Introduction
A set fixture on the historic racing calendar since 2011, the 2025 edition of the Spa Classic once again included the ingredients that make this annual event so revered. Spread over ten categories over 400 historic racing cars were entered this year ranging from a 1950 Aston Martin right through to the Porsche and Ferrari GT2 from the late noughties. In addition to the sports car grids, touring cars also take centre stage with a special night race for the Heritage Touring Cup. This is a nod to the period during which the Spa 24 Hours was run for touring cars. There was also time in the busy schedule for members of enthusiast clubs to take to the track with their cars. Among the cars exercised during the weekend was a fabulous Lamborghini Miura S.
Needless to say, the conditions were changeable throughout the weekend but this did not affect the action on track too much. Our photographers were on track throughout the weekend and have returned with this class-by-class 210-shot gallery.

Racing into the night
Qualifying on Friday was run under dry conditions but the weather changed quite dramatically after the lunch break on Saturday with the arrival of unrelenting rain. This meant that the grid for Saturday evening's Sixties' Endurance race was not particularly representative. Fastest in qualifying had been three Jaguar E-Types but under the challenging conditions as night fell, the Cobra shared by Olivier Hart and Bram Bontrup emerged in the lead of the race. Hart's fastest lap was three seconds ahead of the nearest rival, so it was a well deserved win.
In the 2.0-Litre Cup race we were treated to another masterclass from Oliver Bryant in the Porsche 911 he drove solo. Also worth a mention was the recovery drive from Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen, who had to start from the back of the grid after a minor mechanical issue had prevented them from setting a time in qualifying. Their charge up the order ended in fourth overall and second in class.
The two Gentleman Challenge races were quite eventful and the first was won by Gregor Fisken and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in a Cobra 260 and the second by John Spiers and Nigel Greensall in a Jaguar-engined Lister Costin.

Touring legends
Only at the Spa Classic does the Heritage Touring Cup field have an additional one-hour night race with a separate nighttime free practice session. As has been the case for several years now, the fight for outright glory required either a 24-valve Ford Capri or a 24-valve BMW 3.0 CSL. These were very rare in period and are rarer still today, so all the cars racing are faithful tributes to the original. That means they can be campaigned at the very limit by some very skilled drivers. Scoring his second win of the evening, Olivier Hart showcased his wet weather prowess once again in the BMW 3.0 CSL that had been started by his father David. He won the night race, with another startlingly quick fastest lap. The one-hour race on Sunday saw Saturday's second placed Maxime Guenat take revenge his psychedelically liveried Ford Capri. Thanks to a well timed perfectly executed pit stop by his Equire Europe team, he won the race ahead of Hart.
The second touring car race of the weekend was the Classic Touring Challenge run over one hour on Sunday morning. Although Nigel Greensall and John Spiers had crossed the line in first with their Mustang, a series of post-race penalties scrambled the results. Eventually, it was the Mustang driven by Bram Bontrup that was declared the winner.

Classic Endurance Racing
The two Classic Endurance Racing grids celebrate the true heyday of sports car car. Especially the CER1 field would have been to many enthusiasts' liking with a capacity grid that included a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917, a gloriously howling Ferrari 512 M and a whole fleet of Lola T70s. During qualifying, one of the T70s had topped the charts. This was hardly surprising as it was shared by historic racing ace Chris Ward and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. David Hart, however, took an early lead in the race with his Ferrari 512 M but he had to pull over after the electric system had been flooded by the very wet track. Later in the race, Armand Mille looked set to grab victory until what turned out to be a faulty sensor suggested oil pressure issues. After a precautionary stop, he got back out and set the fastest lap of the race but had to settle for fourth. The win went to the Lola T70 Mk3 of Nick Chester and Robin Ward, who finished ahead of the pole-sitting T70 Mk3B that had been nursing a damaged gearbox.
The CER2 race showed that under wet conditions the tables can really be turned by favouring the heavier GT cars instead of the prototypes that would be much faster in the dry. In this case, it was the Porsche 935 K3 of the German Busch brothers that claimed a surprise victory ahead of Maxime Guenat in the Cosworth DFV engined TOJ.

Modern racing legends
The Group C era of racing has long achieved a mythical status and the grid at the Spa Classic surely underlined why. The entry included no fewer than four Nissans, a colourful mix of Porsche 956s and 962Cs and also a very rare Peugeot 905. Starting from pole position for both races was Kriton Lendoudis in his Sauber Mercedes C11. The Greek racer fought close battles in both races with Olivier Galant in a Nissan R90CK. The first race was settled in Galant's favour while Lendoudis won the second.
The most modern cars of the weekend were out in the two Endurance Racing Legends (ERL1) grids. ERL catered to all prototypes and GT1 cars, while ERL2 was reserved for three generations of GT2 cars. The first race of the weekend was for ERL1, which saw Emanuel Collard start from pole position in the very Pescarolo-Courage that he raced in period. He finished a delayed sixth in the race, which was won by François Perrodo in an Audi R8. The second race was red flagged after two laps behind the safety car due to poor visibility.
Collard was also on pole for the two ERL2 races with a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that had won the Spa 24 Hours outright. As a professional driver, Collard received a time penalty during the races, which helped Maxwell Lynn score a deserved win in race win with a Ferrari F430 GTC. In the second race, it was Sebastian Glaser, who grabbed the win with his much earlier Porsche 911 GT2.

Final thoughts
Despite the changeable conditions that have made the Circuit Spa Francorchamps so famous and infamous, the 2025 edition of the Spa Classic was another fabulous celebration of motorsport's rich history. Not only did the participants and visitors brave the conditions but so did the countless marshals without whom racing would not be possible. There was little time to dry out as round three, the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or, was less than a fortnight away. All of the highlights and much more can be found in our 210-shot gallery.