Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race

Racetrack (2008)

2001 24-hour race

Mercedes-AMG GT at the 2017 24-hour race

The Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race for automobiles (there was also a 24-hour motorcycle race in Liège for motorbikes from 1971 to 2003 ) (also known as 24 Spa , Spa 24 or Spa 24 hours for short ) is a long-distance race for touring cars and GT sports car that will be held on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium .

history

Based on an idea by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the race was first turned off the Royal Automobile in 1924 , just one year after the 24 Hours of Le Mans , on a 14.863 km circuit on public roads between Francorchamps , Malmedy and Stavelot Club Belgium organizes. In 1979 the route was shortened to 6.976 km.

The Spa 24 hours were part of the European Touring Car Championship and the World Sports Car Championship in 1953 and 1981 from 1966 to 1973. As at the Nürburgring , a 24-hour race and a 1000 km race are held; the Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km race was introduced in 1966.

The range of participating vehicles ranged from Russian Moskvich-412 and NSU Prinz TTS with 996 cc to the luxurious Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 V8 engine built by AMG to the so-called Red Sau ( Red Pig ). This heavy and fast vehicle with 6,834 cc and 420 hp was only "only" second in 1971 because frequent refueling was necessary and the tire wear was high.

After that, the race was not part of a racing series until 2000, but touring cars from various national and international championships were still used. The situation changed from 2001 when the 24-hour race was added to the FIA GT Championship program. From then on only Gran Turismos were allowed to start. Until the end of the FIA ​​GT, the race remained the season highlight of the championship. Since the GT1 World Championship , which emerged from the FIA ​​GT, relied exclusively on sprint races. The initially planned FIA GT2 European Championship was not implemented due to a lack of interest on the part of the teams. The run was therefore announced as the only race of the season as the FIA ​​GT2 European Cup, in which, in addition to GT2 vehicles , a number of other GT cars were allowed. In 2011, the series organizer SRO Motorsports Group founded the GT endurance series Blancpain Endurance Series , which already included the race in its debut season.

Trivia

With the participation of the Swiss Lilian Bryner in the successful Ferrari 550 from the BMS Scuderia Italia team , in 2004 a woman won for the first time in the history of 24-hour races in a GT racing car with more than 500 hp. In 1996 and 1997 Sabine Reck won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in a BMW M3 Group N touring car with 321 hp.

