∞∞∞ The #48 Mercedes-AMG pits from the lead with 4h50m complete. Maro Engel hands over to Luca Stolz. A perfectly tidy stop and they're on their way.
∞∞∞ Drama for the leader! The #51 Ferrari suffers a puncture at the worst possible moment – just as he crosses the start-finish line – meaning Nicklas Niesen must complete an entire lap with a deflating tyre. That is a disaster for AF Corse.
∞∞∞ Having started from the pit lane, the #80 Porsche is now P15 and only 17 seconds off the lead. That is a car worth keeping an eye on. Bastian Buus currently at the wheel.
∞∞∞ We've got a great race at the front now. The #51 Ferrari is closely followed by the #48 Mercedes-AMG, which has had to fight off the #58 McLaren. The Mercedes doesn't quite have the top-end speed to make a pass but he's right in the hunt.
∞∞∞ This has been a very long FCY. We've now gone to a safety car and completed the wave-by, so we should be about to go racing again.
∞∞∞ Full-course yellow. The #28 Audi is in the gravel at La Source. It's not obvious how it got there – it's in a strange spot.
∞∞∞ Meanwhile, it's better news for the #48 AMG as Maro Engel takes P2 from the #58 McLaren. Engel took advantage of traffic at Blanchimont to grab the position from Tom Fleming.
∞∞∞ The #17 Mercedes-AMG stops at pit-out and its day appears to be over. It's all gone wrong for that car since it was disqualified from qualifying on Thursday evening.
∞∞∞ Class leaders at 20:30 local with three and a half hours complete. Overall: #51 Ferrari (P1, Nielsen); Gold: #58 McLaren (P2, Fleming); Silver: #45 Ferrari (P15, Perel); Bronze: #93 Porsche (P11, Froggatt); Pro-Am: #8 Porsche (P33, Rosi).
∞∞∞ At the very front, Nicklas Nielsen is back at the wheel of the #51 Ferrrai and leads the #59 McLaren by 6.3 seconds. Tom Fleming is in the Garage 59 entry and is followed by Maro Engel and Dani Juncadella in the factory Mercedes. Marvin Kirchhöfer completes the top five in the #59 McLaren.
∞∞∞ The #98 BMW is coming into this. Raffaele Marciello made good progress in his stint and it's now Augusto Farfus at the controls in P6, 15 seconds off the lead. Never rule BMW out of this race.
∞∞∞ Class leaders at almost three hours. Overall: #51 Ferrari (P1, Rovera); Gold: #58 McLaren (P2, Prette); Silver: #45 Ferrari (P15, Medler); Bronze: #93 Porsche (P12, Cheever); Pro-Am: #8 Porsche (19, Sturm).
∞∞∞ Meanwhile, the #74 Ferrari will have 10 seconds added to its next pit stop. That is presumably for contact with the #11 Aston Martin about an hour ago.
∞∞∞ The #71 Ferrari has just tipped the #555 McLaren into a spin at the Bus Stop. That car has been running very well, but it's almost certainly going to recieve a penalty.
∞∞∞ We go green, get a load of action, and now it's another FCY. The #50 Ferrari ends up in the barriers at Bruxelles, losing a lot of places, but manages to continue. Then the #54 Porsche has a problem at T12 and that's enough to cause a quick neutralisation. It's a quick one and we're racing again.
∞∞∞ The FCY for the twin incidents, which began about 20 minutes ago, has become a safety car. It's still too early for the wave-by to be used so we should be up and running again pretty quickly.
∞∞∞ The FCY for the twin incidents, which began about 20 minutes ago, has become a safety car. It's still too early for the wave-by to be used so we should be up and running again pretty quickly.
∞∞∞ The #32 BMW is in the garage and the bonnet (or hood, depending on your variety of English) is off. The work is fairly quick but the car has dropped off the lead lap.
∞∞∞ Two incidents in quick succession and we now have a Full-Course Yellow. First the #74 Ferrari tips the #11 Aston Martin into the gravel. Then we find the #79 Porsche in another gravel trap – unrelated – and that requires a neutralisation. A lot of cars taking this opportunity to stop.
∞∞∞ Mex Jansen has overtaken Dustin Blattner for P2 in Bronze. The top three in that class are among the top 12 overall, with the leading #12 Mercedes-AMG running P4 overall.
∞∞∞ All pretty stable out from. The #51 has pulled a 12-second gap at the head of the field. Then it's the #58 McLaren and the #71 Ferrari, which are just 1.7 seconds apart. The #12 Mercedes-AMG is fourth overall and a comfortable Bronze leader.
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∞∞∞ Class leaders at 90 minutes. Overall: #51 Ferrari (P1, Mosca); Gold: #58 McLaren (P2, Goethe); Silver: #45 Ferrari (P13, Medler); Bronze: #74 Ferrari (P11, Blattner); Pro-Am: #700 Aston Martin (P29, Knauf).
∞∞∞ That full-course yellow has massively aided the #12 Mercedes-AMG, which pitted under the neutralised conditions and is now P4 overall. It's also helped the #34 Aston Martin to recover from its opening-lap drama – that car barely stayed on the lead lap but it's now P7!
∞∞∞ The #99 Audi sheds its wheel, which is struck by the #87 Mercedes-AMG. Fortunately no obvious damage to the #87 which is still running. We get an FCY for that incident as the #99 pulls of the track.
∞∞∞ Almost everyone is stopping and almost everyone is single stinting. You'd be brave not to given the temperatures. We've completed one hour and a bit here at Spa-Francorchamps.
∞∞∞ The Silver leader is the #6 Mercedes-AMG driven by Cesar Gazeau in P9 overall. The #177 Mercedes-AMG tops Pro-Am in P33 with Adam Christodoulou at the controls.
∞∞∞ Fleming is also leading the Gold Cup, though Schandorff is only a few seconds back in the battle for class honours. In P6 we find the Bronze leader, Ben Tuck, in the #74 Ferrari.
∞∞∞ We have had some green flag running! The top five after 50 minutes is the #51 Ferrari (Nielsen), the #58 McLaren (Fleming), the #71 Ferrari (Schandorff), the #3 Mercedes-AMG (Juncadella) and the #48 Mercedes-AMG (Engel).
∞∞∞ We're now half an hour into the race but we've not had a lot of racing. There have been two quick FCYs to clear debris. Hopefully – at 17:03 local – we're going green for a good while.
∞∞∞ The field completed most of the opening tour cleanly, until an unlucky clash between Ariel Levi’s Tresor Attempto Audi and Jamie Day’s Walkenhorst Aston Martin sparked a multi-car collision on the exit of Pouhon. The chaos accounted for the #992 Paradine Competition BMW, #35 Walkenhorst Aston and the #66 Audi, which are all retired.
∞∞∞ Nicklas Nielsen leads the mighty 69-car field away for the start of the 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, with the AF Corse Ferrari holding off pressure from Thomas Fleming’s Garage 59 McLaren and the Select Car Racing Ferrari of Frederik Schandorff.
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∞∞∞ While we obviously hope you'll use this blog as a resource, the best way to follow the race is live on GT World. This is free to view around the world excluding Australia (where the full race can be watched on Kayo Sports). The stream is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese. The race gets underway at 16:30 but we'll be live from 15:30 for an hour of build up.
∞∞∞ Welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, the 78th running of the biggest GT race in the world. Over the next 24-and-a-bit hours we'll bring you updates from Spa-Francorchamps as a 69-car field tackles this epic endurance challenge. We've got five classes, 10 manufacturers, and absolutely no idea who's going to come out on top.
