Report & Gallery: The Epic 10th Anniversary Edition of the Spa Classic 2022

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on May 31, 2022

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

Sit back, relax and enjoy this comprehensive report and gallery from the epic 10th anniversary edition of the Spa Classic 2022.Fans of the Spa Classic had to wait two years for the 10th edition, which had to be postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the long wait was more than worth it, because the anniversary edition organized by Peter Auto was a mouth-watering one.

Porsche 911, 934, 935, 956 and 962, BMW M1, 320 i Turbo Group 5, 635, Ford Escort, Ford Capri, Zakspeed Capri Turbo Group 5, Jaguar XJR-8, XJR, Peugeot 905 were amongst just a small a selection of the wide range of icons from the historic motorsport that were present during the three-day event.

The weather conditions in the Ardennes once again showed their most erratic side. A weather alert was issued for Friday with a chance of local tornadoes and abundant rainfall. Luckily, the weather gods limited themselves to a few downpours.

In terms of starting fields, both the drivers and the public present could look forward to a large number of participants. In Sixties Endurance, no fewer than 81 cars made their appearance, an unprecedented number. The two-hour race was won by the combination of Urs Beck and Ralf Kelleners onboard a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289.

Thirty three historic Porsche 911s appeared on the starting grid for a 90-minute race in the 2.0 L Cup. With a lead of almost 8.5 seconds, the No. 64 Porsche 911 of Oliver Bryant and Andrew Smith crossed the finish line first.

In Classic Endurance Racing, more than 51 sports cars and GTs appeared at the start for a 45-minute race. Alexander Furiani took a dominant sports car victory with his Chevron B19. In the GT division, the win went to Philippe Scemama’s Ford GT40.

Philippe Scemama and Laurent Fort were the first under the black and white checkered flag in Classic Endurance Racing 2 with their Lola T600. The Ferrari 512 BBLM of Olivier Hart and Nicky Pastorelli dominated the GTs.

No fewer than 36 cars filled the starting grid for the first race of the Endurance Racing Legends. Christian Gläsel won the first race convincingly in an MG EX257. For the second race the field was thinned by 3 cars. Again it was Gläsel who reigned with his MG among the prototypes.

The GT1A division was won by Olivier Galant in a Panoz Esperante GTR1, as GT1B was won by Dominik Roschmann in a Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive. Sebastian Gläser claimed victory in GT2A with his Porsche 993 GT2 Evo. Olivier Galant also won the second race on Sunday in GT1A, with Roschmann claiming his second victory of the weekend in GT1B. Sebastian Gläser crossed the finish line first again in GT2B.

Guillaume Peters won the Fifties Legends series in a Lotus Eleven. In the Greatest Trophy it was the Bizzarrini 5300 GT of Dirk Ebeling and Leon Ebeling winning the first race of the weekend by just 0.134 of a second. The second race was dominated by Christian Bouriez in a Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

Group C Racing had two races over the weekend. For the first race on Saturday afternoon a little less than 20 cars filled the grid. Nobody could answer the speed of Christophe d’Ansembourg and his purple Jaguar XJR-14. On Sunday he claimed his second dominating victory of the weekend.

Qvick Motors from Belgium acquired the original BMW 320i E21 Turbo Group 5 with chassis number 26 driven by Harald Ertl back in 1978. Based on this car Qvick Motors cloned the Schnitzer Group 5 chassis no. 26 in great detail and will be offered for sale in limited edition. This first replica resulted in this beautiful 320i Turbo in the legendary Rodenstock livery. The car was driven by Erik Qvick himself and will participate in more forthcoming historic events.

This Porsche 917KH with chassis number 917-037 was the final build, but never raced in period. Monaco resident Claudio Roddaro bought the car in 2016 and was determined to register it for road use. In Europe there was already another road-registered 917 that belonged to the late Count Rossi. Claudio Roddaro had to prove that his car was identical to the Italian registered 917.

In the end Porsche helped to deliver the chassis plate to authenticate that chassis 037 was a genuine 917. After a long period Claudio Roddaro got the Monaco-registered number plates that allowed him to drive the racer through the streets of Monaco.

In Group C this splendid looking Porsche 962 (962-200) appeared on the grid. This particular car was built for the 1988 season and delivered to Richard Lloyd Racing. The car got the Cabin sponsorship for 1989 as presented on the car pictured here. The car was raced by Derek Bell, Tiff Needell and James Weaver scoring a 2^nd place at the Super Cup in Silverstone, 5^th in Dijon and finally a 4^th place in Mexico.

During the Spa Classic club parades this unique Marco Mantis XP appeared. The car was unique as it only participated in a single race – the 1000 kms from Spa in 1968. Qualifying was anything but positive with a disappointing 38th place as a result. The race then got even more dramatic. The car was flooded due to heavy rain on the first lap and retired due to a broken alternator. Remarkable aspect on this car is that the central cell is made from plywood. The Marcos Mantis XP was powered by a Brabham-Repco V8 used in F1 generating 310 hp.

The two years of waiting for the anniversary edition of the Spa Classic had more than paid off. In addition, it was good to see that the public had unlimited access to the circuit, grandstands and paddock as usual. All this in combination with large starting fields and beautiful driving pieces of history made the 10th edition a great success.