31th Spa Six Hours – Francorchamps 25-29 September 2024 ^Featured

Written by Guus Docen

From September 27th to 29th, 2024, the legendary race-event "Spa Six Hours" was held again on the Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit. The weather forecast was quite sobering for all participants and spectators this weekend, rain and low temperatures. All three days it was overall cloudy and rainy. During all mornings the thermometer showed around ten degrees Celsius. These weather conditions couldn't stop the historic motorsport fans from visiting this most interesting historic racing event.

Spa Six Hours Race
Seventy-nine cars were registered for the legendary Six Hours race of which twenty Ford GT40s, eleven Lotus Elans, seven Jaguar E-Types, six Porsches 911, ten Ford Mustangs, four TVRs, MGBs, Morgan, Austin Healey, Gilbern, Marcos, a Ginetta G4R and even a small Turner. A total of 220 drivers were competing in the six-hour race of which quite some well known and professional drivers like three-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans André Lotterer, four-time overall Indy Car winner Dario Franchitti, British GT champion Marino Franchitti, Frank Stippler – multiple winner of the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and in Spa; TV presenter Chris Harris and three former Formula 1 drivers: Thierry Boutsen, Eric van de Poele and Karun Chandhok.
On pole position was the turquoise GT40 driven by Nico Verdonk and Count von Oeynhausen. Nico started the race and kept the lead for an hour but technical problems set the car back. After the problems of Verdonck the victory seemed to be reserved for David Hart, his son Olivier and Nicky Pastorelli in the orange GT40, but with just fifteen minutes before the chequered flag fell Olivier Hart braked too hard at Pouhon and slipped the car ending up in the gravel trap. It lasted five minutes before Olivier managed to get back on the track but meanwhile the GT40 of Dario & Marino Franchitti and Lotterer which was already in second position managed to take the lead. Also the fast Lotus Elan of British touring car driver Gordon Shedden, Ben Barker and Rory Butcher got advantage from the stranded orange GT40 and drove in second place for a short while but in the last ten minutes Olivier Hart passed the Lotus and got back into second position. Winners were the Franchitti brothers and André Lotterer. The Hart team finished second and the Shedden, Barker Butcher driven Elan finished third.
The little Ginetta G4R of the Swedes Pedersen-Kjaergaard-Weiss started from the eleventh position and managed to crawl between the GT40s into the first position after three hours ! Big advantage of the Ginetta is the much lower fuel consumption. Refuelling during this race takes place at the central petrol station in the lower part of the paddock and can take a lot of time. Sadly after four hours the right front wheel of the Ginetta came off and the team had to retire. More luck for Luke Wos and Andy Yool in the small 1962 Turner MKII, they started from fifty-first position and finished the race in thirty-second position. To my opinion it’s a pity that the professionals in the GT40s dominate this race. The 2017 Six Hours entry-list still shows 117 entries and much more Jaguar E-Types, 4-cylinder TVRs, Triumph TR4s, Morgans, Marcos and even a Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA ! This year the entry fee was 5500 Euros and that’s a lot of money for a private team !
Masters Racing Legends-F1 Cars 66-85
A magnificent field of 26 historic F1 cars including the ex-Pryce Shadow DN5 driven by Belgian former F1 driver Thierry Boutsen. The race on Friday was won by Matt Wrigley and Werner d'Ansembourg (Brabham BT49C) finished second followed by Olivier Hart. The Saturday race was held under rainy conditions. A chaotic race which was neutralized three times, once with the red flag and twice behind the safety car. In the end, Olivier Hart (Arrows A3) was the first to cross the finish line, but a penalty for a collision on the first lap dropped the debuting Dutchman back to sixth place. Thierry Boutsen started from the penultimate starting row but managed to move further forward despite the difficult circumstances. He crossed the finish line in fifth place and eventually became fourth place due to Hart's penalty. The victory thus went again to Matthew Wrigley (Tyrrell 011). Nick Padmore (Lotus 77) finished second and was also the winner in the class of F1 cars built before 1978.
Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars
The combined Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Masters Pre'66 Touring Cars race was dominated by Britian Julian Thomas in the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé ahead of the AC Cobra of the Dutchmen Abraham Bontrup and Olivier Hart. Belgian Vincent Gaye accompanied by Phil Keen finished third in a Jaguar E-Type. In the Touring Car category, there were just seven cars of which the Ford Mustang of Michael Whitaker Jr. won ahead of the Ford Falcon driven by Robin Ward.
Masters Sports Car Legends
The rain was pouring down when the drivers of the Masters Sports Car Legends took to the track for a 60-minute race. Soon the darkgreen Lola T70 of David and son Olivier Hart took the lead and battled for victory with the McLaren M1B of John Spiers and Nigel Greensall. The lead changed several times but after a mistake by Nigel Greensall in the final lap father and son Hart could celebrate their victory. The ultrafast 4-cylinder Lola T296 of Gonçalo Gomez and James Claridge completed the top three.
