Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race 1980

Ford Capril Mark III

Chevrolet Camaro Z28

The 32nd 24-hour race of Spa-Francorchamps , also 24 H / U Spa-Francorchamps, Grand Prix du Millenaire de Liege , took place from July 26th to 27th, 1980 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and was the twelfth Race of the sports car world championship this year.

The race

100,000 visitors came to the race weekend Ardennes to the 24-hour race to watch this year in place. In 1980 the event had the status of a sports car world championship race and, as in the previous year, was part of the world challenge for long-distance drivers . The fastest in qualifying was Guy Fréquelin in a BMW 530i , who drove a time of 2: 56.500 minutes on his best lap. This lap time corresponded to an average speed of 142.287 km / h. Fréquelin's prominent teammates were the two Formula 1 drivers Jacques Laffite and Didier Pironi .

Right from the start, Jacques Laffite took the lead in the BMW, which team-mate Didier Pironi held until the engine failed. Subsequently, the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 from Reine Wisell (start number 15) and Jean Xhenceval (start number 18) as well as the Ford Capri III 3.0S (start number 1) with Gordon Spice at the wheel. In the fourth hour of the race, the BMW 320i of Pierre Dieudonné , Eddy Joosen and Dirk Vermeersch took the lead in the race standings and held it into the 20th hour. Two bearings and one tire damage cost the superior lead. At the finish line, the trio was 2.45 minutes short of the victorious BMW of the Martin brothers Jean-Michel and Philippe , who were able to repeat their previous year's success.

