The sporting drama at the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa reached a boiling point on Friday evening. While the newly introduced four-part knockout Superpole shootout provided intense on-track entertainment, it was the post-session technical inspection that completely shattered the provisional starting grid. A wave of major infractions, ranging from electronic protocol failures to illegal technical setups, stripped multiple frontrunners of their times hours after the chequered flag flew.
Technical Heartbreak for the #50 AF Corse Ferrari
On track, AF Corse enjoyed a stellar session. Factory driver Alessio Rovera put on a masterclass in the #51 Ferrari 296 GT3 to claim a dominant pole position, while Arthur Leclerc initially put the sister #50 AF Corse Ferrari into a strong third place on the grid.
However, celebration turned to despair during post-Superpole technical checks. Scrutineers discovered that the #50 car’s mandatory series data logger was completely disconnected. Because the unit was unplugged, the officials had absolutely no tracking data for the car’s engine turbo performance, violating strict technical compliance regulations. The stewards issued a swift penalty, deleting every single lap time Arthur Leclerc set during the shootout.
Technical Expulsions: Illegal Setup and Major Overboosting
The #50 Ferrari was not alone in the technical bin, as several other standout Superpole performers were caught running illegal car configurations.
The #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi suffered a massive blow after an illegal technical setup was flagged during post-session garage measurements. Ariel Levi had delivered a breakout performance to initially secure sixth overall and provisional Silver Cup pole position. However, detailed checks revealed the car failed compliance for its rear wing position and minimum ride height, breaching the mandatory boundaries set by the series’ Balance of Performance (BoP). All of its shootout laps were instantly deleted.
British manufacturer Aston Martin suffered an even larger double-disaster in the technical garage. Both the #7 Comtoyou Racing Vantage and the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage were found guilty of power compliance violations during their hot laps. Specialized telemetry sensors revealed that both cars were severely overboosting past their regulated engine maps. The technical stewards measured the #7 and #34 entries exceeding the absolute legal turbo pressure limits by 15 Mbar and 16 Mbar respectively. As a result, both cars had their complete Superpole records entirely wiped from the boards, turning what should have been a stellar qualifying showcase for the new Vantage chassis into a nightmare grid demotion.
Shifting Grid Orders and Silver Cup Promotion
These heavy post-session disqualifications sent shockwaves down the order and reshuffled who gets to lead each class into Les Combes on Saturday afternoon.
The biggest beneficiary of the post-race technical garage clearing was the #6 GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros Mercedes-AMG. Originally trailing behind the illegal setup of the Tresor Attempto Audi, the GetSpeed crew officially inherited the coveted Silver Cup pole position for the 24-hour race.
The Bitter Pill for the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche
While technical exclusions dominated the Superpole headlines, the narrative surrounding the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R represents a deeply frustrating mechanical heartbreak.
The Pro Cup entry boasts an elite tier driver lineup consisting of reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining, Bastian Buus, and Ricardo Feller. During Thursday night’s primary qualifying sessions, the trio displayed immense pace, standardly securing an average lap time inside the top three to comfortably advance into Friday’s 32-car shootout.
However, behind the scenes, disaster had already struck. Engineers discovered a catastrophic mechanical issue within the Porsche’s flat-six powerplant, necessitating a complete, unscheduled engine change. Under the strict technical allocation rules of the GT World Challenge Europe, swapping an engine block outside of designated allowances carries an absolute zero-tolerance penalty: a mandatory pit lane start for the race itself.
Despite knowing their Saturday fate was sealed at the back of the pit lane, the team made the tactical decision to unleash Ricardo Feller in Friday afternoon’s Superpole anyway. The goal was pure data collection, single-lap refinement, and checking the structural integrity of the fresh unit under full qualifying load. Feller delivered two highly precise, maximum-attack flying laps, verifying that the chassis is handling optimally in the scorching 57-degree track temperatures baking the Belgian circuit.
The car proved it has top-tier pace, but it won’t matter when the green flag drops. The #80 machine will be forced to sit idle at the end of the pit lane, watching all 68 rival entries scream down toward Eau Rouge before they are finally permitted to join the circuit.
Prepare for the Furnace: Heatwave and High Stakes Await the Field
The sweeping administrative decisions ensure that Saturday’s race will feature a heavily out-of-position starting grid, forcing some of the fastest factory cars on the planet to gamble on aggressive, high-risk recovery strategies from the opening lap. Compounding the grid chaos, teams must face severe environmental variables as a punishing summer heatwave bakes the Ardennes. Track temperatures are expected to soar, turning the 7.004-kilometre circuit into an absolute furnace that will punish tyre wear and stretch cockpit cooling systems to their breaking limits. Following the morning support race programs, the main event is scheduled to get underway on Saturday afternoon, with the green flag officially flying at 16:30 local time to unleash all 69 entries into the relentless 24-hour endurance classic.