Spa 24 Hours

Spa 24 Hours
Blancpain Endurance Series
Venue	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
First race	1924
Duration	24 Hours
Most wins (driver)	Eric van de Poele (5)
Most wins (manufacturer)	BMW (22)

The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium since 1923 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It is currently sponsored by Total S.A..

History

The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans was run. It debuted in 1924 over a 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) circuit on public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot, under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB). The present 7.004 kilometres (4.352 mi) circuit was inaugurated in 1979.

The Spa 24 Hours was part of the European Touring Car Championship from 1966 to 1973. The event also counted towards the World Sportscar Championship in 1953 and the World Endurance Championship in 1981. As on the Nürburgring, both a 24h and a 1000 km race is held at Spa, as the 1000 km Spa for sports car racing were introduced in 1966.

Cars entered have spanned from the Russian Moskvitch and models with sub-1 liter engines such as the NSU Prinz TT to the luxurious V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3. Tuned by Mercedes-AMG, the 6834 cc and 420 hp (313 kW) so-called "Red pig" finished as high as second in 1971.

With the participation of Swiss Lilian Bryner on the victorious Ferrari 550 of the BMS Scuderia Italia team, the 2004 race marked the first time in history that a female driver was part the winning team of a 24-hour endurance race in a Gran Turismo with more than 500 hp (370 kW).

The best manufacturer wins the Coupe du Roi (King's Cup), which is not necessarily the race winners. The cup is won by the manufacturer with the most points, accrued by cars that are made by the same manufacturer.^[1]

Results on the 15km track

Year	Car	Pilots
1924	Bignan 2L	Henri Springuel Maurice Becquet
1925	Chenard-Walcker	André Lagache René Léonard
1926	Peugeot 174S	André Boillot Louis Rigal
1927	Excelsior	Robert Sénéchal Nicolas Caerels
1928	Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 S	Boris Ivanowski^{[NB 1]} Attilio Marinoni
1929	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750SS	Robert Benoist Attilio Marinoni
1930	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750GS	Attilio Marinoni Pietro Ghersi
1931	Mercedes-Benz SSK	Dimitri Djordjadze^{[NB 2]} Goffredo Zehender
1932	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM	Antonio Brivio Eugenio Siena
1933	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM	Louis Chiron Luigi Chinetti
1934	Bugatti Type 44	Jean Desvignes Norbert Mahé
1935	No race held
1936	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A	Francesco Severi Raymond Sommer
1937	No race held
1938	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B	Carlo Pintacuda Francesco Severi
1939 1947	No races held
1948	Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports	St. John Horsfall Leslie Johnson
1949	Ferrari 166MM	Luigi Chinetti Jean Lucas

Results on the 14km track

Year	Car	Pilots	Distance	Average	Notes
1950 1952	No races held
1953	Ferrari 375MM Pinin	Giuseppe Farina Mike Hawthorn			World Sportscar Championship
1954 1963	No races held
1964	Mercedes-Benz 300SE	Robert Crevits Gustave Gosselin	3962,100	164,825
1965	BMW 1800 Ti/SA	Pascal Ickx Gérard Langlois van Ophem	3812,591	158,855
1966	BMW 2000ti	Hubert Hahne Jacky Ickx	4048,368	168,681	European Touring Car Championship
1967	Porsche 911	Jean-Pierre Gaban Norbert Van Assche	4052,883	168,867	European Touring Car Championship
1968	Porsche 911	Erwin Kremer Willi Kauhsen Helmut Kelleners	4004,827	166,867	European Touring Car Championship
1969	Porsche 911	Guy Chasseuil Claude Ballot-Lena	4272,231	187,006	European Touring Car Championship
1970	BMW 2800CS	Günther Huber Helmut Kelleners	4252,407	177,183	European Touring Car Championship
1971	Ford Capri RS	Dieter Glemser Alex Soler-Roig	4385,100	182,690	European Touring Car Championship
1972	Ford Capri RS 2600	Jochen Mass Hans-Joachim Stuck	4498,436	187,431	European Touring Car Championship
1973	BMW 3.0 CSL	Toine Hezemans Dieter Quester	4422,980	184,290	European Touring Car Championship
1974	BMW 3.0 CSi	Jean Xhenceval Alain Peltier Pierre Dieudonné	4147,289	172,804	Trophée de l'Avenir
1975	BMW 3.0 CSi	Pierre Dieudonné Jean Xhenceval Hughes de Fierlandt	4249,270	177,053	Trophée de l'Avenir
1976	BMW 3.0 CSL	Jean-Marie Detrin Nico Demuth Charles Van Stolle	4087,904	170,329	European Touring Car Championship
1977	BMW 530i	Eddy Joosen Jean-Claude Andruet	4083,835	170,159	Trophée de l'Avenir
1978	Ford Capri III 3.0S	Gordon Spice Teddy Pilette	4315,594	179,816	Trophée de l'Avenir

