FROM 25th THROUGH TO 29th SEPTEMBER
Heading for a 14th victory for the legendary Ford GT40 at the Spa Six Hours Endurance?
True to tradition it has become one of the highlight meetings for all out-and-out fans of classic cars on the ‘greatest circuit in the world’! From the 25th through to 29th September the Spa Six Hours 2019 will allow spectators to take the time machine on board, all the more so seeing the top event, the Spa Six Hours Endurance, will be offering up another royal confrontation between machines that left their mark in the field of motorsport …
Boasting in excess of one hundred cars on the starting grid, the battle promises to be intense on Saturday 28th September as from 15.55hrs. With no less than 13 victories going to the Ford GT40 machines, having remained undefeated in the last 8 editions of the classic Ardennes event. There will be … 15 on the grid, with of course last year’s #1 winners, Marcus Graf Von Oeynhausen and Nico Verdonck! For the experienced German and the young Belgian, a second victory in a row could well be tricky taking into account the high level of the competition.
Specialists in the field such as Walker, Meaden, Stretton, Davies, Newall, Hart, Meins, Bryant, Cottingham, Nolte, Gläsel, Le Blanc, Schryver, Guenat, Mahé, Hancock will all be at the wheel of a GT40! And some will be well partnered as the entrants’ list includes such names as Nicolas Minassian, Rob Huff, Gordon Shedden, Nicky Pastorelli, not forgetting a certain Eric van de Poele, teamed up with the American James Farley! It looks promising … all the more so as it is the year of the Ford GT40 – Le Mans ’69 Revival.
If on the one hand the Jaguar E-Types remain the Ford GT40s main rivals, the big cat’s last victory dates back to 2010 with the trio Minshaw-Stretton-Minshaw, also victorious two years earlier. As such a handful of Jaguar cars have every intention of bringing an end to the GT40’s winning series, with the specialists Clark-McCaig-Smith, Minshaw, Burton-Finburgh-Newall, Hunt-Blakeney Edwards-Hunt, Melling-Minshaw-Pattle and Halusa-Halusa- Megrue.
One will also need to keep a close eye on the powerful Shelby Cobra cars, with Thierry de Latre du Bosqueau and Christophe Van Riet acting as the locomotives for the black-yellow-red teams, the appearance of Eric De Doncker teamed up with De Beaumont and Gaudard, as also the fearsome Guenat-Mahé duo, however danger could rather come from the impressive and brazen Lotus Elan, especially if the weather decides to complicate matters.
In 26R, Shapecraft or S1 versions, these small racing machines created by Colin Chapman will be better armed than ever before, with such references as Schryver, Wilson, Balfe, Wolfe, Lynn, Haddon, Tromans, Tomlin, Pink, Fox, Twyman and Hancock, not forgetting the presence of a certain Sir Chris Hoy, six-fold Olympic Games track cycling champion, reconverted to motorsport since his retirement from two wheels!
Among the unmissable of the Spa Six Hours Endurance, impossible not to spot the superb Aston Martin DB4 GT DP214 of Friedrich-Hadfield-Mallock, the Bizzarrini 5300 GT (Muelder-Traber-Seefried) or the Iso A3/C Grifo
Competizione (Nolte-X), the stocky but performing TVR Griffith of Reuben-Reuben-Whitaker, not forgetting the savage Elva GT160 of Birch-Burnett-Bradley and Faterni’s Porsche 904/6.
The highly eclectic grid will be made up of Marcos 1800 GT, Morgan +4 Supersport, Triumph TR4 and TR4 SLR, Ford Falcon and Galaxie, Gilbern 1800 GT, as also Volvo Amazon and even Mini Countryman!
Once again Belgian teams will be there in force, with renowned names in the field of historic racing such as Pierre-Alain Thibaut, Christian Dumolin, Marc Devis, Freddy Van Sprundel, Geert Boels, Paul Lejeune…
For its 27th edition, the Spa Six Hours Endurance once again promises to be a great vintage bringing back to life the legendary and unmatched throaty roar of the engines. See you in Spa!
© All details to be found on www.spasixhours.com
