Spa Classic (2024) - Subscriber Only Photo Gallery

Essentially, atmosphere is a layer of gas around a celestial body. Commonly we understand that the ambience and perceived character surrounding an event constitutes the atmosphere. In lieu of a celestial body in this instance, let us muse over the hallowed ground at Spa Francorchamps.

Indelibly etched into the minds of motorsport enthusiasts the world over, the 4.352 mile circuit, which carves a route through the sharp undulations of the Ardennes forest in Wallonia, East Belgium, may not figure in the Triple Crown of motorsport, yet the circuit presents an imperious and foreboding presence on the motorsport calendar. Host to the Belgian Grand Prix, the WEC 6h of Spa and the inimitable Crowdstrike 24h of Spa, with a storied history that dates back to the 1920s, the circuit is inextricably linked with tales of bravery and daring, peril and emotion, speed and adrenaline.

With corners like Blanchimont, Double Gauche, Raidillon and Eau Rouge, which cause the hairs on the back of one’s neck to prick up, Spa Francorchamps has an allure like no other, a circuit which truly challenges the driver, concealed in the thick forests, like a beast lurking, waiting to strike.

In a year with no Le Mans Classic on the calendar, true pedigree historic endurance racing can be hard to uncover. Undoubtedly, the historic racing scene is burgeoning, with a huge array of events in Europe through the course of the year, yet the vast majority of these races are short-form, only on rare occasions stretching the racing on track out longer than an hour or maybe two, empathetically preserving these historic machines, by not pressing them too hard for answers, leaving a little headroom for the old beasts to catch breath.

Step forward the Spa Six Hours. A race where caution is thrown to the wind, the stakes are high, the margin for error is paper-thin, and the rewards are supreme. A six hour race for classic GT and Sports cars, which has grown in popularity over recent years, to the point where the race is now fiercely contested by some of the world’s finest drivers, in some of the most meticulously prepared classic race cars. To draw drivers such as Andre Lotterer, Dario Franchitti, Alex Brundle and Frank Stippler to race against pedigree historic racers like Olivier Hart, Michael Lyons and Oliver Bryant, is quite a coup, testament to the huge profile this race holds.

Whilst the center-piece stands proud, the support around this event is sufficient to ignite the passion of motorsport fans on its own. Four grids from the Masters Historic Racing stable, sat alongside the Pre-66 F1 cars from the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, Pre-War Sports Cars and Stirling Moss/Woodcote Trophy grids from Motor Racing Legends, Historic Formula Junior, Classic F2 and F3 Interseries and Classic & Sports Car Club grids all packed the agenda over the three days of racing, covering almost 100 years of motoring history over the three days in the Ardennes.

September is a fickle time for weather in Western Europe, and personally, on my third visit to Spa Francorchamps in 2024, I was hoping for a drier and less testing experience than I’d experienced covering the Spa Classic and 24h of Spa for Sports Car Digest. Yet against my best wishes, I was left not only disappointed, but drenched as well. A battle in the moment, but upon reflection, conditions which only add to the spectacle of the Six Hours. The two evening sessions on Thursday and Friday were both subject to torrential rain, making it difficult to get a bearing on the pace of the front runners. It was evident that the Ford GT40s were going to be a hard package to beat.

Chevrolet Corvette C7R Daytona Prototype

Race day and a frenetic sense of anticipation gripped the circuit. With the race starting under fleeting moments of warm sunshine in the late afternoon, a glut of Ford GT40s took the green flag, an imposing sight, with a sense of timelessness that embraces the spirit of this superb event. As the first hour passed, the timesheets showed 10 GT40s at the head of the race, conditions prime for the mighty Fords to exploit their power around the high speed corners and long straights of Spa.

As late afternoon cascaded into the fading light of the day, Ford GT40s still headed the back, but the emergent contenders of Shedden/Barker/Butcher in a Lotus Elan 26R and Pedersen/Kjaergaard/Weiss in a Ginetta G4R sought to put a cat amongst the pigeons with their steady rise towards the top, whilst the three leading GT40s of Hart/Hart/Pastorelli, Graf Von Oeynhausen/Verdonck and Franchitti/Franchitti/Lotterer seemed to be the toast of the field.

Spa being Spa, and the hope for a dramatic sunset to set the stage for the plunge into night decreased significantly as the rain fell shortly before sundown, with track conditions wet, and a number of safety car periods, a slight lull in proceedings arrived, almost to catch breath before charging headlong into the forests for the crescendo. Yet, unsurprisingly Spa had another trick up its sleeve, as the rain abated, the clouds cleared momentarily for the last rays of golden sunlight to tumble down, illuminating the evocative scenes, as sublime historic race cars jousted for position around one of the most atmospheric circuits on the planet.

The fleeting rapture of the golden sunlight vanished rapidly, as the clouds reformed, with Hart/Hart/Pastorelli leading the field, as darkness enveloped the track, blazing headlights dazzling all in their way, with errant pops of flame and glowing brake discs the only other punctuation on the dark canvas. It all seemed set for a convincing victory for the #8 car of Hart/Hart/Pastorelli, who had looked imperious in the latter stages of the race. Spa Francorchamps is a cruel mistress though, and the race would not conclude without a further twist in the tale.

With a small handful of minutes left before the checkered flag fell, the #8 car stopped on the tracker, having run into the gravel, the seemingly nailed-on victory was now open to all, and gleefully, the #41 Ford GT40 of Franchitti/Franchitti/Lotterer sailed past the stricken #8 as it struggled back onto the asphalt, with the #41 car comfortable for the remaining couple of laps to record their victory at the Spa Six Hours 2024.

Ford GT40s battle on the run down to Eau Rouge

The Spa Six Hours, an exercise in atmospherics. Whilst not the first historic race that comes to mind when ruminating over the European historic scene, it is a race which offers that ‘je ne sais quoi’ – appealing directly to each one of the five senses. A race held in such high esteem by some of the most decorated drivers, a spectacle for fans and enthusiasts to transport back in time, a circuit punishing, yet equally benevolent, in that it will push you to your absolute limit, yet deliver you the most thrilling, atmospheric and memorable experiences possible to attain at a race track.