Spa Six Hours: a Ford GT40 fest no more?

Well, a Ford GT40 did manage to win to Spa Six Hours. But it wasn’t the traditional GT40 total domination. In fact, a Lotus Elan broke the hegemony and slotted itself in second place. A report.

As has become the tradition, the Ford GT40 is the most likely car to take victory in the Spa Six Hours. Hence its popularity. Of the top-ten qualifiers, nine were GT40s. The odd one out – a Jaguar E-Type – was ninth. The GT40 manned by Marcus Count Oeynhausen and Nico Verdonck put in a 3’07”361, 2.2 seconds faster than the Bryant/Cottingham GT40. A time difference that was merely down to the climate conditions. In the race, fastest lap was a full 30 seconds faster than the pole lap.

Many an observer’s eye was following the performance of Dario and Marino Franchitti, supported by Nascar legend Jimmie Johnson… in a Ford GT40 of course. They looked to be on course for a podium, if not more, until they were delayed towards the end of the race and had to be satisfied with seventh overall.

Weather

As the pictures make clear, part of the race ran under typical Belgian weather conditions – variations of wet – which made horsepower no longer the sole determinizing factor. Traditionally, the result of the Spa Six Hours is a variation on the starting grid: all GT40s at the front, just in a different order. Not so this year, where a strong, consistent drive pushed the Lotus Elan of Andrew Jordan, Sam Tordoff and James Dorlin up the ranks to a strong and surprising second place. The gap with the winners – Andy Priaulx, Gordon Shedden and Miles Griffiths – was one lap.

Ace drivers

Now, if you know your motorsport names, you will have recognized quite a few. Priaulx, Shedden and Jordan are all touring car aces. Added to this, the regular driver/owners have all invested in top coaching, ever improving their lap times as well. In short, this means that at Spa Six Hours, we start seeing the same thing as what has happened at the Goodwood Revival. Classic racing is becoming cut-throat business, where you need a top-prepared car and crew if you want to be able to score a victory or a podium. Which is in many ways a good thing. For sure, for now the Ford GT40 seems to remain just the car to have for long-distance races, but maybe when the conditions are right, a nimble Lotus can stir up things quite a bit.

Full show

Next to the main show on Saturday, Spa Six Hours can count on a full support program. This brings Formula 1 from the Masters Series. Race 1 went to Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C, race 2 saw Werner d’Ansembourg’s Brabham BT49 triumph. With further GTs, Endurance Legends, Pre-War Sportscars and the Belcar Historic Cup, a visit to Spa Six Hours is always worth the journey.