Classic Sports Car Club
The cars in the Swinging Sixties and Classic-K categories had the honour kicking off the Thursday evening race programme... in such rainy conditions where you would rather leave your racing car in the paddock. Qualifying was a few hours earlier and Connor Kay drove to pole position in the 3-litre TVR Tuscan followed by Michael WhitakerJr. in a Ford Mustang. Third on the grid were Peter and Nathan Dod (TVR Griffith). In these rainy conditions it was the Mini Marcos of Sam Polley which took advantage of it’s superior roadholding grip.Sam won the race ahead of the Datsun 240 Z of Dean Hasley and the Ford Mustang of Classic-K winner Michael Whitaker Jr. Early Friday evening the second was held. It was time for revenge for Connor Kay, whose TVR Tuscan quickly rose to the top of the standings to take a convincing victory, ahead of the Aston Martin DB4 of Nicholas King and the Mini Marcos of the previous day's winner, Sam Polley. Michael WhitakerJr. finished fourth.
Historic Grand Prix Cars
One of the largest grids of this weekend was for the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association with 47 single seaters entered. In race 1 the Belgian driver Maxime Castelein (Lotus 18) stormed to the front but had to retire due to a technical problem, allowing the German Rudiger Friedrichs in his ex-Jack Brabham Cooper T53 to win ahead of the Brabham BT3/4 of Tim Child and the Cooper T53 of Charlie Martin. In the Grand Prix cars with front engines Mark Shaw won the race for the front-engined cars in his Scarab. On Saturday race 2 took place on an extremely wet track. Rudiger Friedrichs took the lead but was threatened from lap 3 until the end by John Spiers in the Maserati 250F. Philipp Buhofer (BRM P261) finished third.
F2 and F3 Classic Interseries
The F2 Classic Interseries and the continuation of the F3 Classic Interseries are the result of the continuing partnership between the two major organisations the Historic Sports Car Club and French promoter HVM Racing. From this year each category has it’s a five-event, 10-race schedule at the best circuits and events in European historic racing of which the races at the Spa Six Hours is one of these circuits. There were 24 Formula 2 cars on the grid for two races. The March cars clearly dominated race 1 with Matthew Watts taking the ex-Eddie Cheever March 772 first across the finish line ahead of Germany’s Wolfgang Kaufmann March type 782 and Alex Kapadia’s type 762. Race 2 was won by Kaufmann ahead of Mark Charteris. The starting field of the Formula 3 Interseries showed just seventies cars at Spa-Francorchamps. Both races were dominated by Andy Smith in his March 783. Former French F3 champion Tristan Gommendy (Argo JM10) finished third in race 1 and second in race 2. Italian Davide Leone (March 783) finished second in race 1 and third in race 2!
RAC Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy
The number of entries for the RAC Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy was poor. Just seventien cars drove the Saturday-morning one-hour race with New Zealander Roger Wills leading in his Lotus XV. He kept the lead until lap 7 when he was overtaken by Lukas Halusa in the Jaguar D-Type. But in lap 9 Wills overtook Halusa again and took the chequered flag two seconds ahead of Halusa. Roger Wills took the overall win and the Stirling Moss Trophy while Lukas Halusa celebrated the win of the Woodcote Trophy. Ben Mitchell and Dion Kremer finished overall third in a Lotus 17.
Historic Formula Junior
Another grid with a great number of entries, 43 cars drove a race on Friday and Saturday. The number of manufacturers of these 1100cc single-seaters from the early sixties is astonishing. Marques like Alexis, Condor, Lynx, Britannia Donford, Gemini, Stanguellini, Caravelle,Elva, and of course Brabham, Lotus and Cooper were present on the entry list. Race 1 on Friday was dominated by the Lotus type 22. Clive Richards finished 0.122 seconds before Manfredo Rossi di Montelera and Lukas Halusa. The Alexis Mk4 of Stuart Roach finished fourth. Race 2 on Saturday morning was held on a wet circuit, Rossi di Montelera had a brilliant start and kept the lead closely followed by Stuart Roach and Lukas Halusa. Rossi won the race beating Stuart Roach by 1.248 seconds. Lukas Halusa took third place in the Lotus 22.
Pre-War Sports Cars
Sports cars from the 1920s and 30s represented the oldest historic racing serie at this event. Seventien cars took part in a 40 minutes race early Saturday afternoon again on a wet track. It was Rudiger Friedrichs in the 1933 Alvis Firefly Special who emerged victorious at the end of the 11 lap race, just three seconds ahead of Robert Beebee in the chain-driven 1932 Frazer Nash TT Replica. The stunning Alfa Romeo 8C Monza of Christopher Mann completed the podium. The three-wheeler Morgan Super Aero driven by Sue Darbyshire and Duncan started from seventh position and finished fifth.
Despite the bad weather conditions this year, the Spa Six Hours showed once again that it is one of the best historic racing events on the planet. Haven’t you visited this event I would advise you to drive your car to the Ardennes in the autumn of 2025 for the 32nd edition of the Spa Six Hours. Pictures by Guus Docen