Close to After 2 years of waiting, we can only tell the 10th edition of Spa-Classic was a huge success. More than 20.000visitors turned up to admire the close to 400 historic race cars on the renewed track of Spa-Francorchamps. And as usual, while the action was going on at the circuit, one could have fun in the paddocks too. One of the things that make the historic race events so good, is the fact that the cars and drivers are so approachable. You can step into a pit, and see mechanics work on the cars. You can ask drivers and crew members about the history of race cars. And the little village with shops brings always some joy and distraction.
Several boutiques were on the spot for lovers of shopping with gloves, clothes s as well as accessories, books and scale model cars. A personal highlight is a visit to the shop of Classic Heuer, where Jasper and Iris Bitter always have an amazing display of vintage Heuer watches. Can you imagine a watch brand that brings back the atmosphere of the heydays of racing more than Heuer? We can’t. Furthermore, one could see approximately 800 cars from different European Car clubs showing up in the paddocks, many of them made it on the track for a few laps.
Nine grids provided the on-track action with about 400 historic racing cars including some exceptional names. That includes cars like the Aston Martin DBR9, BMW M3 GTR and Ford GT40. But for us Porsche fans, our eyes were directed towards the very rare birds that might come up on the track. Urs Beck brought his Porsche 550-028 in the practice session as final preparation for the Le Mans Classic in early July. Claudio Roddaro brought one of his Porsche 917s in the CER1 race.
And seeing a genuine Porsche 917 on the track, 917-037 in this case, justifies the visit to Spa Classic on its own. Peter Vögele could be seen in different series at the wheel of a Porsche 908/3, a Porsche 910, and a Porsche 904. Quite a collection to be driven, and let’s say that’s just a few of the cars in his garage. We’re looking forward to seeing more action on the track during the GP de L’Age d’Or next weekend at the Circuit Dijon-Prenois, as the last call for the main event of Peter Auto: Le Mans Classic. We hope to see you at least one of these events.
