MORE MANUFACTURERS THAN EVER ON ENTRY LIST

The Spa 24 Hours hits a new high in the GT3 era this weekend with a greater number of manufacturers on the grid than ever. The arrival of Lexus with its RC F as a full-season contender in the Blancpain GT Series and a one-off entry from Honda with its new NSX brings the total to 13.

Each of those marques, taking Jaguar with the privately funded Xkr-based car built by Emil Frey Racing out of the equation, has some kind of manufacturer involvement in the doublepoints Endurance Cup round. That ranges from full-factory teams to the loan of works drivers to privateers.

Factory participation is at a high. There are pure works teams from Bentley in M-sport, Porsche with Manthey and Honda with JAS Motorsport (though in the pro-am class) as well as the next best thing. Audi, Mercedes, Lamborghini and BMW all have funded entries with manufacturer-contracted driver line-ups. There’s not a lot to distinguish Bentley’s BGTS assault with M-sport from Audi’s Spa campaign with WRT.

The 68-car entry is bristling with factory pilots. Audi, Mercedes and BMW have all drafted in DTM stars for the big race, including former champions Gary Paffett and Marco Wittmann. Reigning DTM champion Rene Rast is back, too, in search of a third victory in the 24 Hours.

Aston Martin and Ferrari have farmed out WEC stars to customers. Maxime Martin and Nicki Thiim are undertaking all five BGTS enduros with the new R-motorsport Aston squad, while Ferrari’s Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina are part of SMP Racing’s assault.