Strong Pace, Tough Luck: Øgaard Reflects on Spa 24H

The Danish Audi driver endured a tough outing in this year’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps but still gained valuable experience from the Belgian endurance classic.

It wasn’t the top result Sebastian Øgaard had hoped for as he lined up for this year’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with his regular GT World Challenge outfit, the Italian-based Tresor Competition. After a challenging race, the 21-year-old Dane was forced to retire his Audi R8 GT3 with technical issues just one hour before the checkered flag.

The problems began early on when a slow puncture forced the team into an unscheduled pit stop—followed by another puncture that cost Øgaard and teammates Leonardo Moncini, Riccardo Cazzaniga, and Rocco Mazzola precious time.

“The puncture happened just after the car had exited the pitlane, which meant a very slow lap and an extra stop. Suddenly, we were two laps down,” said Sebastian Øgaard.

“We had to accept that a top result was now unrealistic, so the strategy became to simply finish the race and collect championship points—while hoping as many rivals as possible would face similar misfortune,” he added.

That strategy paid off for a while, as the Danish-Italian lineup pushed on in a race that saw more than 20 of the 70 starters retire due to either crashes or mechanical issues. When Sebastian Øgaard got back in the car on Saturday afternoon for the final stint, the team was running sixth in the Gold Cup class.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the finish. Just before our final pit stop, I started having issues with the gearbox and had to return to the pits, where the car was immediately pushed into the garage. It was a frustrating way to end the race—especially being so close to the finish,” said Øgaard.

“Still, I take a lot of positives from Spa-Francorchamps. Overall, we ran a strong race where things were working well. The car felt good, the crew was efficient, and personally, it was great to experience a 24-hour race where I was physically stronger than I had expected. Huge credit to the whole team for the effort.”

Next up for Sebastian Øgaard and the Tresor Competition team is round six of the GT World Challenge, taking place at Misano, Italy, on July 19–20.