Centenary Celebrations On Track And In the Paddock
A huge number of historic touring and GT race cars has assembled at Spa to celebrate the centenary of the Spa 24 Hours.
Whilst dozens of them will compete in commemorative races for both touring cars and GTs this weekend there are significant numbers in several other areas with some seriously historic cars amongst them.
These include several previous winners of the race, the earliest seen by DSC is the 1966 race-winning BMW 2000Ti, and a couple of cars from the very first race in 1924, a Speedsport that finished seventh in the inaugural race, and a Kings Cup-winning Citroen B2.
Aside from the winners there is no shortage either of some of the quirkiest cars that competed in the race including the fabled 1995 Peugeot 806 people carrier and the Moneytron ‘backed’ 1989 Ferrari Mondial that included.
Also on public display are some beautifully curated and presented displays of memorabilia from fans of the race over its century of existence, programmes, tickets, lanyards, books, and models.
GT1 Sports Club
The GT1 Sports Club isn’t running this weekend but several cars are on display in the paddock including examples of the Maserati MCXtrema, Mercedes AMG One and GT2 Pro, and the De Tomaso P72.
The 2008 overall race-winning Maserati MC12 is on display in the GT1 Sports Club area, one of three MC12s here, the other pair in action in the Endurance Racing Legends races.
Maserati Matters
DSC caught up with Vita4One/ Vitaphone racing boss Michael Bartels and three times overall winner who retains a prime interest in the MC12, his workshop currently houses no fewer than nine of the surviving 12 ice versions of the car.
“I have been involved in the whole story for the cars, they are a very special part of my life. Now we look after these cars for their owners and it is great to see them back running at speed at the place they had so much success.”
Ginetta’s GT2 Potential
DSC caught up with Ginetta’s Lawrence Tomlinson as he climbed out of the Ginetta G56 GTX in the paddock, the straight talking Yorkshireman bullish about the prospects for the Ginetta in GT2 “if we can understand more about where the BoP is and can be.”
Lawrence estimates that there is a potential immediate customer base of “4-6” cars for the car if the BoP can be sorted, a potentially important addition as one of the pillars of the class, Audi Sport, exits the marketplace for new cars.
Abt’s Roadgoing GT2
Audi’s exit from competition car building was underlined by the presence of another car at the Wednesday parade and in the Spa paddock, the Abt XGT a de facto Audi R8 GT2 road car, Abt having acquired Audi Sport’s remaining stocks of R8 GT2s to form the first stage of production.
New And Old
WRT’s main paddock hospitality structure has an example of BMW’ M4 GT3 Evo on display, the newest vehicle on-site.
Somewhat older is the M4 Sherman Firefly tank, the 1944-vintage monster marking 80 years since the Battle of the Bulge, fought in the Ardennes 80 years ago, a defining, and bloody, ‘moment’ in the Second World War.
Down in the GT2 European Series KTM have two cars on display with a turnkey XBow GT2 race car and its road going counterpart attracting much attention.
Mustang’s Return
Ford’s mighty Mustang GTD is also on display with the Blue Oval again pushing the brand hard via their racing efforts, the solo Proton Competition Mustang GT3 in the Pro class marking the return of the Mustang to the Spa 24 Hours for the first time 2011.
The car that made that last appearance is another that is on display with the ill-starred 2011 Marc VDS Mustang GT3 showing the progress that the brand, and GT3 have made on just over a decade!
Spa 24 Hall of Fame
During the drivers’ briefing on Wednesday, SRO officially launched the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa Hall of Fame.
The initial five inductees were each awarded a Lifetime Pass to the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Best known as the Belgian motorsport federation, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB) is credited with creating the race in 1924. Established in 1896, it is also the owner of the event and continues to play a crucial role thanks to the sporting and technical support it provides to SRO Motorsports Group and its championships.
After the event disappeared from the calendar following the 1953 edition, the driver-journalist Paul Frère played a key role in reviving the race in 1964. Having participated in the 24 Hours on three occasions – in 1948, 1949 and 1953 – he convinced the RACB, with the assistance of Chevalier Hubert de Harlez, to relaunch Spa as a touring car event. That was 60 years ago, and the 24 Hours has run annually ever since.
In 75 editions, one driver has secured more victories than any other. A five-time winner, Éric van de Poele triumphed twice in touring cars (with BMW in 1987 and 1998) and three times during the GT era (driving a Maserati in 2005, 2006 and 2008). Nicknamed ‘Tintin’, he started his beloved race 25 times and is undoubtedly among its greatest starts.
Last year’s victory was the 25th for BMW, exactly one third of all editions in CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa history. During the past century, more than 560 BMWs have taken part in the Belgian endurance classic, representing 29 different models. From the 75 editions staged to date, no fewer than 60 included at least one BMW among the starters. Andreas Roos, the current boss of BMW M Motorsport, took to the stage to collect the Lifetime Pass on behalf of the Bavarian brand.
Finally, SRO Motorsports Group paid tribute to a family with a particularly strong link to the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Three members of the Martin clan were applauded as they took the stage to receive the Lifetime Pass. Jean-Michel Martin and his younger brother Philippe won together aboard a Ford Capri in 1979 and 1980.
During his 27 participations, Jean-Michel added two more successes, winning in 1987 and 1992 with a BMW M3. Having first contested the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2006, his son Maxime has become a mainstay of the event. On Saturday he will contest his 18th edition, partnering Raffaele Marciello and Valentino Rossi as he looks to add to the success he earned in 2016. Though it has officially entered the Hall of Fame, the Martin family is by no means finished with the CrowdStrike 24 hours of Spa.
