K-PAX Racing is ready for the biggest, toughest test of the 2023 season, as the Californian team tackles the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which takes place from Tuesday 27th June, to Sunday, July 2nd.

The team, which fields a Pro line up of Lamborghini Squadra Corse Factory Drivers in Marco Mapelli, Sandy Mitchell, and Franck Perera, has its eyes firmly on the biggest prize of them all: overall victory, but knows that nothing will come easy.

Entering a brand-new Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 this season, the car, drivers, and team were well on the pace at Monza in April, before a late problem robbed the team of a probable podium, while last time out at Circuit Paul Ricard, a late pit stop denied a top-ten finish.

Knowing that a near-perfect run is required for success in the iconic 24-hour race, everyone has been working hard to iron out any gremlins from the opening two races in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup season, as it battles a remarkable 72-car grid for this event.

The team has knowledge and experience of the race, scoring an excellent tenth and 12th overall with a two-car effort on its debut in 2020, and finishing 11th last year with Marco one of the drivers behind the wheel of the team’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.

This year, the famous week of action begins on Tuesday, 27th June, with the Bronze driver test, while the team’s first activity will be for the popular Spa town center parade, which takes place the following day. Thursday, 29th June features practice, pre-qualifying, qualifying, and night practice, with a short warm up and super pole on Friday.

The race itself is scheduled for 16:30 CEST (08:30 PDT) on Saturday, July 1st, coming to a close some 24 grueling hours later. Fans can watch live coverage of qualifying, super pole, and the race via SRO Motorsport’s GTWorld YouTube channel or on the official CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa website.

Marco Mapelli

“Spa is the big one, especially this year as with so many cars it will be very tough to have a clear lap during practice and qualifying, but we have to live with it like everybody. I think we’re undertaking the right preparations, even if the temperatures at the official test were likely to be much lower compared to the race weekend.

“We are doing our job. We are focusing on our car. We don’t put too much focus on performance, as we’re looking how the long runs go, or the how tires survive in the stints. I have never won the race, so we will definitely be trying hard. The competition is very tough, very, very tough, but everybody has a chance and, we will too.”

Sandy Mitchell

“It’s the biggest race of the year, and it’s the one that everyone in the paddock wants to win. With 72 cars on the grid, it’s going to be pretty chaotic out there for all cars involved. It is going to be about staying out of trouble, keeping the pace consistent throughout the race, getting through the night, keeping yourself in contention, and fighting for the win in the morning.

“I’ve been really lucky at Spa. I’ve done the race five times and been on the podium in four of them; twice in Silver, once in Pro-Am, and once in Bronze. The only one that got away really is last year’s, and in the end, it looked like we would have been fighting for a podium and in with a chance for the win if we’d been able to continue on track. That would have kept my five-year run of podiums, but we’ll have to try and start that again this year!”

Franck Perera

“Two years ago, at Spa I unfortunately had a huge crash after 30 minutes, but in the past, I have had some great moments. I finished second in 2016 and ‘17, and we were fighting for the win when I was with another manufacturer. Since I joined Lamborghini, I haven’t had the luck of being in the right team or car to fight for a podium or more, but I believe this year we have everything to do it and that we have the chance to show our potential for this race.”