Spa 24 Hours
| Blancpain Endurance Series | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
| First race | 1924 |
| Duration | 24 Hours |
| Most wins (driver) | Eric van de Poele (5) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | BMW (22) |
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually in Belgium since 1923 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It is currently sponsored by Total S.A..
History
The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans was run. It debuted in 1924 over a 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) circuit on public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot, under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB). The present 7.004 kilometres (4.352 mi) circuit was inaugurated in 1979.
The Spa 24 Hours was part of the European Touring Car Championship from 1966 to 1973, again in 1976 and from 1982 to 1988 (with the exception of 1987 when it was part of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship). The event also counted towards the World Sportscar Championship in 1953 and the World Endurance Championship in 1981. As on the Nürburgring, both a 24h and a 1000 km race is held at Spa, as the 1000 km Spa for sports car racing were introduced in 1966.
Cars entered have spanned from the Russian Moskvitch and models with sub-1 liter engines such as the NSU Prinz TT to the luxurious V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3. Tuned by Mercedes-AMG, the 6834 cc and 420 hp (313 kW) so-called "Red pig" finished as high as second in 1971.
With the participation of Swiss Lilian Bryner on the victorious Ferrari 550 of the BMS Scuderia Italia team, the 2004 race marked the first time in history that a female driver was part of the winning team of a 24-hour endurance race in a Gran Turismo with more than 500 hp (370 kW).
The best manufacturer wins the Coupe du Roi (King's Cup), which is not necessarily the race winners. The cup is won by the manufacturer with the most points, accrued by cars that are made by the same manufacturer.[1] For example, Australian car manufacturer Holden won the Coupe du Roi in 1986 despite their cars finishing the race in 18th, 22nd and 23rd positions outright.[2]
Results on the 15km track
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| Year | Car | Pilots | Distance | Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Bignan 2L |  Henri Springuel Maurice Becquet |
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| 1925 | Chenard-Walcker | André Lagache René Léonard |
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| 1926 | Peugeot 174S | André Boillot Louis Rigal |
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| 1927 | Excelsior | Robert Sénéchal.svg.png){kind=small} Nicolas Caerels |
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| 1928 | Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 S |  Boris Ivanowski[NB 1] .svg.png){kind=small} Attilio Marinoni |
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| 1929 | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750SS | Robert Benoist Attilio Marinoni |
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| 1930 | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750GS | Attilio Marinoni Pietro Ghersi |
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| 1931 | Mercedes-Benz SSK | Dimitri Djordjadze[NB 2] Goffredo Zehender |
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| 1932 | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM | Antonio Brivio Eugenio Siena |
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| 1933 | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM |  Louis Chiron Luigi Chinetti |
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| 1934 | Bugatti Type 44 | Jean Desvignes Norbert Mahé |
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| 1935 | No race held | ||||
| 1936 | Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A | Francesco Severi Raymond Sommer |
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| 1937 | No race held | ||||
| 1938 | Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B | Carlo Pintacuda Francesco Severi |
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| 1939 1947 |
No races held | ||||
| 1948 | Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports |  St. John Horsfall Leslie Johnson |
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| 1949 | Ferrari 166MM |  Luigi Chinetti Jean Lucas |
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Results on the 14km track
| Year | Car | Pilots | Distance | Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 1952 |
No races held | ||||
| 1953 | Ferrari 375MM Pinin |  Giuseppe Farina Mike Hawthorn |
World Sportscar Championship | ||
| 1954 1963 |
No races held | ||||
| 1964 | Mercedes-Benz 300SE | Robert Crevits Gustave Gosselin |
3962,100 | 164,825 | |
| 1965 | BMW 1800 Ti/SA | Pascal Ickx Gérard Langlois van Ophem |
3812,591 | 158,855 | |
| 1966 | BMW 2000ti |  Hubert Hahne Jacky Ickx |
4048,368 | 168,681 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1967 | Porsche 911 | Jean-Pierre Gaban Noël Van Assche |
4052,883 | 168,867 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1968 | Porsche 911 | Erwin Kremer Willi Kauhsen Helmut Kelleners |
4004,827 | 166,867 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1969 | Porsche 911 | Guy Chasseuil Claude Ballot-Lena |
4272,231 | 187,006 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1970 | BMW 2800CS |  Günther Huber Helmut Kelleners |
4252,407 | 177,183 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1971 | Ford Capri RS | Dieter Glemser.svg.png){kind=small} Alex Soler-Roig |
4385,100 | 182,690 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1972 | Ford Capri RS 2600 | Jochen Mass Hans-Joachim Stuck |
4498,436 | 187,431 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1973 | BMW 3.0 CSL |  Toine Hezemans Dieter Quester |
4422,980 | 184,290 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1974 | BMW 3.0 CSi | Jean Xhenceval Alain Peltier Pierre Dieudonné |
4147,289 | 172,804 | Trophée de l'Avenir |
| 1975 | BMW 3.0 CSi | Pierre Dieudonné Jean Xhenceval Hughes de Fierlandt |
4249,270 | 177,053 | Trophée de l'Avenir |
| 1976 | BMW 3.0 CSL | Jean-Marie Detrin Nico Demuth Charles Van Stalle |
4087,904 | 170,329 | European Touring Car Championship |
| 1977 | BMW 530i | Eddy Joosen Jean-Claude Andruet |
4083,835 | 170,159 | Trophée de l'Avenir |
| 1978 | Ford Capri III 3.0S | Gordon Spice Teddy Pilette |
4315,594 | 179,816 | Trophée de l'Avenir |
Results on 7km track
The current version of the Spa 24 Hours is an event under the Blancpain Endurance Series calendar, although it was previously run as part of the FIA GT Championship featuring GT1 and GT2 machinery, and by various touring car series. Currently, the cars run fall under the FIA GT3 and GT3 Cup classifications.
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Ivanowski was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution
- ↑ Djordjadze was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution
References
- ↑ Vincent Wouters (27 July 2015), Spa Post-Race Notebook, SportsCar360
- ↑ Gricey's King's Cup Story (Spa 1986)
- ↑ "1993 Spa 24 Hours". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ↑ "28 Jul 2014 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT takes home win after nail-biting finish". total24hours.com. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 24 Hours of Spa. |
- Total Spa 24 Hours website: Available in English, French and Dutch
- 1971 results
- 1972 results
- 1981 results
- FIA GT Website