The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. 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 9.3mi circuit on public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot. The present 6.9760 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 996 cc NSU Prinz TT to the luxurious V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3, tuned by Mercedes-AMG to the so-called "Red pig" . This heavy and fast vehicle with 6834 cc and 420hp finished only 2nd in 1971, as frequent refuelling was necessary, and tyre wear was also high.
With the participation of Swiss 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 driver has won a 24 hour endurance race in a Gran Turismo with more than 500hp.
Results on 14km track
| Year
|
Car
|
Pilots
|
Distance
|
Average
|
Notes
|
| 1924
|
Bignan 2L
|
 Henri Springuel
Maurice Becquet
|
|
|
|
| 1925
|
Chenard-Walcker
|
André Lagache
René Léonard
|
|
|
|
| 1926
|
Peugeot 174S
|
André Boillot
Louis Rigal
|
|
|
|
| 1927
|
Excelsior
|
Robert Sénéchal
 Nicolas Caerels
|
|
|
|
| 1928
|
Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 S
|
 Boris Ivanowski[1]
 Attilio Marinoni
|
|
|
|
| 1929
|
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750SS
|
Robert Benoist
Attilio Marinoni
|
|
|
|
| 1930
|
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750GS
|
Attilio Marinoni
Pietro Ghersi
|
|
|
|
| 1931
|
Mercedes-Benz SSK
|
Dimitri Djordjadze
Goffredo Zehender
|
|
|
|
| 1932
|
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM
|
Antonio Brivio
Eugenio Siena
|
|
|
|
| 1933
|
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM
|
 Louis Chiron
Luigi Chinetti
|
|
|
|
| 1934
|
Bugatti Type 44
|
Jean Desvignes
Norbert Mahé
|
|
|
|
| 1935
|
No race held
|
| 1936
|
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A
|
Francesco Severi
Raymond Sommer
|
|
|
|
| 1937
|
No race held
|
| 1938
|
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B
|
Carlo Pintacuda
Francesco Severi
|
|
|
|
1939
1947
|
No races held
|
| 1948
|
Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports
|
 St John Horsfall
Leslie Johnson
|
|
|
|
| 1949
|
Ferrari 166MM
|
 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 Ti/SA
|
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
|
 Günther 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
 Nico Demuth
Charles Van Stolle
|
4087,904
|
170,329
|
|
| 1977
|
BMW 530i
|
Eddy Joosen
Jean-Claude Andruet
|
4083,835
|
170,159
|
|
| 1978
|
Ford Capri III 3.0S
|
Gordon Spice
Teddy Pilette
|
4315,594
|
179,816
|
|
Results on 7km track
The current version of the Spa 24 Hours is an event under the FIA GT Championship calendar, although it was previously run as part of various touring car series. Currently, the cars run fall under the GT1 and GT2 FIA classifications as well as the G2 and G3 classifications used for non-homologated racing cars of lower classes.
| Year
|
Car
|
Pilots
|
Distance
|
Average
|
Notes
|
| 1979
|
Ford Capri III 3.0S
|
Jean-Michel Martin
Philippe Martin
|
3083,632
|
128,485
|
|
| 1980
|
Ford Capri III 3.0S
|
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
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1983
|
BMW 635 CSi
|
Thierry Tassin
Hans Heyer
Armin Hahne
|
3333,726
|
130,808
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1984
|
Jaguar XJS
|
Tom Walkinshaw
Hans Heyer
Win Percy
|
3055,485
|
131,091
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1985
|
BMW 635 CSI
|
Roberto Ravaglia
Gerhard Berger
 Marc Surer
|
3470,000
|
144,344
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1986
|
BMW 635 CSI
|
Dieter Quester
Thierry Tassin
Altfrid Heger
|
3463,060
|
144,232
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1987
|
BMW M3
|
Jean-Michel Martin
Didier Theys
Eric van de Poele
|
3338,140
|
139,908
|
World Touring Car Championship
|
| 1988
|
BMW M3
|
Altfrid Heger
Dieter Quester
Roberto Ravaglia
|
3532,460
|
146,929
|
European Touring Car Championship
|
| 1989
|
Ford Sierra RS 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
|
Last race for touring cars
|
| 2001
|
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
|
Christophe Bouchut
Jean-Philippe Belloc
Marc Duez
|
3679,104
|
152,999
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2002
|
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
|
Christophe Bouchut
Sébastien Bourdais
David Terrien
Vincent Vosse
|
3654,059
|
152,019
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2003
|
Porsche 911 GT3-RS
|
Stéphane Ortelli
Marc Lieb
Romain Dumas
|
3327,613
|
138,557
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2004
|
Ferrari 550 Maranello
|
Luca Cappellari
Fabrizio Gollin
Lilian Bryner
Enzo Calderari
|
3888,144
|
161,974
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2005
|
Maserati MC12
|
Michael Bartels
Timo Scheider
Eric van de Poele
|
4000,896
|
166,638
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2006
|
Maserati MC12
|
Michael Bartels
Andrea Bertolini
Eric van de Poele
|
4092,961
|
171,034
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2007
|
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
|
Mike Hezemans
Fabrizio Gollin
Jean-Denis Deletraz
Marcel Fässler
|
3726,660
|
155,241
|
FIA GT Championship
|
| 2008
|
Maserati MC12
|
Michael Bartels
Andrea Bertolini
Eric van de Poele
Stéphane Sarrazin
|
4041,885
|
168,096
|
FIA GT Championship
|
External links
.png){kind=small}
