Aston Martin returns to the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa this weekend on the cusp of an impressive podium sweep in all four of the world’s most important twice-around-the-clock races in 2026.

Heading into the world’s biggest GT3-only race this weekend, the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa, the current version of the Vantage GT3 has already achieved second and third positions in the GTD class of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January and claimed another third place earlier this month at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Heart of Racing Team. Add to that the second place overall finish for Walkenhorst Motorsport in the Ravenol ADAC 24h Nürburgring in May and it leaves the Spa rostrum as a tantalising target to complete the set.

Based on previous form at Spa, Vantage is capable of fighting for multiple class podiums in Belgium with its three partner teams Comtoyou Racing, Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn and Walkenhorst Motorsport. This iteration of the Vantage GT3 achieved its maiden 24-hour race victory on the challenging 4.4-mile Spa-Francorchamps circuit in 2024 and caused a sensation with Comtoyou Racing taking overall win; the second for Aston Martin and the first since 1948. It also marked Aston Martin’s first overall triumph in the GT3 era of the event.

Vantage, which shares its mechanical architecture with the ultra-luxury performance brand’s most focused sportscar and is built around the British ultra-luxury performance brand’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, followed this up with two further category victories (Gold and Silver classes with Verstappen.com Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport) and a podium for Beechdean Motorsport in the Pro-Am division last year.

Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “Vantage GT3 has been strong on all fronts and has an outstanding podium record at 24-hour races this season. Moreover, along with our partner teams, Aston Martin has enjoyed three class victories in the 24 Hours of Spa in the past two years. That said, this is tremendously competitive event, which is part of its attraction, and it would be unwise to dismiss the strength and calibre of the opposition. In Comtoyou Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport we have two partner teams who have won this event before and have underlined their pedigree with outstanding performances this season. We welcome Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn to the Spa attack with a strong line-up. Between those three teams we have all the ingredients in place to challenge for success in multiple classes.”

For this weekend’s 78th running of the Spa 24 Hours, an impressive seven Vantages are entered. This constitutes 10 percent of the entry, which features 70 cars from 10 of the world’s leading sportscar manufacturers. The Spa event is the third round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup [GTWC].

Comtoyou Racing, which recorded the magnificent win in 2024, returns with the same works driver line-up of former FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) GT champions Marco Sørensen (DEN), Nicki Thiim (DEN) and 2023 GT World Challenge Sprint Cup title-winner Mattia Drudi (ITA). The trio, and their #007 Vantage GT3, won the opening round of the championship at Paul Ricard in April. Thiim and Drudi are targeting their third 24-hour race podiums of the season, having finished second and third respectively at Daytona, before sharing the Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage to Aston Martin’s best overall finish in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, in May, with second place.

Racing the sister #11 Comtoyou Racing Vantage in the Bronze class is a multi-national roster including Marcelo Tomasoni (BRA), former Olympic snowboarder AJ Muss (USA), multiple American GT champion Kyle Marcelli (CDN) and former Italian and European touring car racer Felice Jelmini (ITA).

Comtoyou’s Silver class #21 Vantage features 2025 AMR Academy winner Kobe Pauwels (BEL) alongside last year’s 24 Hours of Spa Silver Cup winner Oliver Söderström (SWE). They are joined in the car by rising young French GT talents Sébastien Baud and Arthur Dorison – both part of the 2026 AMR Academy.

Competing Comtoyou Racing’s line-up in a fourth Bronze class #700 Vantage entry will be Aston Martin DTM racer Nicolas Baert (BEL) and WEC and European Le Mans Series [ELMS] class winner Sarah Bovy (BEL). The duo are joined in all-Belgian line-up by Gregory Servais and Xavier Knauf, who were team-mates on their 24 Hours of Spa debut in 2025.

Walkenhorst Motorsport is another Aston Martin partner team racing this weekend to have won the 24 Hours of Spa overall. The #34 Pro class car will have Aston Martin works drivers Christian Krognes (NOR) – who was part of the German team’s 2018 race-winning-line-up – and Henrique Chaves (POR), the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am champion, leading the charge. They will be joined by the impressive 2024 AMR Driver Academy winner Jamie Day (GBR).

The #35 Silver Cup Vantage will be driven by 2024 GT4 France Silver champion Mateo Villagomez (ECU). He shares the car with SRO GT Academy winner Gaspard Simon (FRA), Ethan Ischer (SWI), a F4 Central European race winner and Maxime Robin (FRA), who is the only member of the line-up to have raced at the 24 Hours of Spa previously.

Making its debut in the 2026 Spa 24 Hours is Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn, which will run a Bronze class car for British GT and Asian Le Mans Series race winner Giacomo Petrobelli (ITA) and works driver Jonny Adam (GBR), who makes his 10th start in event just a fortnight after claiming a class podium with Vantage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The duo will be joined by Lorcan Hanafin (GBR) and former AMR Academy winner Romain Leroux (FRA).

Attracting 100,000 spectators annually, the 24 Hours of Spa is one of the key events on the global endurance racing calendar. Starting with a traditional parade along public roads from the Ardennes Forest circuit to the nearby town of Spa and back and building through two days of practice on an undulating track that features some of the most challenging corners on planet earth, such as Eau Rouge/Raidillon, Blanchimont and Pouhon. The race, which takes place through Saturday and Sunday, is renowned for frequently being affected by the circuit’s unique microclimate.

Aston Martin’s relationship with the Spa 24 hours is a long and successful one; beginning in 1936 with a one-two finish in the up to 1.5-litre class for a pair of Aston Martin Ulsters and building to an outright victory in 1948 for St John Horsfall and Leslie Johnson aboard a DB1.

Following many decades as a race for touring cars, Spa re-adopted GT racing regulations in 2001; paving the way for the Aston Martin name to return to the event in 2005. Vantage claimed a maiden win in the GT4 class in 2010 and its GT3 version added an overall pole position in 2013 and two further GT3 Pro-Am category successes in 2017 and ’19 before the latest iteration scored a memorable debut overall victory in 2024. The car has subsequently added two further class victories and Pro-Am class podium.