Herbert Kummle , Karl Mauer and Mario Ketterer won the class for touring cars up to 2.5 liters displacement in the Ford Escort II RS 2000 . A Belgian Toyota Corolla GT won the touring car class up to 1.6 liters .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	T + 2.5	3	Belga Castrol team	Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	425
2	T + 2.5	16	Joosen Racing Carling Castrol	Pierre Dieudonné Eddy Joosen Dirk Vermeersch	BMW 530i	425
3	T + 2.5	39	JMS Racing Team	Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Claude Andruet	BMW 530i	420
4th	T + 2.5	34	Romain Feitler	Lucien Guitteny Gérard Bleynie	BMW 530i	418
5	T + 2.5	36	Equipe Esso GB	Vince Woodman Jonathan Buncombe Peter Clark	Ford Capri III 3.0S	417
6th	T 2.5	43	Ford Berkenkamp Racing	Herbert Kummle Karl Mauer Mario Ketterer	Ford Escort II RS 2000	415
7th	T + 2.5	2	Belga Castrol team	Andy Rouse Thierry Tassin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	415
8th	T + 2.5	17th	Joosen Racing Carling Castrol	Daniël Herregods Daniël Rombaut Dirk Vermeersch	BMW 530i	414
9	T + 2.5	1	Belga Castrol team	Gordon Spice Alain Semoulin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	407
10	T + 2.5	23	Dealer Opel Team Tuning	Johann Weisheidinger Dietmar Hackner Herbert Herler	Opel Monza 3.0E	407
11	T + 2.5	27	Team Willeme	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Jean-Luc Thérier	Ford Capri III 3.0S	402
12	T + 2.5	21st	Dealer Opel Team Tuning	Raymond van Hove Valentin Simons Dirk van Rompuy	Opel Monza 3.0E	397
13	T 2.5	56	Philippe van de Velde	Philippe van de Velde Robert Hanon	Ford Escort II RS 2000	394
14th	T 1.6	72	IMC Toyota	Claude Holvoet Philippe de Leener Freddy Fruhauf	Toyota Corolla GT	393
15th	T 2.5	46	BMW dealer	Jean Wansart Claude de Wael Armin Hahne	BMW 323i	391
16	T + 2.5	10	BBL team with Michel De Deyne	Philippe Bervoets Guy Trigaux	Ford Capri III 3.0S	384
17th	T + 2.5	14th	Luigi Racing Bastos	Jean Xhenceval Alain Cudini	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	381
18th	T 1.6	63	Belgian VW Club	Reynald Martin Gérard Cerruti Tony Gillet	VW Scirocco GTI	379
19th	T 1.6	60	Belgian VW Club	Philippe Ménage André Hardy Pierre Fermine	VW Golf GTI	377
20th	T 1.6	61	Belgian VW Club	Bernard Carlier Bernard de St. Hubert	VW Scirocco GTI	363
21st	T 2.5	52	TWR Mazda Motul Team	John Morrison Bernard Béguin Didier Theys Jeff Allam	Mazda RX-7	358
22nd	T 2.5	53	TWR Mazda Motul Team	Bernard de Dryver Yōjirō Terada David Palmer Derek Bell	Mazda RX-7	352
Disqualified
23	T 2.5	41	Ford Euro Motor Luxembourg	John Lagodny Nico Demuth Uwe Reich	Ford Escort II RS 2000	273
Failed
24	T + 2.5	7th	Serge Power Bastos Racing	Romain Feitler Remy Marquet Pierre Bos	Ford Capri III 3.0S	347
25th	T 2.5	50	TWR Mazda Motul Team	Win Percy Pete Lovett	Mazda RX-7	347
26th	T 1.6	66	Kredietbank Racing	Marc Piessens Christine Beckers Heinz-Jürgen Hoffknecht	VW Scirocco GTI	318
27	T 1.6	66	Kredietbank Racing	René Thibault Jean-Claude Boucher Michel Lemonnier	VW Scirocco GTI	292
28	T 2.5	55	Edward Schinkel	Marc Demol Edward Schinkel Roger van Peteghem	Ford Escort II RS 2000	204
29	T + 2.5	11	BBL team with Michel De Deyne	Teddy Pilette Patrick Nève Jacques Goujon	Ford Capri III 3.0S	193
30th	T + 2.5	28	Team Willeme	Stuart Graham Axel Plankenhorn	Ford Capri III 3.0S	183
31	T + 2.5	30th	American Motor RT Europe	Les Blackburn Les Delano Bob Akin	Ford Capri III 3.0S	180
32	T + 2.5	9	BBL team with Michel De Deyne	Michel de Deyne Alain Corbisier Jacques Goujon Patrick Nève	Ford Capri III 3.0S	163
33	T + 2.5	8th	Serge Power Bastos Racing	Ernesto Soto Pierre Honegger Jean-Paul Libert	Ford Capri III 3.0S	154
34	T 2.5	40	Ford Euro Motor Luxembourg	Rudolf Dötsch Romain Wolff Helmut Gall	Ford Escort II RS 2000	133
35	T 2.5	44	Ford Berkenkamp Racing	Holger Soltwedel Günther Braumüller Alain Beauchef	Ford Escort II RS 2000	130
36	T + 2.5	31	ADP Computer Service	Henny Hemmes Loek Vermeulen Huub Vermeulen	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	124
37	T + 2.5	33	Plastic Bertrand	Carlo Facetti Pascal Witmeur Jean-Jacques Feider	BMW 530i	114
38	T 1.6	64	BBL RT with Michel De Deyne	Jean-Claude Toby Philippe Lacroix Michel Chapel	VW Scirocco GTI	93
39	T + 2.5	4th	Belga Castrol team	Marc Duez Freddy Semoulin Jean-Louis Dumont	Ford Capri III 3.0S	91
40	T + 2.5	15th	Luigi Racing Bastos	Reine Wisell André Lierneux Georges Cremer	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	86
41	T 1.6	68	Abex Pagid Racing Team	Peter Seikel Hans-Joachim Nowak Willi Bergmeister	Audi 80 GTE	69
42	T + 2.5	26th	Ecurie G. Benoit	Jacques Laffite Didier Pironi Guy Fréquelin	BMW 530i	64
43	T 2.5	45	Ford Berkenkamp Racing	Hartmut Bauer Winfried Vogt	Ford Escort II RS 2000	57
44	T + 2.5	5	Serge Power Bastos Racing	Guy Pirenne Albert Vanierschot	Ford Capri III 3.0S	48
45	T 2.5	51	TWR Mazda Motul Team	Derek Bell Jeff Allam	Mazda RX-7	47
46	T + 2.5	12	BBL team with Michel De Deyne	Frank de Caluwe Luc De Cock "Frikel"	Ford Capri III 3.0S	41
47	T + 2.5	25th	Ecurie G. Benoit	Guy Fréquelin Jacques Daumet Daniel Benoit	BMW 530i	39
48	T 1.6	65	Kredietbank Racing	Jochen Mass Marc Piessens Heinz-Jürgen Hoffknecht	Audi 80 GTE	39
49	T + 2.5	6th	Serge Power Bastos Racing	Claude Bourgoignie Hervé Regout	Ford Capri III 3.0S	21st
50	T 2.5	42	Ford Euro Motor Luxembourg	Rudy Horst Herbert Pfaffen Guy Nève	Ford Escort II RS 2000	21st
Not started
51	T + 2.5	19th	Canada Fish Racing Team	Manuel Sanjurjo Jaime Sanz de Madrid Juan Carlos Oñoro	Ford Capri III 3.0S	1
Not qualified
52	T + 2.5	18th	Joosen Racing Carling Castrol	Michel Delcourt Dany Swyssen Jean-Marie Baert	BMW 530i	2
53	T + 2.5	33	Dealer Opel Team Tuning	Charles van Stalle Francis Polak René Tricot	Opel Monza 3.0E	3
54	T + 2.5	24	Dealer Opel Team Tuning	Herbert Herler Hugo Nückel Hanno Schumacher	Opel Monza 3.0E	4th
55	T + 2.5	35	Michel Paulus Racing	Michel Paulus Umberto Grano Pierre de Thoisy	BMW 530i	5
56	T 2.5	47	BMW dealer	Erwin van den Broeck Jacques Berger André Gavage	BMW 323i	6th
57	T 2.5	48	BMW dealer	Hermès Delbar Jean Bourdeaud'hui Jean-Charles Goris	BMW 323i	7th
58	T + 2.5	54	Manu de Caluwé	Manu de Caluwé Theo Koks Manu Goossens	Opel Monza 3.0E	8th
59	T 2.5	58	Screen Center Pit Weirig	Aloyse Kridel Pit Weirig Etienne Barras	Ford Escort II RS 2000	9
60	T 1.6	62	Belgian VW Club	Pierre Jamin Tony Gillet Pierre Vaillant	VW Scirocco GTI	10
61	T 1.6	69	East Belgian Racing Team	Jürgen Barth Axel Huweler Leon Clohse	Audi 80 GTE	11
62	T 1.6	71	IMC Toyota	Emmanuel Remion José Close Chip Ganassi	Toyota Corolla GT	12
63	T 1.6	73	IMC Toyota	Jacques Janssens Marc Donner Guy Katsers	Toyota Corolla GT	13

