Battling through setbacks, Sky Tempesta Racing finish third at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, known for being the most unpredictable and challenging GT 24-hour race in the world, to take the lead in the Drivers’ Standings for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in Bronze class
Last Updated: 05/07/23 2:02pm
Sky Tempesta Racing finished third on the podium at CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa
Sky Tempesta Racing continued their run of podium finishes in the 2023 season at the highly anticipated CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
The team’s #93 McLaren, piloted by drivers Chris Froggatt, Eddie Cheever III, Jon Hui, and Jeffrey Schmidt, staged an epic comeback to take third place.
That result also put the team into the lead of the Bronze Cup championship.
Sky Tempesta Racing moves onto the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe in Germany later this month
The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, known as the most unpredictable and challenging GT 24-hour race in the world was demanding for the Sky Tempesta Racing team. They had to deal with changing track conditions and qualifying resulted in P46 overall and P14 out of 21 in the Bronze class.
There was a tricky start for Chris Froggatt due to a false neutral, which meant a two-place drop in the starting laps. A 30-second penalty due to track limit infringements then dropped the car back another two positions, ultimately crossing the six-hour mark in P5.
However, they quickly recovered and rotated their four-man driving crew to claim multiple positions.
At the 12-hour mark, Sky Tempesta Racing occupied second place in the Bronze class, leading to a healthy points haul and setting them up nicely for the closing half of the race.
A brake change issue during the mandatory technical stop did cost them precious time. Undeterred, the whole team still delivered consistent, quick lap times, propelling themselves back into contention for a podium finish.
The result was also good enough for them to take the lead in the Drivers’ Standings for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Bronze class by four points as they head into the final part of the season.
“The physical and mental demands to compete at this level are hard to describe, and that’s probably why many people call it the toughest GT race in the world,” Jon Hui said.
“We came here with a main goal to take over the GT World Challenge Europe championship lead, and also to consolidate my position in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Independent Cup standings as the leader, and both of these objectives were achieved so a big thanks to the whole team for all their efforts.
“We’ll be back again to hunt for the top step.”
Sky Tempesta Racing will be looking to carry their momentum into the next round of the GT World Challenge Europe championship at Nürburgring in Germany from July 29-30.