2015 Spa 24 Hours: Preview, Live Streams, Schedule & Discussion

There’s another massive weekend of motorsport coming up and once again Nissan and GT Academy are front and centre.

The sound of GT3 cars returns to the Ardennes as the 24 Hours of Spa is back upon us. One of the greatest – and most fearsome – racetracks in the world, Spa will host 200 drivers through the main event and support races, with 57 cars pounding the tarmac for 24 hours.

The race is the fourth (and penultimate) round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, so the Nissan presence is just the same as it has been throughout the season. Aiming for top Pro honours is the #23 GT-R driven by Alex Buncombe, Katsumasa Chiyo and Wolfgang Reip. The team currently sits second in the championship by just 3 points from the leading Bentley M-Sport team, though the three drivers themselves are tied for first place – by a point – in the drivers’ championship. They’re going to have a tall order though, starting from just 26th on the grid and missing out on the superpole event.

The Pro-Am car sees some changes for the weekend though. Most notably, the #22 no longer wears the all-black livery and is now sporting a retro Nissan sports car themed blue, white and red body. There’s personnel changes too, as Ricardo Sanchez and Gaetan Paletou – 2014 GT Academy winners – are joined by Bathurst 12hr winner Florian Strauss and guest driver Olivier Pla, one of the men who took to the wheel of the Nissan GT-R LM P1 NISMO at Le Mans earlier this year. They’re starting from 44th place though – almost the back of the pack – but anything can happen in a 24 hour race.

Fans of the GT Academy program might like to keep a look out for the #18 Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG, driven by Sean Johnston. Sean nearly won the first GT Academy USA, losing out to Bryan Heitkotter in the final race, and has been coming through the ranks as a Porsche Supercup driver for the last couple of years.

GTPlanet members should also make a point of tuning in for the support races too. Long term GTP member kart.no.38 – David Perel – has been trying to make his dream of becoming a racing driver come true outwith the GT Academy program and will be driving in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo races at Spa this weekend. South African David already drives for Lamborghini in the Italian GT Championship and will be competing in the Am class in his Gallardo. Another GTPlanet member, Kamuifanboy – Shinya Michimi – will be driving in the top Pro category with the Huracan, so we’ll be keeping an eye on their progress.

For those members not able to attend, the following resources are available to keep up to date with the event:

Race Coverage

• Starting Time: Saturday 25th July, 1430 UTC/GMT (local time conversions here)
• GTPlanet’s Live 24h Spa Community Discussion
• Radio Le Mans
• Blancpain Endurance Series official live timing.

Watch 24h of Spa

• Official Blancpain Endurance Series 24 hour live stream.
• GT World live Part 1 (1400 UTC); Part 2 (1930 UTC); Part 3 (0700 UTC); Part 4 (1200 UTC)
• NISMO.tv 24 hour live stream

Twitter

• 24 Hours of Spa @24HoursofSpa
• NISMO @NISMO
• Alex Buncombe @al_buncombe
• Katsumasa Chiyo @KATSUMASA_CHIYO
• Wolfgang Reip @WolfgangReip
• Olivier Pla @olivierpla
• Florian Strauss @FStraussGTA
• Gaetan Paletou @gaetanpaletou
• Ricardo Sanchez @RSanchezGP

To get you in the mood for the race, Nissan has released this video of a lap of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the #22 Nissan GT-R, on board with Olivier Pla. There’s a neat 360 degree camera effect if you watch it on the Youtube app on an iOS or Android device, or Chrome on your desktop:

Also in action this weekend is Jann Mardenborough, driving another round of the GP3 Series supporting the F1 at the Hungaroring, while Nic Hammann and Steve Doherty will be taking on the IMSA Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut.

GTPlanet wishes the NISMO Athletes and every other driver the very best fortune and a safe race this weekend!