From Le Mans to Spa: Miguel Molina set for another 24-hour challenge

With barely time to catch his breath, Miguel Molina is already back in the thick of the action. Following the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Ferrari 499P, the Catalan driver moves on to the 24 Hours of Spa, returning to the GT3 ranks. It's a new challenge and a change of category that he's fully embracing, determined to use his experience to shine on the Ardennes rollercoaster.

Three weeks ago, Miguel Molina arrived in La Sarthe to defend his 24 Hours of Le Mans victory. After setting the fastest time for his crew during the Test Day, he was the only driver to secure a place for the Ferrari 499P in Hyperpole 2 before his teammates secured seventh place on the grid. In the race, the #50 Ferrari quickly found its pace. After a fine start from Nicklas Nielsen and a strong triple stint from Antonio Fuoco, the Spaniard took over to keep the crew among the leaders at dusk. Back on track during the night, he battled in an extremely tight leading group despite two penalties before repeating the feat in the final quarter of the race.

After an intense strategic battle, the trio crossed the finish line in fourth place, less than two seconds off the podium and less than 30 seconds behind the winners. A tiny gap after 24 hours of fierce competition, but the crew's efforts went for nought after car #50 was disqualified for a technical infringement, even though it had no impact on performance or safety.

"After our victory in 2024, it was incredibly exciting to race on this track again in front of an extraordinary crowd. I participated in my first Hyperpole session in more than two years, stepping in for Nicklas and doing my best to qualify the Ferrari 499P for Hyperpole 2 before handing over to Antonio. Seventh place was a solid starting position for what was going to be a challenging race. We gave it our best and were fighting for the top positions when the outcome was decided. At the end of it, Ferrari was able to celebrate another extraordinary victory. Together with my teammates, there was a bit of regret over not finishing higher with the #50 499P, but we must be pleased with what the entire team has accomplished. Congratulations to Robert, Yifei, Phil and the #83 team for an inspiring performance!"

After a short break, Miguel Molina is already back behind the wheel for the 24 Hours of Spa. The race marks the start of a triple-header for the Spaniard, who will continue with the 4 Hours of Imola in the European Le Mans Series, followed by the 6 Hours of São Paulo in the World Endurance Championship.

While the legendary Belgian circuit is all too familiar to him, as evidenced by his recent podium finish last month in the FIA WEC, Miguel Molina is also an old hand in the 24 Hours of Spa, having competed in the race six times since 2017. He notably won the Pro-Am category in 2021 in a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo shared with Duncan Cameron, Matthew Griffin and Rino Mastronardi. It is in Pro-Am, a category for professional and gentleman drivers, that the Catalan is coming back to the event after a two-year hiatus.

For this edition, Miguel Molina is entering with AF Corse's #71 Ferrari 296 GT3, alongside Argentinians Luis and Mathias Perez Companc and Belgian Stéphane Lémeret. While free practice got off to an encouraging start with the fastest time in Pro-Am, qualifying proved tricky, despite a solid second place in Q1 despite rain and three red flags. Things proved even more difficult later on, with Miguel Molina unable to participate in Q4.

"This race wasn't originally part of my schedule as it came together quite last minute, but I'm so happy to be here at the 24 Hours of Spa. I've raced in this event a few times now, and it's always something special. This year feels a bit different as I'm sharing the car with the Pérez Companc family, including both father and son, as well as Stéphane Lémeret, who has extensive experience and is well-known here in Belgium. I'm eager to share this experience with them. With more than 75 cars on the grid, it's going to be a proper challenge from the start. In these kinds of races, the priority is survival: staying out of trouble, managing the traffic, and being smart through the opening hours. From there, if things go well, we'll try to fight for something strong in the Pro-Am category. We have a solid team, and I'm here to support them in every way I can. Unfortunately, qualifying didn't go to plan. We had a technical issue that meant we'll be starting way back in P72. There's a big hill to climb, but that also means we can only move forward, and we're fully focused on doing exactly that. Anything can happen in this race, and we will give it our all to recover and fight our way back up the order. It's going to be a great team effort, and I'm already proud to be a part of it."

Ranked 72nd out of 75 competitors, the crew is now preparing to tackle the significant challenge of climbing back up the leaderboard, armed with experience and consistency. The 24 Hours of Spa will start on Saturday at 4:30 pm. The race will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.