Nicki Thiim and Kelvin & Sheldon Van der Linde all competed in the Crowdstrike 24hrs of Spa over the weekend of 1.-2. July 2023. The 75th anniversary of the event made for another spectacular showing of incredible racing and on-track action.

A very wet qualifying on Thursday before the race unfortunately resulted in the #32 BMW of Sheldon missing the shootout for Superpole and instead start in P22. A disappointment, but with the potential pace to work back towards the front during the 24hrs. Which is exactly what they did. Sheldon took the start of the race and put in a phenomenal performance to climb up the order during those first two hours of the race, and his teammates continued the work to get the car up to P3 after just 4hrs.

On Kelvin and Nicki’s side, things also looked promising. Starting P9, Kelvin quickly worked his way up to P2 in the opening two stints, also putting down a great display of maturity in navigating the traffic and biding his time, picking off the cars ahead one by one. Nicki took over and worked the car into P1 for a good length of time.

As the race continued to unfold, Sheldon and Kelvin were back in the car together and fighting for the lead in P1 and P2 around the 7hr mark. A stellar showing of performance, nerves, and respect as they battled each other hard but fair. A great moment for the two brothers. Eventually the positions settled with the BMW leading the way ahead of the Audi.

Unfortunately, deep into the night, while slowing for a safety car period, Sheldon’s teammate was hit hard from behind and was taken out from the lead of the race. A bitter and disappointing end to what had been an unbelievable performance up till that point. As the hours ticked on, Nicki and Kelvin fought hard to defend their podium position but ultimately slipped back to P3, not quite having the pace in the final hours to match the eventual winners.

Nevertheless it was a strong weekend for all three of our Pole Promotion drivers and the 3rd place trophy was well-earned.