Overall winner

year	team	Overall winner	vehicle	distance	championship
1924		Henri Springuel Maurice Béquet	Bignan 2L	1879.992 km	was not part of any championship
1925		André Lagache René Léonard	Chenard & Walcker	2203.920 km	was not part of any championship
1926		André Boillot Louis Rigal	Peugeot 174S	2294,600 km	was not part of any championship
1927		Robert Sénéchal Nicolas Caerels	Excelsior	2203.200 km	was not part of any championship
1928		Boris Ivanovsky Attilio Marinoni	Alfa Romeo 6C 1500SS	2463.900 km	was not part of any championship
1929		Robert Benoist Attilio Marinoni	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750SS	2441.200 km	was not part of any championship
1930		Pietro Ghersi Attilio Marinoni	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750GS	2624.640 km	was not part of any championship
1931		Goffredo Zehender Dimitri Djordjadze	Mercedes-Benz SSK	2543.750 km	was not part of any championship
1932	Scuderia Ferrari	Antonio Brivio Eugenio Siena	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300MM	2758.920 km	was not part of any championship
1933		Louis Chiron Luigi Chinetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 "Monza"	2806.316 km	was not part of any championship
1936	Scuderia Ferrari	Raymond Sommer Francesco Severi	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Compr.	3001.032 km	was not part of any championship
1938	Alfa Corse	Carlo Maria Pintacuda Francesco Severi	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Compr.	2996.632 km	was not part of any championship
1948	Aston Martin	John Horsfall Leslie Johnson	Aston Martin DB1		was not part of any championship
1949	Luigi Chinetti	Jean Lucas Luigi Chinetti	Ferrari 166MM		was not part of any championship
1953	Scuderia Ferrari	Giuseppe Farina Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari 375MM	3671,000 km	Sports car world championship
1964		Robert Crevits Gustave Gosselin	Mercedes-Benz 300SE	3962.100 km	was not part of any championship
1965		Pascal Ickx Gérard Langlois van Ophem	BMW 1800TISA	3812.591 km	was not part of any championship
1966	BMW	Hubert Hahne Jacky Ickx	BMW 2000TI	4048.368 km	European Touring Car Championship
1967		Jean-Pierre Gaban Noël Van Assche	Porsche 911	4052.883 km	European Touring Car Championship
1968	Auto Kremer Racing Team	Helmut Kellener's Willi Kauhsen Erwin Kremer	Porsche 911	4004.827 km	European Touring Car Championship
1969	Écurie Sonauto	Guy Chasseuil Claude Ballot-Léna	Porsche 911	4272.231 km	European Touring Car Championship
1970	BMW Alpina	Helmut Kellener's Günther Huber	BMW 2800CS	4252.407 km	European Touring Car Championship
1971	Ford Cologne	Dieter Glemser Àlex Soler-Roig	Ford Capri RS	4385.100 km	European Touring Car Championship
1972	Ford Cologne	Jochen Mass Hans-Joachim Stuck	Ford Capri RS 2600	4498.436 km	European Touring Car Championship
1973	BMW Motorsport	Toine Hezemans Dieter Quester	BMW 3.0 CSL	4422.980 km	European Touring Car Championship
1974	Luigi Racing	Pierre Dieudonné Jean Xhenceval Alain Peltier	BMW 3.0 CSi	4147.289 km	Belgian Touring Car Championship
1975	Luigi Racing	Hughes de Fierlant Jean Xhenceval	BMW 3.0 CSi	4249.270 km	was not part of any championship
1976	Ecurie Jemada	Jean-Marie Détrin Charles Van Stolle Nico Demuth	BMW 3.0 CSL	4087.904 km	European Touring Car Championship
1977	Kinley BMW Castrol	Eddy Joosen Jean-Claude Andruet	BMW 530i	4083.835 km	was not part of any championship
1978	Belga Castrol team	Gordon Spice Teddy Pilette	Ford Capri III 3.0S	4315.594 km	was not part of any championship
1979	Belga Castrol Racing	Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	3083.632 km	FIA World Challenge for drivers
1980	Belga Castrol team	Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	2952.318 km	FIA World Challenge for drivers
1981	Mazda Motul TWR Team	Pierre Dieudonné Tom Walkinshaw	Mazda RX-7	3,183,952 km	Sports car world championship
1982	Bastos Joosen Juma	Hans Heyer Armin Hahne Eddy Joosen	BMW 528i	3132.224 km	European Touring Car Championship
1983	Bastos Joosen Juma	Hans Heyer Armin Hahne Thierry Tassin	BMW 635CSi	3333.726 km	European Touring Car Championship
1984	TWR	Hans Heyer Tom Walkinshaw Win Percy	Jaguar XJS	3055.485 km	European Touring Car Championship
1985	BMW Belgium	Marc Surer Gerhard Berger Roberto Ravaglia	BMW 635CSi	3470,000 km	European Touring Car Championship
1986	BMW Belgium	Altfrid Heger Dieter Quester Thierry Tassin	BMW 635CSi	3463.060 km	European Touring Car Championship
1987	Waterloo Motors Lease Plan	Jean-Michel Martin Didier Theys Eric van de Poele	BMW M3	3338.140 km	World Touring Car Championship
1988	BMW Motorsport GmbH	Altfrid Heger Dieter Quester Roberto Ravaglia	BMW M3 Evo	3532.460 km	European Touring Car Championship
1989	Bastos Racing Team	Gianfranco Brancatelli Bernd Schneider Win Percy	Ford Sierra RS500	3338.140 km	was not part of any championship
