The Spa Six Hours encapsulates all that is great about our love for historic racing. At the end of September in the Ardennes, the nights become chilly, the deciduous trees show the first hints of autumnal colour, mist hangs in the valleys, and for one unforgettable weekend, the soundtrack of historic race cars competing in a true test of endurance, reverberates for six non-stop hours around the amphitheatre of Spa Francorchamps in eastern Belgium.
A track synonymous with great racing, home to the Crowdstrike 24h of Spa and WEC 6h of Spa, a circuit lauded and feared in equal measures, lending itself perfectly as the platform upon which a grid of more than seventy historic GT cars enter into combat, fighting for the highly sought after honor of taking the overall win of the Spa Six Hours, possibly the most coveted prize in historic motorsport.
Europe hosts an ever-growing range of historic events, where prized race cars are amassed in great numbers, yet even at the iconic Le Mans Classic, there is no true test of attrition and endurance, as track time per grid is usually limited to around a maximum of an hour, with even the forthcoming Royal Automobile Pall Mall Cup at Silverstone topping out at a two hour race time. We are treated to a wonderful showcase of sportscars and old endurance race cars around the world, but to my mind, there is no purer test of true historic endurance, than the Six Hours at Spa.
With the familiar Masters Historic Racing support absent from the timetable this year, Motor Racing Legends brought a number of their grids as support, with Pre-War Sports Cars, Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy and the GT3 Legends grids all in attendance to bolster the wide range of historic racing on show. In addition to this, single-seater action was provided by the Classic GP pre 1986 grid, HGPCA and Historic F3, with a range of touring and GT car support classes, to ensure a packed schedule throughout the weekend.
Unusually, running a three day event from Thursday until Saturday, the initial day was packed with qualifying and free practice sessions, with ten hours of action packed into the day. It wasn’t until the evening on the second day when the Six Hours Endurance cars headed out onto the track in the dying hours of daylight to get to grips for the first time with the arduous, challenging Spa Francorchamps circuit.
It came as no surprise to Sports Car Digest, having attended many Spa Six Hours races in the past, that the qualifying session was dominated by Ford GT40s. Spa is a circuit which suits them well, as the long straights and fast corners lend themselves well to the sleek lines and snarling power of the Ford sportscars which dominated the 1960s. Indeed, the top ten positions in qualifying were all claimed by GT40s, with Albrecht/Perez almost half a second clear of their closest competitor, posting a 2.39 in qualification. The plucky Ginetta G4R breaking the GT40 stronghold in 11th place, the highest places Elan, a handy car to deal with the meteorological challenges so often a factor at Spa, was the 16th placed 26R of Shedden/Butcher/Priaulx.
However, come race day the Ford GT40s didn’t have it all their own way…
As the lights turned green, stood on the outside of Turn 1, a more formidable racing vista would be difficult to conceive. A pack of aggressive Ford GT40s headed towards La Source, the impossibly tight initial corner, leading the almost 80 car deep grid into six hours of combat on the asphalt. Contact at the first corner in the leading pack seemed almost inevitable, sure enough, one GT40 was turned around, and the safety car was brought out to bunch the pack up once more.
Making the most of the disrupted start, the number 20 Ford GT40 of Funke/Sanchez/Salewsky showed well in the initial phase, leading through the first couple of hours, looking quick and consistent in almost ideal racing conditions. Whilst the Ford stranglehold on the race was still evident, the Ginetta G4R had made steady progress forwards the front, with a clutch of Lotus Elans also taking advantage of the first hours of the race.
With races of this length, refuelling is an essential element of the race, and whilst modern endurance racing utilizes contemporary refuelling techniques, the Spa Six Hours requires competitors to refuel at the Total Energies gas station, which lies at the base of the heritage pit. Much more comparable to a common roadside gas station, it is a grass-rootsy twist which adds a certain charm to the race, whilst strategically throwing curveballs to the competitors, as poor timing can lead to delays as the cars wait to refuel, which can severely hamper their race performance.
As day turned to night, and dusk fell on the Kemmel straight, the Ford GT40 dominance at the top of the field had dwindled, with the charging Ginetta and Lotus Elans making headway. Yet pole sitters Ferrao/Stretton were still in the mix. The glare of headlights in the dying light of day is a remarkable, and evocative sight, which encapsulates the true historic feel of this event, glowing brake discs and fire projected from exhaust pipes the only other illuminations in the impossibly dark forests of the Ardennes.
