The thirtieth anniversary edition of the Spa Six Hours is just around the corner! From September 27 to October 1, fans of historic racing will not only be offered an exceptional cocktail, but also a redesigned format.
The purely sporting debates will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, making the Spa Six Hours Endurance, the flagship event of the meeting, the final fireworks!
Twenty GT40s at the start!
And with around a hundred crews ready to race, the 2023 Spa Six Hours Endurance will undoubtedly be as hotly contested as ever! The Ford GT40, which has won 15 times in 29 editions, will once again be the car to beat as there will be 20 of them on the grid!
With many big names such as Alex Brundle (son of Martin Brundle), who will compete together with Gary Pearson in the #2, Andy Priaulx (former world and European touring car champion), who will accompany Miles Griffiths, and Gordon Shedden (BCC-Cador) in the #14, Jimmie Johnson (seven-time NASCAR champion), Dario Franchitti (three-time Indy 500 winner, four-time IndyCar champion) and Marino Franchitti in the #32 as well as Nicolas Minassian (two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans), who will accompany the outstanding Olivier Galant in the #88!
Top-class starting field
The world of historic racing has become a specialty for some, as the number of strong crews also competing in Ford GT40s shows!
Last year's winners David Hart, Olivier Hart and Nicky Pastorelli team up again in the #8 and prepare for a duel with Nikolaus Ditting and Sam Hancock (#3), Jason Wright, Michael Gans and Andy Wolfe (#6), Craig Davies, Chris Ward and Andy Newall (#7), Richard Meins and Chris Lillingston Price (#9), Shaun Lynn, Maxwell Lynn and Andrew Haddon (#10) and Andy Willis and Rob Hall (#15), Kyle Tilley, Martin Stretton and Nicolas Minassian for the second time (#18), Oliver Bryant and James Cottingham (#21), Christian Glasel and Seb Perez (#24), Tony Wood and Will Nuthall (#25), Marcus Graf von Oeynhausen and Belgian Nico Verdonck (#30), Maxime Guenat, Dominique Guenat and Yvan Mahé (#50), not forgetting the Belgian Olivier Muytjens, who joins Brice Pineau and Greg Audi (#20). In other words: the crème de la crème of historic meetings!
Emmanuelle Pirro in the E-Type
The competition once again comes from the Jaguar E-Type and the Shelby Cobra and Cobra Daytona. As for the British cat, Emanuele Pirro (five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans) will line up in the #34 together with Katarina Kyvalova.
Also worth a look are father and son Halusa, Martin and Lukas, who will be joined by Brits Alex Ames (#17), Armand Mille, Yves Scemama and Guillaume Mahé (#31), Jon Minshaw, Jack Minshaw and Phil Keen (#33), John Clark (in a Lightweight version, #39), Belgians Vincent Gaye and Joe Twyman (Semi-Lightweight, #71), William Paul and Rory Butcher (idem, #173), but also Steve Osborne, Rob Smith and Chris Ward (#188).To honor the image of Carroll Shelby, we can count on Jeremy Cottingham and Harvey Stanley (Cobra Daytona, #36), Michael Hinderer, Christian Traber and Lando Graf Von Vedel (#Cobra, #43), Alexander Kolb and Frank Stippler (winner of the 24 Hours of Spa and the Nürburgring, Cobra, #65), etc.
Battle of the scions
Watch out on the track for Colin Chapman's devilish children, the Lotus Elan 26Rs, some of which are manned by strong crews: Michael Schryver, Will Schryver and Marcus Weller in a Shapecraft version, Lando, Alexis and Christian Graf Von Vedel (#46),Roderick, Patrick and Rory Jack (#63), Katsu Kubota, Andy Middlehurst and Richard Bradley (#70), Simon Evans and James Littlejohn (#75), Nick Matthews and Miles Griffiths (#472), or Sam Tordoff, John Tordoff and Andrew Jordan (#600)!
In addition to these legendary cars, there are a whole host of other cars on display, including the Gilbern 1800 GT, the Shelby Mustang 350 GT, the Aston Martin DB4 GT (including the famous DP214), the TVR Griffith and Grantura, the Ginetta G4R, the Ford Mustang, the Falcon Sprint (with Vanina Ickx in the #100!) and the Galaxie 500XL, the Porsche 911 2 Liter, the MG B, the Morgan +4, the Marcos 1800 GT, the Triumph TR4 and even an Abarth 1000 TC! So there is something for everyone
Further information can be found on the website of the 6 Hours of Spa
