Australians Matt Campbell, Josh Burdon and Jordan Love have all secured seats for this weekend’s iconic TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium.
While Campbell has raced there in previous years, Love will be making his debut at the famous race, notching yet another milestone in his growing career.
It won’t be the first time the West Australian has run at the Spa though, with the 2019 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup winner having raced there last year as part of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
This year though, Love has swapped a Porsche for a Mercedes-AMG GT3 after signing with German outfit SPS Automotive Performance for the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – which heads to Spa as part of the third round of the championship.
Love and his Swiss teammates Yannick Mettler and Miklas Born haven’t had the best of starts to the season – a P18 and retirement making up their opening two round results thus far.
With German ace Lance David Arnold to join the trio for the 24 hour race, Love was hoping to mark his debut at the famous event with a good result.
“The Spa 24 Hours is the one we have been working towards, and it is going to be a real highlight of my racing career to be involved in it,” Love said.
“I am really keen to get a result at Spa, not only for me but for SPS Automotive Performance and Mercedes-AMG. It is the biggest race of the GT3 calendar, and the season hasn’t delivered the results we have been pushing for, but I know what we can do as a group, so that just makes me more determined.
“The recent test days were a great opportunity to gain some important mileage and to get to grips with the Mercedes-AMG around the track, which is unlike anywhere else.
“We made some big gains during those sessions, and it took a few laps to build up the confidence to really push, but I will be hitting the ground at full pace when we get back there.
“I have never been more focused heading into a race weekend, and I cannot wait to be back out on track. And it’s not just any track. It is Spa-Francorchamps."
Campbell on the other hand is enjoying a bit more of a solid season so far.
The Queenslander and his GPX Martini Racing teammates Earl Bamber and Mathieu Jaminet are currently first in the endurance championship and eighth in the overall Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe.
They enter the historic race having won the most recent endurance round at Paul Ricard Raceway after retiring in the opening round at Monza earlier this year.
Now part of a 12-car Porsche GT3 crusade for the event, the most of any other manufacturer there, the trio will be looking to make it three consecutive wins for Porsche at the Belgium circuit.
For Campbell, the 26-year-old believed they had a good chance too.
“There’s no doubt that we’re well-positioned with our GPX Racing team,” Campbell said.
“We underlined this with our strong performance at the last GT World Challenge Europe race in Le Castellet.
“We’re leading the championship so we’re heading to the Spa 24 Hours feeling very confident.
“The team won there in 2019, so they know how to do it. There’s definitely only one goal for us in Belgium – victory.”
Joining Campbell as part of the Porsche line-up is Burdon, who features in one of the 10 customer racing team's GT3 Rs.
Driving alongside Italian Edoardo Liberati and Alexandre Imperatori of Switzerland for Hong Kong team KCMG, the 28-year-old Tasmanian will enter his first race since finishing 13th at the ADAC Total 24 hours of Nürburgring earlier this year.
While Campbell and Burdon will be running in the outright Pro class, Love will be in one of 17 cars to be contesting the event’s Silver class.
The TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa takes place at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium, beginning at 12:30am AEST on Sunday morning and concluding at 12:30am AEST on Monday.