A classic classic
Now in its 31st year, the annual Spa Six Hours ranks as one of the most prestigious events on the historic racing calendar. Run over six hours into the night on of the world's greatest circuits with a bumper grid, the event is a real test of man and machine. The actual six-hour race on Saturday evening is the culmination of a busy week of track action with a total of 13 different race groups, covering the entire spectrum of historic racing from the early pre-War cars right to the Masters Endurance Legends, which have only just retired from contemporary racing. Particularly impressive was the grid of the Masters Racing Legends with close to 30 Grand Prix cars from the 1970s and early 1980s. The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps also lived up to its expectations with changeable weather conditions. At one point, the rain was so severe that the night race of the Masters Endurance Legends on Friday evening had to be cancelled.
Our photographers braved the Ardennes weather to create this class-by-class 170-shot gallery.

Changeable conditions
The conditions were worst on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, so affected the support races more than the Spa Six Hours. In good Spa-Francorchamps tradition, the track was wet one session and drying the next, making every session a challenge for the drivers. Among the support races were the French Formula 2 and Formula 3 championship and the RAC Woodcote Challenge, which featured a very tight race with Roger Wills winning the one-hour race by just over a second.
One of the largest grids of the weekend was for the two Historic Grand Prix Association races with 47 single seaters entered. The diverse field included iconic Grand Prix cars like the ex-Jim Clark Lotus 25 and an ex-Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo P3. The sharp-end of the grid was made up of 2.5-litre Grand Prix cars with Charlie Martin qualifying his Cooper T53 on pole position. Run under virtually dry conditions, the first saw a close battle that was eventually settled in favour of another Cooper T53, driven by Rüdiger Friedrichs. He won again in the next race but the very wet track saw John Spiers move up the order and challenge for the lead in his front-engined Maserati 250F.

Masters Historic Racing
With four different race groups, Masters Historic Racing provided the bulk of the support program. The 26-strong Masters Racing Legends grid of three-litre Grand Prix cars would be enough to headline most other events. Following a free practice session on Thursday morning, qualifying was curtailed to just a pair of hot laps by a brief shower. Matthew Wrigley in a Tyrrell 011 just pipped Sam Hancock in a Fittipaldi for pole position. Putting in a particularly impressive lap was ex-Formula 1 driver Thierry Boutsen, who qualified his Shadow fifth overall and was nearly two seconds faster than Nick Padmore in the Fittipaldi class. Wrigley continued his qualifying form by winning both races, securing the championship with one race meeting to go. In what was his first ever Formula 1 race, Dutchman Olivier Hart finished third overall in an Arrows A3.
Hart was on fire all weekend and together with his father David also took an outright victory in the Masters Sports Car Legends race with the family's Lola T70. After the first Masters Endurance Legends race was cancelled due to heavy rain, Stuart Wiltshire drove his Peugeot 908 to a dominant win in the second race. Julian Thomas showcased his skill in the 90-minute Gentlemen Drivers with his Shelby Cobra Daytona, although Olivier Hart came achingly close in the Cobra that had been started by Bram Bontrup.

Spa Six Hours
Ahead of the six-hour race, there were two qualifying sessions this year, scheduled for Thursday and Friday evening. Not only were the two 45-minute sessions held in complete darkness, they were also run on a wet track. The 79-strong field treaded carefully to get a lap in with some entrants opting not to go out during the very wet Friday qualifying. Clinching pole position by quite a margin was the GT40 shared by local specialist Nico Verdonck and German Graf Marcus von Oeyenhausen. With a six-hour race ahead, the qualifying position was of little consequence.
The pole sitter nevertheless got the best start and by the first hour lead by less than a second over the GT40 of Eric van de Poele and Ford CEO James Farley. Refuelling is a crucial factor during the Spa Six Hours, with only a handful of pumps available for the very large grid. The GT40 shared by Nicky Pastorelli and Olivier and David Hart decided to avoid the crowd with an alternative strategy, which brought them in contention. A surprise rival was the Norwegian Ginetta G4R, which actually lead by the third hour. Sadly, its race ended in disaster after losing a rear wheel.
After the night fell, it was the Hart GT40 that held a comfortable lead over the pre-race favourites; the GT40 shared by Andre Lotterer and Marino and Dario Franchitti. Lotterer did put the pressure on Olivier Hart and the young Dutchman made a mistake, which allowed the German to get ahead. So after six hours of racing, the Spa Six Hours was won by the GT40 of Lotterer and the Franchittis. Hart did recover to finish second, ahead of the Lotus Elan shared by Gordon Shedden, Ben Barker and Rory Butcher.

Final thoughts
After an entertaining three-day build up, the Spa Six Hours once again underlined why it is such a prestigious race. Due to the challenging conditions there were quite a few safety car periods but this also kept the race quite tight. It was great to see the little Ginetta take the lead and we felt really bad for Olivier Hart but with Lotterer and the Franchittis, the race got very well deserved winners. All this excitement and much more can be found in our 170-shot gallery.