Results on 7km track

The current version of the Spa 24 Hours is an event under the Blancpain Endurance Series calendar, although it was previously run as part of the FIA GT Championship featuring GT1 and GT2 machinery, and by various touring car series. Currently, the cars run fall under the FIA GT3 and GT3 Cup classifications.

Year	Car	Pilots	Distance	Average	Notes
1979	Ford Capri III 3.0S	Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	3083,632	128,485	Trophée de l'Avenir
1980	Ford Capri III 3.0S	Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	2952,318	123,013
1981	Mazda RX-7	Tom Walkinshaw Pierre Dieudonné	3183,952	132,737	World Endurance Championship Trophée de l'Avenir
1982	BMW 528i	Hans Heyer Armin Hahne Eddy Joosen	3132,224	130,808	European Touring Car Championship
1983	BMW 635 CSi	Thierry Tassin Hans Heyer Armin Hahne	3333,726	130,808	European Touring Car Championship
1984	Jaguar XJS	Tom Walkinshaw Hans Heyer Win Percy	3055,485	131,091	European Touring Car Championship
1985	BMW 635 CSi	Roberto Ravaglia Gerhard Berger Marc Surer	3470,000	144,344	European Touring Car Championship
1986	BMW 635 CSi	Dieter Quester Thierry Tassin Altfrid Heger	3463,060	144,232	European Touring Car Championship
1987	BMW M3	Jean-Michel Martin Didier Theys Eric van de Poele	3338,140	139,908	World Touring Car Championship
1988	BMW M3	Altfrid Heger Dieter Quester Roberto Ravaglia	3532,460	146,929	European Touring Car Championship
1989	Ford Sierra RS500	Gianfranco Brancatelli Win Percy Bernd Schneider	3338,140	139,130
1990	BMW M3	Fabien Giroix Johnny Cecotto Markus Oestreich	3247,920	135,330
1991	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Anders Olofsson David Brabham Naoki Hattori	3587,980	149,456
1992	BMW M3	Steve Soper Jean-Michel Martin Christian Danner	3560,220	148,947
1993	Porsche 911 RSR	Christian Fittipaldi Uwe Alzen Jean-Pierre Jarier	2154,904	144,667
1994	BMW 318is	Roberto Ravaglia Thierry Tassin Alexander Burgstaller	3625,960	151,047
1995	BMW 320i	Joachim Winkelhock Steve Soper Peter Kox	3612,532	150,531
1996	BMW 320i	Jörg Müller Thierry Tassin Alexander Burgstaller	3507,821	145,956
1997	BMW 320i	Didier de Radigues Marc Duez Eric Hélary	3372,680	140,252
1998	BMW 318i	Marc Duez Eric van de Poele Alain Cudini	3344,807	139,344
1999	Peugeot 306 GTI	Frédéric Bouvy Emmanuel Collard Anthony Beltoise	3428,427	142,588
2000	Peugeot 306 GTI	Frédéric Bouvy Kurt Mollekens Didier Defourny	3330,870	138,686	Last race for touring cars
2001	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Christophe Bouchut Jean-Philippe Belloc Marc Duez	3679,104	152,999	FIA GT Championship
2002	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Christophe Bouchut Sébastien Bourdais David Terrien Vincent Vosse	3654,059	152,019	FIA GT Championship
2003	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	Stéphane Ortelli Marc Lieb Romain Dumas	3327,613	138,557	FIA GT Championship
2004	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	Luca Cappellari Fabrizio Gollin Lilian Bryner Enzo Calderari	3888,144	161,974	FIA GT Championship
2005	Maserati MC12	Michael Bartels Timo Scheider Eric van de Poele	4000,896	166,638	FIA GT Championship
2006	Maserati MC12	Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Eric van de Poele	4092,961	171,034	FIA GT Championship
2007	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Mike Hezemans Fabrizio Gollin Jean-Denis Délétraz Marcel Fässler	3726,660	155,241	FIA GT Championship
2008	Maserati MC12	Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Eric van de Poele Stéphane Sarrazin	4041,885	168,096	FIA GT Championship
2009	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Anthony Kumpen Kurt Mollekens Mike Hezemans Jos Menten	3915.236	163.128	FIA GT Championship
2010	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Romain Dumas Martin Ragginger Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler	3789.164	157.832	FIA GT2 European Cup
2011	Audi R8 LMS	Greg Franchi Timo Scheider Mattias Ekström	3817.180	158.898	Blancpain Endurance Series
2012	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Andrea Piccini René Rast Frank Stippler	3565.036	148,543	Blancpain Endurance Series
2013	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	Bernd Schneider Maximilian Götz Maximilian Buhk	3950.256	164,594	Blancpain Endurance Series
2014	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Laurens Vanthoor René Rast Markus Winkelhock	3691.108	153,732	Blancpain Endurance Series Red flag (1 hour)^[2]
2015	BMW Z4 GT3	Nick Catsburg Lucas Luhr Markus Palttala	3754.144	156.423	Blancpain Endurance Series

