3 days long, the most beautiful race track of the world, Spa, hosted the 30th edition of the Spa Six Hours. 3 days long, the cars of yesteryear were the starts of a track that once again proved that whatever the weather prediction is, at Spa-Francorchamps you probably have all kinds of weather. From heavy rain and a soaked track, to bright sunshine, it was the part of all competitors and visitors that showed up in large crowds.
Cars from all ages, divided into 7 different grids, tortured the tarmac, or was it the other way around? Some of the grids, like the Sport Proto 2000 could be considered boring, due to the modest line-up of just 7 cars. More action with the Masters Endurance Legends series, which served as a transition between the cars of yesteryear and contemporary competition. Stuart Wiltshire, who won the 1st race in his Peugeot. He did not finish the 2nd race, which was won by Antoine d’Ansembourg in the Dallara Oreca. The rain started falling midway through the race of the HGPCA Pre ’66 GP Race Cars and didn’t stop when the Masters F1 Cars 66-85 came on the track afterward.
The Belcar Historic Cup, the first race with Porsches on the start grid, had to cope with a torrential downpour of rain, causing very tricky conditions on the track. Action assured of course in an impressive start field, but unfortunately a countless number of incidents too. A red flag ended the race, but the winner changed after a few hours due to penalties. The same weather conditions for the Masters GT Trophy, where victory went to Hans Hugenholtz in a Ford Mustang FR500C.
Saturday, the weather was much brighter and the sun started shining. While enjoying the 2nd race of the weekend for all of the previously mentioned series, all visitors waited for the pinnacle race of the weekend, the Spa Six Hours Endurance. And just as in the previous editions, the Ford GT40 turned out to be unbeatable.
Nearly 20 of them were on the start grid, and no less than 9 of them were on the first 5 rows. The Spa Six Hours Endurance was true to tradition, with an abundance of race incidents and other twists and turns, with, in total, no less than 8 Safety Car periods. In the end it was the Ford GT40 driven by multiple European and World Touring champion Andy Priaulx to take the win… ahead of the #600 Lotus Elan 26R of Andrew Jordan, Sam Tordoff and James Dorlin! It was the 16th victory for a GT40 in 30 editions of the Spa Six Hours Endurance. The first Porsche in the Spa Six Hours endurance race was a 911 with De Craene / Filliers at the wheel.
Picture Gallery of the 2023 Spa Six Hours
Pictures courtesy Wilfried Geerts / Trevor Noble