As ever, attrition is key to the outcome of these long-form races, and the 2025 Spa Six Hours was no exception. As the chequered flag fell, and six long, arduous and challenging hours completed, the victorious pairing of Martin Stretton and Diogo Ferrao claimed the victory in their Ford GT40, while the top ten finishers consisted not only of Ford GT40s, but also an incredible second place for the Pedersen/Weiss/Kjaegaard Ginetta G4R, and four Lotus Elans completing the first ten positions.
Race Results
Spa Six Hours
1st – Stretton/Ferrao – Ford GT40
2nd – Pedersen/Weiss/Kjaegaard – Ginetta G4R
3rd – Funke/Sanchez/Salewsky – Ford GT40
Classic GP Historic F1 Pre-86
Race 1
1st – Paul Tattersall – Ensign N179
2nd – John Spiers – March 761
3rd – Michael Lyons – Hesketh 308E
Race 2
1st – MIchael Lyons – Hesketh 308E
2nd – John Spiers – March 761
3rd – Paul Tattersall – Ensign N179
HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars
Race 1
1st – Tim Child – Brabham BT3/4
2nd – Rudi Friedrichs – Cooper T53
3rd – Maxime Castelein – Lotus 18 915
Race 2
1st – Rudi Friedrichs – Cooper T53
2nd – Michel Kuiper – Brabham BT4
3rd – Maxime Castelein – Lotus 18 915
Alfa Revival Cup
Race 1
1st – A Perfetti – Alfa Romeo GTAm
2nd – D Perfetti – Alfa Romeo GTAm
3rd – R Restelli – Alfa Romeo GTAm
Pre-War Sportscars
Race 1
1st – Friedrichs/Martin – Alvis Firefly Special
2nd – Beebee/Beebee – Frazer Nash TT Replica
3rd – A Hewitson – Riley 12/4 TT Sprite Replica
RAC Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy
Race 1
1st – Wakeman/Ward – Cooper T38
2nd – John Spiers – Lister Knobbly
3rd – Peeters/Nuthall – Lotus XV
GT3 Legends
Race 1
1st – Graham Davidson – Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
2nd – C von Oeynhausen – BMW Z4 GT3
3rd – Julian Thomas – Audi R8 GT3
Race 2
1st – Graham Davidson – Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3
2nd – Christoph von Oeynhausen – BMW Z4 GT3
3rd – Christian Albrecht – McLaren Mp4 12C
Historic Championship 1965-1981
Race H81
1st – Rivaz – Chevron B19
2nd – Sanchez/Funke – Ford GT40
3rd – Whittke – Porsche 911 RSR 3.0
Race H65
1st – Hartmann – Elva MK8
2nd – Friedrichs – AC Cobra 289
3rd – van Abbe – Ford Mustang
Historic F3 1000cc European Trophy
Race 1
1st – Peter de la Roche – Alexis MK17
2nd – Charlie Martin – De Sanctis
3rd – Jason Timms – Brabham BT21
Race 2
1st – Ross Drybrough – Merlyn MK14A
2nd – Jason Timms – Brabham BT21
3rd – Christoph Widmer – Brabham BT18A
CSCC & British HTGT Competition
Race 1
1st – Steve Osbourne – Jaguar E Type
2nd – P Vermast – Triumph Vitesse
3rd – N Kjaergaard – Lotus Elan
Race 2
1st – Steve Osbourne – Jaguar E Type
2nd – Jon Wolfe – TVR
3rd – D Halsey – Datsun 240z
Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge
Race 1
1st – Alex Taylor – TVR Tuscan
2nd – Piers James Masarati – Porsche 911 Turbo
3rd – Mike Manning – Ford Sierra RS500
Race 2
1st – Piers James Masarati – Porsche 911 Turbo
2nd – Felix Haas – Morgan MMC4
3rd – Ashley Shelswell – Ford Sierra XR4i
Race 3
1st – Stephen Scott-Dunwoody – Ford Sierra Cosworth
2nd – Felix Haas – Morgan MMC4
3rd – Piers James Masarati – Porsche 911 Turbo
Photo Gallery
