The Arbuthnot Latham Race for Pre 61 GP Cars was very exciting because in both heats of 30 minutes the two frontrunners John Harper (Brabham BT4) and Ian Ashley (LDS/Alfa Romeo) were involved in a very close battle. In both races the victory went to John Harper in the 2.5 litre Tasman Brabham followed by Ian Ashleys LDS (in race 1 by 1.5 seconds and in race two by 3.6 seconds).LDS stands for the name Louis Douglas Serrurier, a racing car constructor from South Africa who built Cooper based single seaters with an 1.5 litre Alfa engine specially prepared for the South African Formula One Championship. A total of 8 LDS cars participated in 5 World Championship Grands Prix but didn’t score any points. Worth a mention is the Cooper T66 (1.5 Litre Coventry Climax V8 engine producing 195 bhp) of Sid Hoole finishing in third place.

Brabam BT4 and LDS	Talbot Lago	Lotus 18	Cooper T66 V8

  The Spa 250 miles race (150-minute duration) welcomes drivers of GT and Sports Racing cars of the seventies. On pole position were professional drivers Frank Stippler and American Davis Seabrooke driving a Porsche 934-5 twin-turbo. On the grid on their right were the father and son Schrey team with the Martini coloured Porsche 935. On the straight the turboboost of the 934-5 was sensational and the car drove away from the field but in the corners the 935 was faster. In the end the victory went to the Schrey family. A really exotic car almost refused entry by the organisation was a Ferrari 512 BB LM. The Germans drivers licence and carpapers were stolen on Thursday. Confirmation of the German Motor Sport Association convinced the organisation to let the car enter the race.    A class of it’s own in this race were the five Crosslé 9S sportscars. Conceived in 1966 for the International two-litre Group Six regulations, the 9S enjoyed considerable success on the race circuits of the Continent and the USA, and to this day they are front runners in historic racing. Now the 1966 type 9S is available from the factory again as a "late run" series with a choice of modern production engines for competition use. The 9S equipe McConville/Catherwood ended the race in second position. The Crosslé of Hobb/Clark crossed the finish line in third place.  

Gordini T16	Cooper T66 and Brabham	Aston Martin DB3S and DBR4	Fraser Nash Le Mans, Bocar XP5    and Porsche 911

  For this event the German Historic Touring Car and GT-Trophy was coupled to the RM Auctions Race for Sports Cars.   Twenty-five cars from Germany and fourteen cars from the UK entered the two heats of this race. Overall fastest during qualifing was Peter Horsman with a Lotus 17 Prototype followed by the German/Luxemburgh equipe Strasoldo/Wedig with a Ford GT40. In the first heat the victory went to Peter Horsman. The Ford GT40 had some technical problems and the car couldn’t even complete the first lap. For the second heat the Ford was fixed and well prepared again as it won the race followed by Horsman 27 seconds behind.   An unknown marque to almost everyone who sees the car is the Bocar type XP-5.  This blue sports car is one of only 18 XP-5s known to exist. The Bocar was developed by Bob Carnes in Colorado, USA. The XP-5 has a glass-reinforced polyester body surrounding a welded moly-tube space frame. The power unit is a Corvette V8. The XP-5 at Spa was purchased as a kit from the Bocar factory in 1960, and never assembled. The whole thing was then sold to Harold Pace in the 1970s, a renowned author and photographer, who put the car together. Many years later the car made several appearances through the vintage racing circuit in the States.  Another rarity is the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS Special built out of a wrecked Gullwing in 1956. The body was constructed and developed by Chuck Porter (USA). The car took part in a lot of racing events from 1956 to 1962. The car was found in 1999 in an old yard in San Francisco and was shipped to Germany and perfectly restored. Since 2002 the SLS Special is competing again in many historic racing events. This weekend the car finished in the middle of the field.  

