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Organized every second year the track days returned at the first week of June to the famous track in the
Ardennes for the second consecutive time after the last track days help at the Nürburgring in 2011. Open for
modern street and race cars, historic Le Mans and sports cars from every marque with focus on Ferrari and
certainly a small but selective group of F1 cars although one has to note that they are becoming less and
less used these days. Arriving Tuesday morning in the paddocks only two Ferrari F1 of the Schumacher era
and the 126 C2 as driven by Villeneuve were prepared for the day and with some rain showers earlier in the
morning with a slippery track there was no track session for them in the morning. With a lunch break
regulated by the Belgium law the timetable had to be re-written anyway so the F1 got two outings in the
afternoon but unfortunately the track remained empty apart from two Formula Renault racers taking their time
and a few laps of the 126 C2. Next day was not much better but fortunately the 312 T4 of the Stieger
collection showed up to be driven for a few laps on Wednesday.
Much more used was the track time for the modern street and race cars. With several 458 Italia owners
taking the opportunity to drive them apart from modern traffic and road restrictions several Ferrari from the
8-cylinder line plus a few F12 and 599 GTB/GTO were playing with the counterparts from Zuffenhausen with
several 911 GT street cars could be seen that day as well.
One of the features this week was a selection of no less than 5 Koenigsegg brought by the German distributor
including a “One:1” named after the very impressive power to weight ratio.
More important are these meetings for the race cars without road registration and several former Ferrari
Challenge racers ranging from the first Challenge winning 348 to the latest 458 GT3 racers could be seen
running alongside the GT3 versions of the all new McLaren MP4-12C and the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS. As
the group was named after the race at La Sarthe a genuine Le Mans participating Aston Martin DBR9 was
chasing its “grandfather”, the reconstructed Aston DP214 project car.
This also leads to the classic cars that are attracting a lot of interest both in the pit lane and track side for the
paying spectators making their way to Spa on a working day. This included a bunch of Alfa GTA as seen on
many driving event nowadays, the Ford V8 powered GT40 and AC Cobra Daytona coming from the same well
known stable, a brutal De Tomaso Group 4 and several Maserati and Porsche. Brought over by Methusalem´s
Restorations especially the Maserati shone this week with a 150S, two 300S, a 250F Piccolo and the Tipo 63
Birdcage. Also impressive was the line-up of Porsche ranging from an early 356 Carrera both in normal
configuration but also as Abarth GTL, a Porsche 904 GTS, a 906 Carrera and even a rare 907 LH. The 907
was prepared for another event later that week (presumable for a Le Mans celebration at Porsches return to
win at Le Mans this weekend) and therefore was sorted out on a few laps at the hilly course.
Ferrari on the other hand was a little bit under represented this week, with a 166 MM/53 Touring Barchetta
and a 225 S Vignale Spider on the Vintage side and a duo of 275 GTB. Regular entrants at the track days are
the 512M and the 512 BBLM as well as the 312 PB from Stiegers, star might have been the original Sebring
running Ferrari Dino 206 GT (00306) still fresh from restoration to former glory.
Unfortunately more and more classic cars are rarely raced and driven but more on the show circuit so the
concours during the lunch break on Wednesday was very well expected by the visitors. First the original Fiat
Ferrari Race transporter made its way from the back of the pit lane to the start finish line to make the
background for the line-up. Equipped with the Dino 246 Tasman racer from the late Fabrizio Violati collection
as sold at last year’s Bonhams Monterey Auction the car was one of the eye catchers of the weekend. In
several classes the international Jury including Uwe Meisner himself, Mister Le Mans Jacky Ickx and Ferrari
historian Keith Bluemel had to choose their favourite ranging from a green 512 BB up to the Best of Show
winning 212 Inter Ghia Berlinetta (0225EL) that was just restored on behalf of his new owner Anthony
Hertzenberger, son of the original owner back in the days of the delivery.
So what is the conclusion of the two days at Spa? Certainly the track days are not as exciting to visit as a
spectator as they were years ago when people were still more interested in driving their cars rather than
protecting their investment. Just as at the current auction circus the newer supercars are taking over and for
those interested in them the trip to Spa was a must. One does rarely see a Koenigsegg, not to mention 5 of
them. In addition one could both see an Enzo and the new LaFerrari plus a very exotic Isdera Imperator, the
poster car of the 1980s.
The track days are certainly less a spectator event but an owners event were the fast supercars and valuable
classic cars could be driven without the risk of traffic and the stress of timing on a race weekend. Drivers of
different abilities can work on their driving skills and getting some first-hand tips from Jacky Ickx to find the
proper race line.
Report & image … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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