Notes

^ Ivanowski was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution
^ Djordjadze was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution

References

^ Vincent Wouters (27 July 2015), Spa Post-Race Notebook, SportsCar360
^ "28 Jul 2014 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT takes home win after nail-biting finish". total24hours.com. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

External links

Total Spa 24 Hours website: Available in English, French and Dutch
1971 results
1972 results
1981 results
FIA GT Website

[2] Ivanowski was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution

[3] Djordjadze was a Russian national, but in exile since the Russian Revolution

[1] Vincent Wouters (27 July 2015), Spa Post-Race Notebook, SportsCar360

[4] "28 Jul 2014 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT takes home win after nail-biting finish". total24hours.com. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

[1]

[NB 1]

[NB 2]

[2]

v t e Automobile endurance races
24 hours	24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Daytona Nürburgring 24 Hours Spa 24 Hours Dubai 24 Hour Fuji 24 Hours 24 Hours of Zolder 24 Hours of Portimão 24 Hours of Barcelona - Trofeo Fermí Vélez [es] 2CV 24 Hour Race Longest Day of Nelson 24H Silverstone – European Touring Car Edition 24 Hours of Chamonix [fr] Willhire 24 Hour Bathurst 24 Hour Tokachi 24 Hours
12 hours	12 Hours of Kuwait 12 Hours of Sebring Bathurst 12 Hour Gulf 12 Hours Sepang 12 Hours Coppa Florio 12 Hours of Sicily 12 Hours at the Point 12 Hours of Brno 12 Hours of Reims Rothmans 12 hours
10 hours	Petit Le Mans Qatar 1812 km
9 hours	Kyalami 9 Hours
8 hours	8 Hours of Bahrain Indianapolis 8 Hour California 8 Hours 1000 Miles of Sebring
6 hours	6 Hours of Abu Dhabi 6 Hours of Bogotá 6 Hours of Fuji 6 Hours of Imola 6 Hours of Jeddah 6 Hours of Rome 6 Hours of São Paulo 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours of Watkins Glen Bathurst 6 Hour 6 Hours of Austin Monterey 6 Hours 6 Hours of Indianapolis (IMSA) 6 Hours of Perth 6 Hours of Atlanta 6 Hours of Donington 6 Hours of Mexico 6 Hours of Monza 6 Hours of Nürburgring 6 Hours of Portimão 6 Hours of Zhuhai Riverside 6 Hours Mid-Ohio 6 Hours Mosport 6 Hours
4 Hours	4 Hours of Abu Dhabi 4 Hours of Barcelona 4 Hours of Dubai 4 Hours of Imola 4 Hours of Le Castellet 4 Hours of Mugello 4 Hours of Portimão 4 Hours of Sepang 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 4 Hours of Aragón 4 Hours of Estoril 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring 4 Hours of Shanghai 4 Hours of Silverstone
2 hours	TCR European Endurance
1000 miles	Mil Milhas Brasil Mille Miglia
1000 km	1006 km Palanga 1000 km Paul Ricard Bathurst 1000 Baja 1000 Sepang 1000 km Suzuka 1000 km 1000 km Brands Hatch 1000 km Buenos Aires 1000 km Istanbul 1000 km Jarama 1000 km Le Mans (Bugatti) 1000 km Mosport 1000 km Okayama 1000 km Paris Race of a Thousand Years
Other	25 Hours of Spa 25 Hours of Thunderhill Carrera Panamericana Charge of the Headlight Brigade Targa Florio TCR Spa 500 Laps or 23 Hours The 2904
Defunct races are indicated in italics