Andrew Watson is raring to go ahead of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where the Northern Irishman will make his fifth appearance at the famed endurance race and aim to solidify his lead at the top of the Silver Cup standings in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance series.
Heading into the weekend, Andrew and the Garage 59 team currently lead both the drivers’ and teams’ championships in the Silver class of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. Following a second-place finish at the season-opening race at Imola and Silver Cup victory at the Nürburgring, Andrew and the team will be aiming to keep that momentum going this weekend.
Andrew will once again share driving duties with Valentin Hasse-Clot and James Pull. The trio will also be joined by Roman De Angelis, who Andrew claimed a third-place Silver class podium finish with at this year's Bathurst 12 Hours. Collectively, they’ll take charge of the #159 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Utilising his experience of the endurance race, Andrew will lead the team as they take on the legendary 4.352-mile Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Steeped in history, Spa-Francorchamps is renowned as one of the most unique and challenging circuits in the world - hosting a wide variety of motorsport from Formula One to motorcycles along with GT and endurance racing.
The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps has been a staple of the motor racing calendar since 1924 and is often regarded as the biggest GT3 race in the world. This year's edition will see 56 GT3 cars take to the track, with a total of 12 Silver Cup entries.
The weekend will be vitally important for Andrew's championship efforts with points to be awarded after six hours, 12 hours and at the finish as well as a point for pole position, resulting in a maximum of 50 on offer across the weekend.
"I can't wait to get the weekend going," Andrew said. "We're in a really strong position as a team and we've enjoyed some great success so far this season. This is the biggest race of the season so the aim is to keep that form going and keep ourselves at the sharp end of the Silver Cup. It's a really close battle so every point is crucial and there's a lot on offer this weekend."
The action is scheduled to get underway on Thursday with the first of two practice sessions at 11:10 local time. That’s followed by pre-qualifying at 15:15 with qualifying kicking off from 18:55. The team will then get their first taste of night running with a further practice session at 20:35.
Image courtesy of Garage 59.
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