It has been yet another busy week for the three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, winning the iRacing 24 Hours of Spa with his squad members on the same weekend as the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Team Redline dominated the event, with the #20 BMW M-backed entry driven by Verstappen, Pinto, Lulham and Lebigre winning the day-long virtual endurance race ahead of a second Redline entry (this time using the Ford Mustang) of Sam Kuitert, Josh Thompson, Gustavo Ariel and Ole Steinbraten.
It was Thompson who put the #21 car on pole position for the final 24-hour race of the iRacing special event season, 0.057s ahead of Pinto in the BMW.
The 49-car GT3 field represented the top split, with multiple other splits held for non-professional sim racers across four possible timeslots this weekend.
As the green flag flew for the race start, Thompson led the pack, but this only lasted one lap as the #20 BMW driven at this stage by Pinto charged ahead down the Kemmel straight.
Verstappen joined the race piloting the leading M4 GT3 in the early hours of Sunday morning ahead of the Hungarian event.
During the darkness, the 61-time grand prix winner drove a consistent stint, deftly shadowed by the related Redline Mustang for three hours.
The two cars were able to extend their gap over the third-placed BMW M Team BS+Competition entry driven by Rainer Talvar at the time.
The event witnessed the tempest weather system in use, marking the first time rain hit one of iRacing’s 24-hour special events. It arrived with just over 10 hours of the race to run and had dried up with just under five hours remaining.
Apart from when differing strategies overlapped, it was Redline domination throughout the race. Pinto crossed the line to win ahead of Thompson, with Ryan Barneveld sharing third with Talvar and Phil Denes.
The result means Verstappen and his Redline team have won all three of the platform’s longest special events this season following victories in the Daytona 24 and Nürburgring 24h earlier in the year.
iRacing 24 Hours of Spa 2024 top split race result
- #20 BMW M Team Redline 20 – Diogo C. Pinto, Chris Lulham, Florian A Lebigre, Max Verstappen – 594 laps
- #21 Team Redline – Sam Kuitert, Josh Thompson, Gustavo Ariel, Ole Steinbraten +13.910
- #89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION – Ryan Barneveld, Phil Denes, Rainer Talvar +23.851
- #150 Williams Esports PitFit – Parker White, Sami-Matti Trogen, Atte Kauppinen +1 lap
- #1 Williams Esports Racing Prodigy – Sota Muto, Beckham Jacir, Alessandro Bico +1 lap
