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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

Spa Francorchamps

The 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps 2023

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If the BMW M4 GT3 is only in its second year of competition, the German manufacturer has long been faithful to the 24 Hours of Francorchamps. Thanks to the #98, entered by the German team Rowe Racing and driven by the trio Philipp Eng/Marco Wittmann/Nick Yelloly, the Munich manufacturer won the race for the 25th time in 75 editions.

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Each year, the 24 Hours of Francorchamps is the biggest race in the world reserved for GT class cars. 2023 was the 75th edition of the race, held on July 1-2. Next year it will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Formerly reserved for touring cars, GTs have been on the grid since 2001 and since then their success has been undeniable, the grid comprising no less than 70 cars this year, representing 8 different manufacturers. This represents no less than 251 drivers entered, the cars of the PRO class having only three drivers while, in the other classes, the crews have four drivers.

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Spa Classic Returns to Francorchamps

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Welcome back to Spa-Francorchamps and Spa Classic!

Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Spa Classic is finally back on the Francorchamps circuit! After a hiatus of two years (we all know why), the tenth edition was able to take place in this month of May and moreover, without rain, which is not uncommon here. More than 380 cars came together to challenge the “Roller-coaster of the Ardennes”, seven kilometers long with its twenty turns marked out by descents and climbs. Nine grids represented the different eras of endurance racing from the post-war period until the early 2000s, which I invite you to discover here.

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Vanhoolandt at the Spa 6 Hours Classic

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It seems that the track is not wide enough …

Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

Spa Six Hours is an annual race meeting held at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. This year, on September 24-26, the race meeting was held again after a one-year hiatus due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Although it was not yet back to normality as some of the grids were not as full as before, the spectacle was there with contested races and the typical Ardennes rain on Sunday that put the drivers to their limits.

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Spa Francorchamps 24 Hour Blancpain GT

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Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt

July 26-29

This year’s Blancpain GT 24 hours at Spa was won by Tom Blomqvist, Christian Krognes, Philipp Eng in the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. Alexander Sims, Jens Klingmann, Nicky Catsburg, Rowe Racing, BMW M6 GT3 took second and Kelvin van der Linde, Sheldon van der Linde, Jeffrey Schmidt, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS finished third. But the race has a long, 70 year tradition of 24 hour motor racing that was featured at this year’s event.

The Spa 24 Hour race, which has now become the greatest endurance race for GT cars, was born in 1924, one year after the birth of the Le Mans 24 Hours. During a period from 1924 to 1953, the same type of cars were entered in both Le Mans and Spa, and wins were shared among manufacturers like Chenard et Walcker, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin and even Ferrari. [Read more…] about Spa Francorchamps 24 Hour Blancpain GT

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