BMW brings star power to Spa 24 Hours

A seven-time MotoGP world champion, a renowned sports car specialist and a former F1 driver walk into a bar….

That's not the beginning of a joke, it's the beginning of an unusual driver line-up. Valentino Rossi (pictured above), René Rast and Kevin Magnussen are partnering in the No. 33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 for the 24 Hours of Spa, and how it happened doesn't sound far off from a setup seeking a punchline; in fact, that's how Rast took it in the beginning.

“It happened in Qatar for the first round of WEC,” explains Rast. “We were sitting together with Valentino Rossi in the evening, had a few drinks, and he was joking that I should join him at the 24 Hours of Spa. At the beginning, I thought it was more of a joke – I wasn't quite committed – but the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew in my head and I think now, with Valentino and Kevin, its quite a nice line-up.”

It's one reason that many eyes will be focused on BMW for the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The other is that Rowe Racing is coming off an improbable victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring only a week ago, and returning with mostly the same driver line-up.

Represented by five teams with 11 cars in the 75-car, all-GT3 field, BMW certainly has a chance to win back-to-back 24-hour races. And if it's not with the team and three of the four drivers that won Nürburgring, it could be with that all-star line-up that began this story.

Magnussen, Rast and Rossi might seem an unlikely pairing, but the trio feel they can build on each other's strengths.

Rast is certainly the more experienced GT racer of the bunch, as well as having the most endurance racing experience. Magnussen has a fair amount of endurance experience, with a full season of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing under his belt, but not a lot of time in GT3 cars. Both are currently in BMW's WEC Hypercar/IMSA GTP line-up. Rossi made the switch from motorcycles to cars full time a couple of years ago and has proved a quick study, leading LMGT3 at Le Mans for the last two years before accidents or mechanical issues took the car out of contention. Rossi was elected to contest the Superpole shootout for the top 20 cars to determine the polesitter for the 24 Hours.

• RELATED: Kirchhöfer takes Spa 24 Hours pole for McLaren

Different backgrounds, different levels of experience in the varying disciplines of sports car –and the wider world of – racing, but a group that can learn from each other.

“I'm very lucky with my teammates.,” said Magnussen. “Very privileged to share a car with a legend like Valentino, a sporting legend. It's on two wheels, but it's very clear how, when you see him working with himself and the team, what kind of level he came from.

“René is one of the best GT drivers in the world, not only GT but especially because that's a lot of where he came from. I have some great guys to learn from. René has been great and teaching me how to do stuff and giving me information.”

Adds Rossi: “I'm very proud to race with René and Kevin, Its fantastic and I think I can learn a lot, Its very good for me to share the car with these two drivers. And also we have a good relationship and I hope that we can enjoy!”

None of the drivers are strangers to Spa, but Magnussen has experienced the legendary circuit in two very different racecars.

“It's like it's a completely different track in the GT3,” he laughed. “But Spa is Spa – it's a great track in a Formula 1 car, it's a great track in a GT3. Any car you drive here, its going to be fantastic, At the end of the day, its about trying to go as fast as possible and getting the most out of the car your'e driving, That's the objective for me – get on the pace as quick as possible and hopefully have a lot of fun.”

If they can fight through the fatigue, the crew of the No. 98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO would like to have a little fun and win back-to-back 24-hour races. Like many of the drivers in the field, Augusto Farfus, Jess Krohn and Raffaele Marciello are contesting their third endurance race in as many weekends. Those that didn't go from Le Mans to Watkins Glen, N.Y., for the IMSA Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen instead campaigned the 24-hour race at the grueling Nürburgring before heading for Belgium and the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Rowe Racing is targeting the remarkable feat of 48 hours' worth of wins on consecutive weekends.

Nurburgring is where the Rowe trio, with the addition of Kelvin van der Linde (also at Spa in another Team WRT car) too the victory after looking like second was the best they could do. However, a penalty for contact for the first-on-track Manthey Porsche elevated them to the win.

“After this third 24 hours, you start feeling the weeks on the road,” admitted Farfus. “Physically, we will struggle, but it's more mentally. From Le Mans, its almost four weeks talking about the car being at the track, briefing with engineers. But I feel very refreshed … and, of course, winning last week gives a natural boost of oxygen, so I'm ready for this one!”

“It's a good feeling, I must say,” added Krohn. “We basically have the same team we had at Nürburgring, so I know that if we keep calm, we execute the way we did, we know we can do it. So in a way its a bit more relaxing to come here, I feel super good.”

BMW Motorsport head Andreas Roos hopes that not only are the drivers and team riding a natural high, but that the prospect of back-to-back Intercontinental GT Challenge victories provide the proper drive to succeed.

“Coming to the Spa 24-hour race after the victory at the Nürburgring just one week ago, is for sure motivating,” Roos said, “We have a lot of top cars on the grid, and it helps that people are super motivated and it proved again that our cars can win the really big races.”

• The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is scheduled for a green flag at 10:30am. ET. All 24 hours will be carried on RACER Network and the RACER+ App, with coverage beginning at 8:00am ET. Find out more about RACER+ at racerplus.com.