Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica.com
The Spa Summer Classic, organised by Roadbook, is usually scheduled for the month of June in the historic motorsport calendar. This year, this tradition was broken and this exciting historic motorsport event marked the start of the historic motorsport season in Belgium. Scroll on for a recap of the action and photo gallery from the event.
Enthusiasts of historic racing could enjoy an extensive three day program with touring cars and GTs from a bygone era. The main part of the program was the Spa 3 Hour, an endurance race held on Sunday morning with over 60 classic GTs and touring cars. Another crowd puller was the presence of the Tourenwagen Legends, a championship including former DTM touring cars. Among the riders present were stars such as Klaus Ludwig, Christian Danner, Eric van de Poele and Marc Hessel.
Over sixty participants registered for the Spa 3 Hour endurance race. Pole position convincingly went to the TVR Griffith of Oliver Reuben and Harry Barton. Pierre-Alain Thibault and Lars Rolner needed almost one and a half seconds more with a Porsche 911 RS 3.0.
The race on Sunday ultimately turned out to be a war of attrition, with several favourites having to leave the battle prematurely, including pole sitters Reuben and Barton who retired after 20 laps with mechanical problems. After three hours of racing the overall victory went to the Lotus Elan of BTCC ace Gordon Shedden and Ben Barker. The Porsche 911 of Pierre-Alain Thibault and Lars Rolner crossed the finish line second, ahead of the Lotus Elan of John Tordoff and Andrew Jordan.
In the Tourenwagen Legends, Marc Hessel was the fastest among the stars in sixth. The first race went to Luis Barros from Portugal with his beautiful Ford Sierra RS500, keeping Anton Werner’s mighty Audi 200 Quattro behind him. Werner dominated the second race of the weekend, ahead of Vasco Barros’ Porsche.
The third and last race of the weekend was dominated by the young Portuguese Vasco Barros, who was the fastest with his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Former WRC driver Kevin Abbring from the Netherlands caused a sensation by finishing second in a BMW M3 2.3, ahead of his compatriot Leonard Batenburg. Former F1 driver Eric van de Poele narrowly missed the podium.
Other crowd favourites were the versatile and large number of participants in the Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge and the Belcar Historic Cup. The diversity in both series is always great and varies from different types of Porsches, BMWs, Fords, etc. to a McLaren M1.
In the Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge, Walter Hoffman in his McLaren M1C had no opposition. The Swiss raced to the top step of the podium three times. In the Belcar Historic Cup, the first race was won by Luc Branckaerts in a Corvette C4. Wim Kuijl drove the impressive Ford Capri RS3100 Cosworth to victory during the second race of the weekend.
The program also included the Classic Sports Car Club-Interseries from England, Supersixties by NKHTGT and NK GT&TC and Triumph Competition & British HTGT from the Netherlands and Historic Championship ’65, Historic Championship ’81 from Germany. We are already looking forward to another successful 16th edition, planned for 2025.
Results Spa Summer Classic 2024
Spa 3 Hours
- Ben Barker – Gordon Shedden, Lotus Elan
- Lars Rolner – Pierre Alain Thibault, Porsche 911 RS 3.0, + 1:21.662
- John Tordoff – Andrew Jordan, Lotus Elan, + 2:12.825
Belcar Historic Cup
Race 1
- Luc Branckaerts, Corvette C4
- Wim Kuijl, Ford Capri 3100 RS, + 2.770
- Michael Wittke, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, + 3.992
Race 2
- Wim Kuijl, Ford Capri 3100 RS
- Luc Branckaerts, Corvette C4, + 2.314
- Tim Kuijl, BMW E36 325i, + 13.144
Supersixties by NKHTGT
Race 1
- Bob Stevens, Lotus Elan
- Oliver Douglas, Shelby Cobra Daytona, + 10.709
- Rhea Sautter – Andrew Newall, Jaguar E-Type, + 22.314
Race 2
- Bob Stevens, Lotus Elan
- Roelant de Waard, Shelby GT350, + 11.550
- Niek van Gils, TVR Griffith, + 16.022
Reco NK GT-TC And Trimuph Competition – British HTGT
Race 1
- Dieter Kuijl, Ford Capri 3100 RS
- Cees Lubbers, BMW 3.0 CSL, + 1:53.879
- Freddy van Sprundel, Ford Escort Mk.1, + 2:47.474
Race 2
- Wim Kuijl, Ford Capri 3100 RS
- Freddy van Sprundel, Ford Escort Mk.1, + 1:25.630
- Gerd Rijper, Porsche 911 RSR, + 1:50.821
Classic Sports Car Club – Interseries
Race 1
- Stephen Nutall, Caterham Seven
- Kevin Bird – Charles Hide Andrews Bird, Porsche 991 GT3 Cup, + 1.263
- Colin Watson, Caterham C400, + 15.897
Race 2
- Stephen Nutall, Caterham Seven
- David Harrison – Nathan Luckey, Porsche 991 GT3, + 30.818
- Kevin Bird – Charles Hide Andrews Bird, Porsche 991 GT3 Cup, + 39.352
Tourenwagen Legenden
Race 1
- Ford Sierra RS500, Luis Barros
- Anton Werner, Audi 200 Quattro M66, + 0.824
- Kristian Poulsen, BMW M3 E30, + 19.817
Race 2
- Anton Werner, Audi 200 Quattro M66
- Vaso Barros, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, + 9.138
- Hans-Ulrich Kainzinger, Porsche 993 GT2, + 24.081
Race 3
- Vaso Barros, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
- Bas Jansen – Kevin Abbring, BMW M3 E30, + 1:02.787
- Leonard Batenburg, BMW M3 E30, + 1:02.902
Historic Championship ‘65
Race 1
- Luco Sanchez, Ford GT40
- Georg Griesemann – Björn Griesemann, Ford GT40, + 0.940
- Charles Faber-Castell – Andrew Newall, Cobra Daytona, + 58.841
Race 2
- Luco Sanchez, Ford GT40
- Felix Haas, TVR Griffith 200, + 56.454
- Charles Faber-Castell – Andrew Newall, Cobra Daytona, + 2:12.511
Historic Championship ‘81
- Felix Haas, Lola T210
- Pedro Sanchez – Michael Funke, Ford GT40
- Maxwell Polzler – Nick Salewsky, Porsche 911 RS
Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge
Race 1
- Walter Hoffmann, McLaren MC1
- Marc Hauri, BMW E30 325i Compressor, + 33.077
- Markus Key, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme IMSA GTS, + 34.681
Race 2
- Walter Hoffmann, McLaren MC1
- Markus Key, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme IMSA GTS, + 1:09.899
- Malcolm Harding, Zakspeed Ford Escort Mk.2 BDG, + 1:10.491
Race 3
- Walter Hoffmann, McLaren MC1
- Coen Vink, BMW V8 Star, + 19.190
- Markus Key, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme IMSA GTS, + 58.099
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