In Pro-Am Cup, the opening hours were just as exciting as the fight for the overall lead. There were plenty of lead changes, but at the six-hour mark, the full points went in the direction of the no.44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin. The second and third Pro-Am cars, the no.100 Attempto Racing Lamborghini and the no.89 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3, finished less than fifteen seconds behind. During the night hours, the drivers of the no.74 ISR Audi set some impressive stints, ultimately taking the lead in the category and even entering the top 10 overall at the halfway mark. They lost their advantage on Sunday morning, however, as the no.76 IMSA Performance Porsche's more efficient pit strategy made for an impressive climb up the order that would turn into a one lap victory margin. It was the first win for French quartet Patrick Pilet, Maxime Jousse, Raymond Narac and Thierry Cornac since they started their Blancpain GT Series campaign at the beginning of the 2016 season.
In the Am Cup, the no.49 Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari looked set to dominate the race. At the six-hour mark, the white and green 458 GT3 had a clear lead before mechanical gremlins struck. After having led the class for 200 laps, the car had to be retired. That cleared the stage for an epic fight between the no.888 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no.52 AF Corse Ferrari, a duel that was decided when Rino Mastronardi in the latter was hit by another car some three hours from the end. Liam Talbot, Marco Zanuttini, Vadim Gitlin and Nicola Cadei were able to evade such drama in the Kessel car, and were rewarded with the category's most prestigious victory of the year.
The experienced driver quartet of the no.911 RMS Porsche 991 GT3 Cup - Fabrice Notari, Jean-Marc Bachelier, Yannick Mallegol and Howard Blank - had little trouble in dominating their class. They quickly managed to get a couple of laps advantage over competitors, and even though they suffered a puncture, their lead never came under pressure.
Audi won the Coupe du Roi for a thrd consecutive time.
At the first points scoring opportunity after six hours, the no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 lead from the no.6 and no.1 Audis, but the competition was not far behind.
During the night hours, the two Continental GT3s of the Bentley Team M-Sport came to the front, occupying first and third spots halfway through the race and giving them important points for the championship. In second was the no.6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8 LMS ahead of the no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 in fourth, which was still on the lead lap.
For the second year running, it was a BMW that won the highlight of the Blancpain GT Series, the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The no.99 Rowe Racing BMW M6 of Maxime Martin, Alexander Sims and Philipp Eng ran a faultless race, even resisting a sudden downpour 30 minutes from the end to take their most prestigious win of the year. The adverse weather conditions did influence the other podium positions, though: the no.8 Bentley Team M-Sport Continental which ran second for much of the second half of the race, dropped to fourth in the end. A late Full Course Yellow (FCY) pitstop gave the no.88 AMG-Team AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG the necessary boost to claim the runner-up spot, finishing five seconds ahead of the no.28 Audi Sport Team WRT R8.
It also secured victory for Mercedes-AMG in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
In Pro-Am Cup, the opening hours were just as exciting as the fight for the overall lead. There were plenty of lead changes, but at the six-hour mark, the full points went in the direction of the no.44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin. The second and third Pro-Am cars, the no.100 Attempto Racing Lamborghini and the no.89 AKKA-ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3, finished less than fifteen seconds behind. During the night hours, the drivers of the no.74 ISR Audi set some impressive stints, ultimately taking the lead in the category and even entering the top 10 overall at the halfway mark. They lost their advantage on Sunday morning, however, as the no.76 IMSA Performance Porsche's more efficient pit strategy made for an impressive climb up the order that would turn into a one lap victory margin. It was the first win for French quartet Patrick Pilet, Maxime Jousse, Raymond Narac and Thierry Cornac since they started their Blancpain GT Series campaign at the beginning of the 2016 season.
In the Am Cup, the no.49 Kaspersky Motorsport Ferrari looked set to dominate the race. At the six-hour mark, the white and green 458 GT3 had a clear lead before mechanical gremlins struck. After having led the class for 200 laps, the car had to be retired. That cleared the stage for an epic fight between the no.888 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no.52 AF Corse Ferrari, a duel that was decided when Rino Mastronardi in the latter was hit by another car some three hours from the end. Liam Talbot, Marco Zanuttini, Vadim Gitlin and Nicola Cadei were able to evade such drama in the Kessel car, and were rewarded with the category's most prestigious victory of the year.
The experienced driver quartet of the no.911 RMS Porsche 991 GT3 Cup - Fabrice Notari, Jean-Marc Bachelier, Yannick Mallegol and Howard Blank - had little trouble in dominating their class. They quickly managed to get a couple of laps advantage over competitors, and even though they suffered a puncture, their lead never came under pressure.
Audi won the Coupe du Roi for a thrd consecutive time.
| Pos. | No. | Driver / Co-driver | Car | Team |
| 1 | 99 | Sims / Eng / Martin | BMW F13 M6 GT3 | Rowe Racing |
| 2 | 88 | Vautier / Rosenqvist / Van der Zande (1st IGTC) | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | AMG - Team AKKA ASP |
| 3 | 28 | Vanthoor / Rast / Müller | Audi R8 LMS | Audi Sport Team WRT |
| 4 | 8 | Soulet / Soucek / Reip | Bentley Continental GT3 | Bentley Team M-Sport |
| 5 | 86 | Jäger / Paffett / Götz |
Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
AMG - Team HTP Motorsport |
| 6 | 84 | Baumann / Jaafar / Buhk | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | AMG - Team HTP Motorsport |
| 7 | 26 | Guilvert / Parisy / Haase | Audi R8 LMS | Sainteloc Racing |
| 8 | 4 | De Leener / Baguette / Kaffer | Audi R8 LMS | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT |
| 9 | 75 | Salaquarda / Mortara / Stockinger | Audi R8 LMS | ISR |
| 10 | 76 | Pilet / Jousse / Narac / Cornac (1st Pro Am) | Porsche 911 GT3 R | IMSA Performance |