1990	BMW M Team Schnitzer	Fabien Giroix Johnny Cecotto Markus Oestreich	BMW M3 Sport Evo	3247.920 km	was not part of any championship
1991	Nismo Zexel	Anders Olofsson David Brabham Naoki Hattori	Nissan Skyline GT-R	3587.980 km	was not part of any championship
1992	BMW Fina Bastos	Jean-Michel Martin Christian Danner Steve Soper	BMW M3 Sport Evo	3560.220 km	was not part of any championship
1993	Roock Racing	Christian Fittipaldi Uwe Alzen Jean-Pierre Jarier	Porsche 911 RSR	2,154.904 km	was not part of any championship
1994	BMW Fina Bastos team	Alexander Burgstaller Thierry Tassin Roberto Ravaglia	BMW 318i	3625.960 km	was not part of any championship
1995	BMW Fina Bastos team	Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Steve Soper	BMW 320i	3612.532 km	was not part of any championship
1996	BMW Fina Bastos team	Alexander Burgstaller Thierry Tassin Jörg Müller	BMW 320i	3507.821 km	was not part of any championship
1997	BMW Fina Bastos team	Marc Duez Didier de Radiguès Éric Hélary	BMW 320i	3372.680 km	was not part of any championship
1998	BMW Fina Bastos team	Marc Duez Alain Cudini Eric van de Poele	BMW 318i	3344.807 km	was not part of any championship
1999	Team Peugeot Belgique Luxembourg	Frédéric Bouvy Emmanuel Collard Anthony Beltoise	Peugeot 306 GTi	3428.427 km	was not part of any championship
2000	Team Peugeot Belgique Luxembourg	Frédéric Bouvy Kurt Molleken's Didier Defourny	Peugeot 306 GTi	3330.870 km	was not part of any championship
2001	Larbre Compétition	Marc Duez Christophe Bouchut Jean-Philippe Belloc	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	3679.104 km	FIA GT Championship
2002	Larbre Compétition	Sébastien Bourdais Christophe Bouchut David Terrien Vincent Vosse	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	3679.104 km	FIA GT Championship
2003	Freising Motorsport	Stéphane Ortelli Marc Lieb Romain Dumas	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	3327.613 km	FIA GT Championship
2004	BMS Scuderia Italia	Luca Cappellari Fabrizio Gollin Lilian Bryner Enzo Calderari	Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello	3888.144 km	FIA GT Championship
2005	Vitaphone Racing Team	Michael Bartels Timo Scheider Eric van de Poele	Maserati MC12 GT1	4000.896 km	FIA GT Championship
2006	Vitaphone Racing Team	Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Eric van de Poele	Maserati MC12 GT1	4092.961 km	FIA GT Championship
2007	Carsport Holland	Mike Hezemans Fabrizio Gollin Jean-Denis Delétraz Marcel Fässler	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	3726.660 km	FIA GT Championship
2008	Vitaphone Racing Team	Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Eric van de Poele Stéphane Sarrazin	Maserati MC12 GT1	4041.885 km	FIA GT Championship
2009	PK Carsport	Mike Hezemans Kurt Mollekens Anthony Kumpen Jos Menten	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	3915.236 km	FIA GT Championship
2010	BMS Scuderia Italia	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler Romain Dumas Martin Ragginger	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	3789.164 km	was not part of any championship
2011	Audi Sport Team WRT	Mattias Ekström Timo Scheider Gregory Franchi	Audi R8 LMS	3817,180 km	Blancpain Endurance Series
2012	Sport Performance Cars Team Phoenix	Andrea Piccini René Rast Frank Stippler	Audi R8 LMS ultra	3565,036 km	Blancpain Endurance Series
2013	HTP Motorsport	Maximilian Buhk Bernd Schneider Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	3950.256 km	Blancpain Endurance Series
2014	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	René Rast Markus Winkelhock Laurens Vanthoor	Audi R8 LMS ultra	3691.108 km 1	Blancpain Endurance Series
2015	BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS	Markus Palttala Lucas Luhr Nicky Catsburg	BMW Z4 GT3	3754.144 km	Blancpain Endurance Series
2016	BMW Rowe Racing	Alexander Sims Philipp Eng Maxime Martin	BMW M6 GT3	3719.124 km	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
2017	Audi Sport Team Saintéloc	Jules Gounon Markus Winkelhock Christopher Haase	Audi R8 LMS (2016)		Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
2018	Walkenhorst Motorsport	Tom Blomqvist Christian Krognes Philipp Eng	BMW M6 GT3	3579.04 km	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
2019	GPX racing	Kévin Estre Richard Lietz Michael Christensen	Porsche 911 GT3 R.	2542.40 km	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

¹ One hour of racing interruption due to an accident, only 23 hours of driving time

Web links

Commons : Spa-Francorchamps 24 hour race  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race
• Official website of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
• FIA GT website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tom Grünweg, The first AMG model. Renaissance of the "red pig" , Spiegel online, May 19, 2006
2. ↑ Audi dominates after six hours (English)

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '33.1 "  N , 5 ° 57' 58.1"  E