The Spa Classic 2014 was staged 16-18 May on the famed 4.352 mile, 20-turn Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium. A record crowd of more than 15,000 enthusiasts witnessed the 4th running of the Spa Classic with its strong grids and competitive vintage racing action.
This year’s Spa Classic, held in sunshine over three days, brought eight grids to the Francorchamps circuit for a total of almost 350 historic racing cars. Once again the entertainment on offer to the public was paramount. The on-track spectacle and the amusements in the paddock were aimed at the greatest number, all generations combined.
The Belgian circuit, a real temple for endurance races for touring cars hosted two grids devoted to them: the Heritage Touring Cup and the U2TC with nighttime races recalling the great era of the Spa 24 Hours.
The grids on the track confirmed the expansion of Spa Classic since its first running in 2011 ranging from the Sixties’ Endurance grid with more than 50 cars at the start like AC Cobra, E-Type Jaguar Type E, Porsche 904, Chevrolet Corvette and Austin-Healey to Classic Endurance Racing with 40 entries in CER 1 from Lola T70, Ford GT40, Ferrari Daytona Group 4 and Porsche 911 RSR 3.0 Litre and more than thirty in CER 2 such as March, Sauber, Lola, Porsche 935 and BMW M1.
The Trofeo Nastro Rosso, reserved for Italian Sports and GT cars from 1950 to 1965, received an increasing number of entries with 27 cars. It was without doubt one of the most beautiful grids of the meeting thanks to some exceptional Italian cars: Ferrari 250 LMs, GT Berlinettas and 275 GTBs, Maserati 300s, Alfa Romeo Giulia TZs and Giuliettas, Bizzarrini 5300 GTs.
The Heritage Touring Cup set up last year by Peter Auto to bring back to Francorchamps the touring cars that shone in the famous 24 Hours also attracted more entries with nearly 30 saloons on the grid on Saturday like BMW 3.0 CSLs, Ford Capri 2600 RSs and Escorts, Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAMs, Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs. The U2TC reserved for under 2-litre touring cars received almost 20 entrants such as Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTAs, Ford Cortina Lotuses and BMW 1800 Tis.
Finally, the spectators were able to enjoy historic Formula 2 races from the 1970s plus those reserved for the fabulous Group C cars, which were the pride of the World Endurance Championship in the 1980s like the Sauber Mercedes C11s, Porsche 962s, Spice SE90Cs, Mazda 767Bs and Nissan R90CK.
Spa Classic 2014 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