¹ Accident in training ² not qualified ³ not qualified ⁴ not qualified ⁵ not qualified ⁶ not qualified ⁷ not qualified ⁸ not qualified ⁹ not qualified ¹⁰ not qualified ¹¹ not qualified ¹² not qualified ¹³ not qualified

Only in the entry list

No further reports are known for this race.

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
T + 2.5	Jean-Michel Martin	Philippe Martin		Ford Capri III 3.0S	Overall victory
T 2.5	Herbert Kummle	Karl Mauer	Mario Ketterer	Ford Escort II RS 2000	Rank 6
T 1.6	Claude Holvoet	Philippe de Leener	Freddy Fruhauf	Toyota Corolla GT	Rank 14

Racing data

• Registered: 63
• Started: 50
• Valued: 22
• Race classes: 3
• Spectators: 100,000
• Weather on race day: light rain in between
• Route length: 6.976 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 425
• Total distance of the winning team: 2957.824 km
• Winner's average: 123.243 km / h
• Pole position: Guy Fréquelin - BMW 530i (# 25) - 2: 56.500 = 142.287 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jean Xhenceval - Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (# 14) - 2: 59.600 = 139.831 km / h
• Racing series: Round 12 of the 1980 sports car world championship

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race report and race results

Previous race 6 Hours of Watkins Glen 1980

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour race at Mosport in 1980