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS Special	Ferrari 512 BB LM	Porsche 911 ST	Ford Escort RS1600 and  Special 1956  and Ford Mustang

  The Spa Long-Distance Cup is a 4-hour long-distance race for historic Touring and GT cars. A car may be driven by a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 drivers during the race. Forty-eight cars started the qualifying practice of 45 minutes on Saturday including 14  Porsche 911’s and 3 Porsche 914/6’s. On pole position for the race were Germans Siegfried Lapawa and Claudia Hurtgen. At the moment Claudia Hurtgen is considered as Germany's best female pilot. This year she’s participating in the European GT3 championship driving an BMW Alpina.  Third during qualifying was Pantelis Christoforou with a loud, high revving Ford Escort RS 1600. After 30 laps the engine of the RS1600 started sounding a little rough and sadly the car spun on lap 33 at Les Combes hitting the barrier. Did the RS1600 also suffer from fuel problems just like some other cars ?   As the paddock fuel station was closed Sunday morning due to the credit card machine breaking down some people sourced fuel from the nearby Texaco station whereby it turned out the petrol had parrafin mixed in. This resulted in severe misfiring such that some cars either couldn't start the race or dropped out early on. Coincidentally I visited the aforementioned petrol station on Saturday afternoon before I knew about this problem and whilst filling up my Mini Cooper I noticed an unusual, different smell rising from the petrol. I didn’t notice any misfiring whatsoever due to the fact that the engine management system will have made the required corrections to the fuel injection. After 4 hours Claudia Hurtgen and Siegfried Lapawa were still in the lead and won the race. Second was the equippe Oehme/Cornils also with a type 911. Two laps before the chequered flag fell, the 911 of Meinrenken/Zumtobel lying third was overhauled by the Marcos 1800 of Alan Tice and Chris Conoley.  

Interseries Cup	Jaguar XJR 1991	Caterham C400 & Ferrari Dino 308 GT4	Jaguar XJS 1989, Lotus Elan

  Not less than four race series were entering the 60 minutes Inter-Series race organised by the Classic Sports Car Club. The Tin Tops is a race series starting back in 2005, particularly suited to novice racers who can start in relatively cheap cars from an original Mini Cooper S to a Honda Civic Type R, as long it is a saloon or 'hot hatch', normally aspirated and under 2 litres.   In Future Classics are the cars from the 70s and 80s like the Jaguars XJS and XJ6 and Porsche 924/944.   The Swinging Sixties series brings back the bygone racing days of the 1960s, bringing together the contemporary sports, saloon and GT cars of the period. On the grid at Spa were Lotus Elans, Chevrolet Camaro, Marcos 1800 and Iso Rivolta.   The Magnificent Seven race series is for all Caterham / Lotus Seven type cars. Engines may be turbo or normally aspirated, even the Hayabusa bike-engined car is welcome. Considering the very different types of cars entering this one hour race there was also a huge difference in speed. No wonder that the first six cars passing the finishing line after an hour were the Caterhams.  

Triumph TR7 V8 and Jaguar XJS	May God preserve us from Storm and Wind and Cars made in England !	MG C and Triumph Spitfire	OGLE Mini 1963

  Another race was organised by the Classic Sports Car Club in collaboration with the Triumph Competition Germany and MG Competions Holland. Fifty-three cars entered this race. Overall fastest was Graham Millers Triumph TR7 V8. Almost never seen on the public road let alone on the race track was the 1380 cc Mini engined Ogle. The Ogle SX1000 was one of the first glass fibre bodied Mini variants like the Mini-Marcos and Mini-JEM. Manufactured by David Ogle it originally utilised 997 Cooper running gear. In 1962 David Ogle was killed in a car crash involving one of his cars. Under these conditions, production of the Ogle Mini was no longer viable and, after a run of some 65 cars, production ceased.    

ISO Rivolta GT 1964	Lola T70 Mk I Spyder and Lola T492	Austin Cooper S	Les Combes corner

  It was a great weekend again in the Ardennes for both drivers and spectators because of good clean racing without any serious holdups due to incidents. After saying goodbye to the German drivers who went eastwards, the British drivers and their relatives drove westwards to catch the boat from Dunkirk. Most likely they will see each other and compete again at the Spa Six Hours weekend on 25,26, and 27 September.