New Zealander Roger Wills’ 10-year quest to win the Spa Six Hours – the most prestigious prize in historic endurance racing – was finally rewarded in the 23rd running of the annual event organised byRoadbook on19September. Sharing his Historic Automobilesprepared Ford GT40 with Briton James Littlejohn, Wills overcame the loss of third gear throughout his final stint to beat the similar mount of Germany’s Michael Funke andMarcus Graf von Oeynhausen by 30 secs.
In a 104-car field headlined by 12 GT40s (the majority late-built to FIA Appendix K spec) in the GTP division, Dutchmen Alexander van der Lof, David Hart and NickyPastorelli drove brilliantly to claim Grand Touring honours with third place in Hart’s metronomic Shelby Cobra. They outran the best of the Jaguar E-types, threetimes event winner Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen’s Demon Tweeks Direct entry, which finished fifth in typically testing weather conditions at Francorchamps.
British competitors enjoyed considerable success on Belgium’s majestic Grand Prix circuit. Father-and-son Michael and Will Schryver/Joe Twyman (LotusElan 26R Shapecraft coupé), Mark Bates/Sean McInerney (Porsche 911) and David Garrett/Luke Wos/AndyYool(FordMustang) all beatstiff international competition in memorable victories. Elsewhere on the programme, Loïc Deman (Tyrrell 010), Christophe d’Ansembourg (Williams FW07C) and veteran Jean-Michel Martin
(Tyrrell 009) scored an unprecedented Belgian 1-2-3 in the second leg of the penultimate FIA Masters Historic F1 championship round. Japan’s Hitoshi Kato also attracted much attention by bringing two raucous rotaryengined Mazda R100 Familia coupés to celebrate John Hine and Roger Enever’s fifth place in the 1970 Spa 24 Hours. An outstanding Big Healey scrap brought a fantastic day’sracing to a close at the fourth Castle Combe Autumn Classic on 3 October.
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Patrick Blakeney-Edwards made a brilliant start but soon retired, handing the lead to Marc Campfield. Former hillclimb champion David Grace was on a mission, though. When Campfield cruised to a halt at half distance Grace made it a double, having been forced to work hard in race one by Jack