I discovered this event when I assembled my automotive bucket list for 2017. At that time I spotted this classic car event in Spa that fitted well into my schedule and could still provide fresh impulses to my calendar that seem to develop a certain routine. The approaching 2018 Spa Classic offers an excellent opportunity to recall this event and to kick off with another new column on classic car races. There are great many similar events in almost all legendary race tracks, but the Spa Classic is hosted by one of the most classic race tracks in both positive and less positive sense.
The Francorchamps area is already truly particular location. The Walloon Region does its best to serve the viable tourist demand with its tempting forest landscape, romantic castles, and bittersweet weather. In a country with a notable coastline, it would be difficult to outperform other regions if the Walloons were not able to come up with something unique. One of these alternative strategies (for luring tourists) is the Spa Francorchamps race track, which breeds a flourishing car culture. This is apparent at first sight. The city is already full of interesting cars, not the fast and furious way (no tuned Calibras or Golfs), but more of the distinct character and for the connoisseurs, like a (now affordable) Citroen C6 or Saab 900 Turbo that the locals are driving.
Francorchamps is not just a place where a mayor lobbied out to host the national racing circuit, but it’s been the center for automotive pilgrims for generations. In the hope that the city is not tapping the primary income generating tourists with speed cameras, I did my best not to lose the first exciting car I spotted, a Canary Lotus Esprit, one of my favorite cars since the movie the Spy who loved me. The owner came with a Lotus club, but Spa was full of exotic brands that weekend, it seemed to me that all the TVRs of the world had gathered in Spa behind the old pits.
In addition to the races, tourists sessions had been arranged for every day of the event, allowing private enthusiasts to experience the circuit, drivers of all age with or without a helmet take part in this. When you see a new Civic, an XJS Shooting Break and a Volvo Amazon driving around, you might just as well think, you bought your ticket to a carousel.
In addition to the club meetings, the organizers came up with a number of programs from the Michel Vaillant gallery to the motorized stunt show, but the crown jewel was an auction organized by Bonhams. In a country with such an esteem classic car culture, this was an evident weapon of choice.
I’ve seen a lot in Belgium, It is difficult to get me excited about another Alfa GTV race car or one more 911, and I see Gullwings by the dozen in Essen, but the Benetton F1 Racecar, driven by Schumacher and Piquet led me made my day. This Benetton was piloted by two legends who gathered a total of 8 championship titles in their career (even if the car itself only achieved a third place among constructors in that year).
Every year the organizers put together a full calendar of events with a careful selection of race tracks, with a certain variation from year to year. Last year, the Hungaroring Classic received a wild card and thanked with considerable popularity. This year Hungaroring is out, and Le Mans Classics returned, but Spa remained as an evergreen.
This year, the 2018 Calendar of the Series By Peter Auto will be as follows:
Espiritu de Montjuïc 2018 – 6, 7, 8 April
Spa-Classic – 18, 19, 20 May
Grand Prix de l’Age D’or (Dijon-Prenois circuit) 8, 9, 10 June
Dix Mille Tours (Paul Ricard) – 31st August – 1, 2 September
Imola-Classic – 26, 27, 28 October
I guess the changes in the calendar aim to satisfy the drivers, since they bear the largest part of the financial burden, as these cars require very serious investment (seeing the auction headlines), not to mention the risk of their life on the track. The racing series produces a very impressive fleet of cars, which was divided into seven classes (this year’s grid will be slightly different):
Classic Endurance Racing 1 (prototypes & GTs from 1966 to 1974)
Classic Endurance Racing 2 (prototypes & GTs from 1972 to 1981)
Euro F2 Classic (single-seaters from 1967 to 1978)
Group C Racing (prototypes from 1982 to 1993)
The Heritage Touring Cup (touring cars from 1966 to 1984)
Sixties’ Endurance (prototypes & GTs from 1950 to 1966)
Trofeo Nastro Rosso (Italian GTs from 1950 to 1965)
Unfortunately, I could stay only for a single day, and thus I only saw a fraction of the cars in action, but watching the Lancia Beta in the middle of the repairs, or the M1 cooling down after the race and parked next to a beautiful Alfa GTV gearing up for action, tells more about the feeling of being there than watching an entire race without ever leaving my seat.
Group C
The cars of Le Mans’ era are one of the most spectacular part of the event. Unfortunately, I missed some of this when I was wandering around the pits, but this appears to be the most promising event on the basis of the press gallery.
Heritage Touring Cup
The most spectacular part of this class is the pile of sharknose bimmers (635 CSI), but that does not mean that a 240 Volvo or the Ford Capris could not deliver a fight.
Sixties’ Endurance
The roaring of Sixties’ Endurance cars power-sliding out of the la Source still hammers in my head. E Types, 911s, Marcos’ and Cobras constitute the fields backbone, and they continued with their laps after sunset.
Below I included a couple of videos to get the feeling of intensity when the cars are accelerating out from La Source.
This is one features the chicane before the finish line:
I hope those pictures reflect my positive impressions of this event. At the same time, I do not want to drive the expectations too high. This is not the WTCC, do not expect bodychecks and aggressive maneuvers. These private race cars often worth over half a million euros or more, and are driven by the wealthiest of the world. Of course, there are other categories (such as the F2) that may be not as excessively expensive (mind you, these cars were also driven once by Regazzoni, Ickx and others who later became F-1 legends), the sight of ferocious 911s from battling Mustangs with their roaring V8. All the races I got to see featured several incidents (going off the track, collision or intensive duels). And the Spa Classic is not just about seeing automotive superstars of old times in action or at close range or when being serviced, but we can also get to places where we would never have a chance on an F-1 weekend.
