The Spa 24 Hours is an automobile race held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, colloquially known as Spa. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB).
It was held for the first time in 1924 over a 9.3 mile circuit on public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot. The present 6.978 km circuit was inaugurated in 1979.
The Spa 24 Hours were part of the European Touring Car Championship from 1966 to 1973. The event also counted towards the World Sportscar Championship in 1953 and 1981. As on the Nürburgring, both a 24h and a 1000km race is held at Spa, as the 1000km Spa for Sports car racing were introduced in 1966.
Cars entered included Russian Moskvitch and engine sizes ranged from 996cc NSU Prinz TT to the luxurious V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3.
With the participation of Swiss driver 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 has won a 24 hour endurance race in a Gran Turismo with more than 500hp.
At the 1996 and 1997 24 Hours Nürburgring, Sabine Reck won in a BMW M3 touring car following Group N rules, with about 320hp.
Results on 14km track
| Year
|
Car
|
Pilots
|
Distance
|
Average
|
| 1924
|
Bignan
|
Henri Springuel / Henri Becquet
|
|
| 1925
|
Chenard-Walcker
|
André Lagache / René Leonard
|
|
| 1926
|
Peugeot
|
André Boillot / Louis Rigal
|
|
| 1927
|
Excelsior
|
Robert Sénéchal / Nicolas Caerels
|
|
| 1928
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Boris Ivanowski / Attilio Marinoni
|
|
| 1929
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Robert Benoist / Attilio Marinoni
|
|
| 1930
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Attilio Marinoni / Pietro Ghersi
|
|
| 1931
|
Mercedes-Benz
|
Dimitri Djordjadze / Goffredo Zehender
|
|
| 1932
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Antonio Brivio / Eugenio Siena
|
|
| 1933
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Louis Chiron / Luigi Chinetti
|
|
| 1934
|
Bugatti
|
Jean Desvignes / Norbert Mahe
|
|
| 1935
|
No race held
|
|
|
| 1936
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Francesco Severi / Raymond Sommer
|
|
| 1937
|
No race held
|
|
|
| 1938
|
Alfa Romeo
|
Carlo Pintacuda / Francesco Severi
|
|
1939
1947
|
No races held
|
|
|
| 1948
|
Aston Martin
|
St John Horsfall / Leslie Johnson
|
|
| 1949
|
Ferrari
|
Luigi Chinetti / Jean Lucas
|
|
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
|
Pascal Ickx / Gérard Langlois van Ophem
|
3812,591
|
158,855
|
| 1966
|
BMW 2000ti
|
Hubert Hahne / Jacky Ickx
|
4048,368
|
168,681
|
| 1967
|
Porsche 911
|
Jean-Pierre Gaban / Norbert Van Assche
|
4052,883
|
168,867
|
| 1968
|
Porsche 911
|
Erwin Kremer / Willi Kauhsen / Helmut Kelleners
|
4004,827
|
166,867
|
| 1969
|
Porsche 911
|
Guy Chasseuil / Claude Ballot-Lena
|
4272,231
|
187,006
|
| 1970
|
BMW 2800CS
|
Gunther Huber / Helmut Kelleners
|
4252,407
|
177,183
|
| 1971
|
Ford Capri RS
|
Dieter Glemser / Alex Soler-Roig
|
4385,100
|
182,690
|
| 1972
|
Ford Capri RS 2600
|
Jochen Mass / Hans-Joachim Stuck
|
4498,436
|
187,431
|
| 1973
|
BMW 3.0 CSL
|
Toine Hezemans / Dieter Quester
|
4422,980
|
184,290
|
| 1974
|
BMW 3.0 CSi
|
Jean Xhenceval / Alain Peltier / Pierre Dieudonné
|
4147,289
|
172,804
|
| 1975
|
BMW 3.0 CSi
|
Pierre Dieudonné / Jean Xhenceval / Hughes de Fierlandt
|
4249,270
|
177,053
|
| 1976
|
BMW 3.0 CSL
|
Jean-Marie Detrin / Nino Demuth / Charles Van Stolle
|
4087,904
|
170,329
|
| 1977
|
BMW 530i
|
Eddy Joosen / Jean-Claude Andruet
|
4083,835
|
170,159
|
| 1978
|
Ford Capri
|
Gordon Spice / Teddy Pilette
|
4315,594
|
179,816
|
Results on 7km track
| Year
|
Car
|
Pilots
|
Distance
|
Average
|
| 1979
|
Ford Capri
|
Jean-Michel Martin / Philippe Martin
|
3083,632
|
128,485
|
| 1980
|
Ford Capri
|
Jean-Michel Martin / Philippe Martin
|
2952,318
|
123,013
|
| 1981
|
Mazda RX-7
|
Tom Walkinshaw / Pierre Dieudonné
|
3183,952
|
132,737
|
World Sportscar Championship
|
| 1982
|
BMW 528i
|
Hans Heyer / Armin Hahne / Eddy Joosen
|
3132,224
|
130,808
|
| 1983
|
BMW 635 CSi
|
Thierry Tassin / Hans Heyer / Armin Hahne
|
3333,726
|
130,808
|
| 1984
|
Jaguar XJS
|
Tom Walkinshaw / Hans Heyer / Win Percy
|
3055,485
|
131,091
|
| 1985
|
BMW 635 CSI
|
Roberto Ravaglia / Gerhard Berger / Marc Surer
|
3470,000
|
144,344
|
| 1986
|
BMW 635 CSI
|
Dieter Quester / Thierry Tassin / Altfrid Heger
|
3463,060
|
144,232
|
| 1987
|
BMW M3
|
Jean-Michel Martin / Didier Theys / Eric van der Poele
|
3338,140
|
139,908
|
| 1988
|
BMW M3
|
Altfrid Heger / Dieter Quester / Roberto Ravaglia
|
3532,460
|
146,929
|
| 1989
|
Ford Sierra Cosworth
|
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
|
| 2001
|
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
|
Christophe Bouchut / Jean-Philippe Beloc / Marc Duez
|
3679,104
|
152,999
|
| 2002
|
Chrysler Viper
|
Christophe Bouchut / David Terrien / Vincent Vosse
|
3654,059
|
152,019
|
| 2003
|
Porsche 996 GT3-RS
|
Stéphane Ortelli / Marc Lieb / Romain Dumas
|
3327,613
|
138,557
|
| 2004
|
Ferrari 550 Maranello
|
Luca Cappellari / Fabrizio Gollin / Lilian Bryner / Enzo Calderari
|
3888,144
|
161,974
|
| 2005
|
Maserati MC12
|
Michael Bartels / Timo Scheider / Eric van de Poele
|
4000,896
|
166,638
|
External links