2 Seas Motorsport claims Gold Cup honours at the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa

2 Seas Motorsport returned to the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa for a second consecutive season, running efforts across two classes, with its biggest effort to-date. Continuing the support of the #33 Verstappen.com Racing entry in the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup, the trio of Harry King, Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen claimed overall Gold Cup honours, and a solid P9 overall, against a world-class field of GT3 competition. The #222 Mercedes-AMG GT3 pitched British GT pairing of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss alongside Parker Thompson and Lewis Williamson. The Bronze Cup entry successfully completed the 24 hours of competition to finish P7 in class, making significant gains to finish P26 overall.

As the second activity of the SRO’s ‘Spa Speedweek’, attentions turned to the headline event of the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup. With a packed grid of more than 70 cars, 2 Seas Motorsport delivered a faultless display across the full weekend to not only bring both cars home, but secure a class win and a top-10 overall result. Early sessions looked positive with strong pace for both cars.

A heavily interrupted qualifying would lead to a shuffled order, with rain affecting the first qualifying session. Being on the right tyre for the exact conditions proved critical for the #222, with several red flags due to incidents, intermittent rain and a drying track. A gamble on tyres in changeable conditions would put the #222 on the back foot after the opening run, before the three following sessions ran relatively uninterrupted to put the Mercedes-AMG GT3 P11 in the Bronze Cup order. Running with only three drivers, the #33 entry was unaffected by the opening session, and the efforts combined strongly to see the Verstappen.com Racing trio claim a coveted spot in the top-20 Superpole. Harry King then took on the shootout, securing a season best P2 in class, P13 overall.

With the backdrop of the Ardennes Forest and packed grandstands, the race got underway in warm sunny conditions. The temperatures would remain a factor throughout the entire event, with track conditions reaching as high as 50 degrees Celsius. From the drop of the flag at 4.30pm, the team and drivers across both sides of the garage then consistently worked their way forwards in their respective classes over the opening hours.

The #33 immediately showed strong pace, fighting for class honours before moving into the lead in the opening hours. Thierry, Chris and Harry continued to challenge across the duration of the full event, also battling within the top-10 throughout. Outright pace would see them move to the front of the field within the opening three hours, then holding the lead at the key championship moments of six- and 12-hours to maximise points across the weekend.

The #222 ran well in the opening 12 hours, but efforts were slightly delayed by unscheduled tours of the pitlane due to track limit and caution period infringements. Despite these setbacks, the crew continued to chip away, working to climb the overall order and moving into the top-50 at the 2-hour mark. Over the next eight hours, with a well executed strategy around several caution periods, the palm tree-liveried Mercedes-AMG GT3 made steady progress up the timings screens, moving into the top-40 by hour 10.

The second half of the race saw both cars continue to perform as they had in the opening stints, as the #33 remained in the hunt for class honours. Focus was also on fighting for an overall result as well, with a very real opportunity of a strong result becoming more and more real with each hour completed, running as high as P2 overall. Another faultless stop by the team delivered a decisive moment at hour 21, as Harry reemerged from the pitlane and immediately engaged in a battle for the class lead as he ran to the end of the Kemmel Straight. A well-judged move would see the #33 make the move heading down from the highest point on the circuit, and the class lead was regained heading into the final hours. Fighting hard to maintain the lead from here, a late issue for the closest class rival would ultimately remove the pressure in the closing stages, as the #33 headed to the line to secure a first 24-hour victory for the team and the line-up. Finishing P9 overall, the result signed off a hugely impressive and successful weekend.

Kiern, Charles, Parker and Lewis would continue to make moves as the race moved into the second half, with the #222 crew delivering a strong strategy to help climb up the order all the way into the final hour. Efforts would see them move into the top-30 for the first time as the sun came up on Sunday morning. From here, it was a close battle in class over the remaining hours, as well as having to contend with extreme temperatures. Negotiating further caution periods, and making up positions in the overall standings, the team showed no signs of tiring to run with metronomic precision. This push continued all the way to the chequered flag, with Lewis eventually bringing the car home, coming out on top of the long-standing battle to secure a heard-earned P7 in the Bronze Cup. The efforts in the overall standings put the team at the highest point they had run across the full 24 hours, completing the efforts to move up the order. At the line, the #222 had successfully gain 26 positions, signing off the busy Spa Speedweek efforts in P26 overall.

The result for the #33 Verstappen.com Racing entry continues the extremely strong opening start to the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup championship efforts. With the class win, as well as leading at 6-hours, 12-hours, Thierry, Chris and Harry extend their championship lead heading to round 4 at the Nürburgring, Germany, in August.

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