The best comes last, to quote a film title. The season finale of historic motorsport takes place every year at the fantastic Spa Francorchamps circuit. The Spa Six Hours by Roadbook. Years ago, this wonderful event was still an insider tip, but today it is an established meeting and an integral part of the scene’s calendar. Spectators are treated to real motor racing. The six-hour race starting on Saturday afternoon is a real highlight, the best for last.
This year, the Six Hours of Spa almost ended with a surprise victory. Until the fifth hour, a Ginetta G4 R led the field of many Ford GT40s. It would have been a surprise if the little Ginetta with Pedersen, Weiss and Kjaergaard had finished the race as winners. In the end, after six hours, they finished a remarkable second behind the victorious red and white Ford GT40 driven by Martin Stretton and Diogo Ferrāo with start number 7. The former is now the record winner with five overall victories at the Six Hours.
The race was very exciting, but was repeatedly neutralised by safety car phases. This brought the field back together, and the phases were also used for pit stops and refuelling. Although there was no rain during the race, there were still many minor accidents and retirements. The race track and the duration of the race take their toll on both man and machine.
In the end, a Ford GT40 prevailed, as has been the case in recent years. Martin Stretton’s experience of what it takes to be the first to see the chequered flag may have tipped the scales in favour of number 7.
The most prominent driver at the start was Martin Brundle, who formed a team with his son Alex and Gary Pearson. They also drove a Ford GT40 in blue and white livery with the starting number 43. They were doing well in the race at one point, but in the end they were only ranked 51st because they were unable to finish the race.
The six-hour race is, of course, the highlight and also the conclusion of this three-day meeting full of exciting racing series and magnificent racing cars with outstanding drivers. The winners, the Ford GT40 #7, crossed the finish line after 6:01:55.658 hours and 109 laps.
A new addition to the programme was the Alfa Revival Cup. The most commonly used car is the Alfa Romeo GT Am. Here, too, the starting field included prominent names such as Christian Danner. He shared a GT Am with Matthias Körber for the Alfa Revival Cup, and then R. Restelli joined them for the Six Hours Race.
As always, the Historic Grand Prix Car Association racing cars were at the start. These are Grand Prix racing cars built before 1966, i.e. front-engined Formula 1 racers such as the legendary Maserati 250F and Tony Smith’s Ferrari Dino 246 F1, or the wonderful Scarab in metallic blue paintwork. The other group consists of rear-engined Formula 1 racing cars such as several Cooper T45, T51, T53, Brabham BT2 and BT4, BRM P4-7 and P261-2, and a few others. Even though the Classic Lotus Team was missing, the starting field was as numerous as ever and full of extraordinary Formula 1 racing cars.
My favourite racing car is and remains the Maserati 250F. The number 4 is something very special. Driven by Rebecca Rettenmaier, this Maserati 250F is the only one that still manages without a roll bar, which of course suits the Maserati’s exterior design very well.
Chassis number #2508 has a special history, which I will discuss another time, but suffice to say that the racing car was originally delivered to Alfred Moss in 1954. His son Stirling drove it in several races.
Naturally, there were many other races in various classes to admire during this race weekend, from GT3 Legends to Youngtimers, from Historic 1-litre Formula 3 to the RAC Woodcote – Stirling Moss Trophy.
Real motor racing at its best. Don’t miss next year’s Spa Six Hours meeting, it’s well worth a visit. It’s best to be there for all three days so you don’t miss a thing.
The roadbook.net website has information about the races, results, times and much more.
