SPA 24 Hours

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 == {| class=