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hugues vanhoolandt

Spa 24 Hours 2026

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The Mustang attacks Eau Rouge, overlooked by the new grandstand. All the magic of night racing.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Two weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s greatest endurance race, came the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, considered the greatest race reserved for GT cars.

While 2024 marked the race’s centenary and 2025 the 25th edition reserved for GT cars, this year, 2026, marks the 20th anniversary of GT3, an international class present in all corners of the globe and which makes up the entire starting grid.

Moreover, year after year, the success of this category remains undeniable, with 69 cars at the start, distributed among ten manufacturers as follows: 15 Porsches, 11 Mercedes, 8 McLarens, 8 Ferraris, 8 BMWs, 7 Aston Martins, 6 Audis, 2 Lamborghinis, 2 Fords, and 2 Chevrolets.

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24 Hours of Le Mans 2026, Hypercars

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The three-time defending champions, representing the hopes of the Maranello firm thanks to the 499P, which is already making its fourth participation.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

This latest edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans posed a crucial question: would Ferrari achieve a fourth consecutive victory, following the wins of the #51 in 2023, the #50 in 2024, and the #83 last year?

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24 Hours of Le Mans, LMGT3 and LMP2

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The #74 of Kessel Racing for Blattner, Marschall and Lorenzo Patrese, another son of a former Grand Prix driver placed 9th at Le Mans.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

For the 2026 edition, 25 LMGT3s were entered, including the 18 competing in the full WEC championship. This represents nine manufacturers involved: Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche.

In the first two rounds of the WEC, McLaren particularly stood out, narrowly missing victory at Imola in the final hour due to a mechanical failure, but winning at Spa.

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Hugues Vanhoolandt at the Spa Classics

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The undisputed star of this field, this Porsche 917 finished second in the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona and won the 1970 Spa 1000 km.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Since 2011, Spa Classic has been the unmissable spring event (May 22-24) for historic racing enthusiasts at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The other historic event on the Spa calendar is the well-established 6 Hours of Spa Historic, held at the end of September each year. Spa Classic is now part of the new Le Mans Classic Series, culminating in the next edition of Le Mans Classic this July.

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Retro Classics Essen 2026

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

After 35 years, the traditional Techno Classica Essen show became Retro Classics Essen in 2026 (held April 8-12), following the takeover of the organization by the team behind Retro Classics Stuttgart.

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Squarebacks to Love

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Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Sqaureback by Panther Westwinds chassis 15275

Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

I wanted to sell our old Suburban, but I haven’t sold a car in years, and so someone told me to go to Facebook and look up groups on Chevy Suburban ‘Squarebacks’. And sure enough, that’s what the call them nowadays, Squarebacks, a term that presumably can be applied to just about anything with a square back. Ok, I get it. I’m not so square after all.

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Juan Manuel Fangio Tribute

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Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt,
Captions by staff

From the Archives, September 2011

Juan Manuel Fangio impressed the European racing scene the second he stepped foot in the Old World in 1949. In his first season with the Maserati 4CLT/48, he won the San Remo, Pau and Roussillon Gran Prix. In 1950, he won the Gran Prix of Pau again, with a Maserati 4CLT/50. But it was at San Remo where Fangio truly proved his worth as both a driver and mechanic. A big end went the day before the event. That night he removed the sump, found the bad bearing, and polished the crankshaft with a piece of emery cloth. This alone took him two hours. Then he installed a new bearing and fixed it so it wouldn’t spin. Finally, “I told the mechanics to put the sump on while I went to bed. And the next day I won the race.”

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Abarth to Siata at Auto e Moto d’Epoca

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1961 Abarth 700 Bialbero Record Monza ex-Scuderia Sant’Ambroeus

Last week Hugues Vanhoolandt brought us the F1 cars at this year’s Auto e Moto d’Epoca, as well as a few other race cars of interest. This week he brings us cars from, and in alphabetical order, Abarth, Bandini, Cisitalia, Diato, Ferrari, Fiat Innocenti, Lancia and Siata. At least.

Captions and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Read F1s at Auto e Moto [Read more…] about Abarth to Siata at Auto e Moto d’Epoca

Vanhoolandt at the Zoute Grand Prix, 2025

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This other DS21 convertible is part of a special series by the coachbuilder Chapron called ‘Le Caddy’. This model, dating from 1967, has the same technical characteristics as the previous one.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

The traditional Zoute Grand Prix, created in 2010, became the Zoute Grand Prix Car Week in 2025. Indeed, this event began as a classic car rally to which a GT car rally, an auction, and a Concours d’Elegance were added over time. The Car Week title is justified by the fact that, since this year, not one but two auctions have been held in Knokke, an upscale resort on the Belgian coast, with the Broad Arrow auction house joining the traditional Bonhams sale.

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Antwerp Concours d’Elegance, 2025

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1923 Amilcar C4 cyclecar bodied in the style of Duval in the early 70s. 4 cylinder 1-liter engine.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Antwerp Concours d’Elegance, September 7, 2025

In the shadow of International Concours d’Elégance, the Antwerp Concours in Belgium has managed to carve out a place on the calendar of important events. Organized by a small team in the gardens of Belvedere Castle near Antwerp, this concours celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year.

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Antwerp Concours Part 2

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1963 Alpine M63. Designed by French engineer Marcel Hubert, this M63 took part to the 1964 Sebring 12 Hours. Approximately five cars were built and were powered by a 996cc 4-cylinder engine developing 95 hp.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

We continue with the Antwerp Concours.

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Alfa Romeo Parade at Goodwood was Super!

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

This year we found Goodwood celebrating a remarkable 50-year period of motorsport success for Alfa Romeo with a selection of machinery that begins with pre-war successes and ends with World Championship win in 1975. To celebrate this, a fantastic parade of iconic Alfa Romeo racing cars was organized. The parade brought together everything from the earliest racing models, such as the RL Targa Florio’s of the 1920s, to the 33/TT/3 sports prototypes of the early 1970s.

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