 |
|
 |
|
First a walk along the pit wall. Here's the British Toyota normally driven by Percy in the BTCC I suppose, but now hired to the Martins and Spice. |
|
Rover were out in full force; they didn't have to worry about the British championship. This is the car of Duez, Schlesser and Lovett. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
This one is driven by Hahne, Schlesser and Soper. |
|
And the last one is for Joosen, Jabouille and Pond. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
This is the German (DPM) car of Manthey, Selzer and Schneider. The "Sinziger" sponsorship has disappeared for now. |
Team Schnitzer had taken over the Würth sponsorship from Hartge. This is the Ravaglia/Berger/Winkelhock car. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
The lead Schnitzer car was for Stuck, Quester and Weaver. |
|
Volvo were to tackle their first Spa 24 hours with Swedish cars under Belgian flag. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
The Walkinshaw/Heyer/Percy Jaguar... |
|
... and the sister car of Calderari, Pilette and Sears. |
|
|
 |
|
|
Tassin, Cudini and Snobeck shared this Juma BMW. |
|
|
|
 |
|
What a lovely sight (apart from the rain!); 53 cars on the grid. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
And we're away, with Jaguar leading. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
The BMW Italia CSi leading the next pack... |
... while the Toyota is a little further down. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Then the Volvos, somewhere in the middle of the field. |
Trucco, Sagne and Dupas were in trouble early in the race. But it would go downhill from there... |
|
|
 |
 |
|
This 1.8 Golf GTI was driven by Hohenester, Guyaux and Isler. |
Two Rovers leading an Alfa in the rain. |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Suster, Witmeur and Libert finished third in class with this Alfa - in the wet early stages of the race Walkinshaw laps the car. |
|
|
Jarier/Huysman. Jarier worked his way into the lead in the wet after two hours, but Harald Huysman crashed at Eau Rouge when he was caught out by a firework display trackside. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Drovandi/Cremer/Pirenne - No luck for the Luigi Racing Alfas this year. |
|
|
|
Another Luigi car, this one driven by Perrier, de Thoisy and Salam; they would finish second in class. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Ménage, Nève and Jamin drove this Nothelle Golf; they retired. |
|
|
|
They don't make 'm like that; a light 16-valve 1600 cc car. This is a Danish Corolla, driven to third in class by Nielsen, Høyer and Poulsen. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Another Corolla, a coupé and maybe a Group N version. Janssens and Carlier drove it to second in class. |
|
|
|
Another coupé, of Fritzinger, De Sterck and Van Rompuy - it retired. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
The DNRT Mazda of Vermeulen, van der Beek and van Dedem retired as well. |
|
|
|
Cipriani, Toffoli and Siena leading the #51 Alfa Romeo we saw before. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Mantas! This is the Kissling car of Wollgarten, Prym and Hennes; they retired. |
|
|
|
The sister car of Offerman, Esser and Behrens retired too. |
|
 |
 |
|
Lombardi/Francia - 1st in Division 2 for Lella and Giorgio. |
|
The Mich-Manta of Weber, Schäfer and Strycek did finish; fourth in class. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
A respectable finish for the Toyota: fifth overall! |
|
Raes, Verhaegen and Van Hove were early retirements. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Didn't I warn you? It ended in tears for the French BMW. |
|
A fine looking Mustang of Feitler, Feider and Belmondo Jr... |
|
|
 |
 |
|
... which also ended in the rails. |
|
Night time: Stuck hands over to Quester. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
How did Rover fare? Hahne, Schlesser and Soper did not last longer than 2 hours. |
|
|
Joosen/Jabouille/Pond in the works Rover did not finish either. |
|
 |
 |
|
And even the German Rover did not finish. Only the #28 British car did, it finished eighth. |
|
|
How about the Volvo brigade: the #22 car finished 24th... |
|
 |
 |
|
... as the #21 car finished 15th. |
|
|
How about this car, we haven't seen it before. It was driven by De Deyne, Bourgoignie and Thiim, not a bad bunch. They finished 14th. |
|
 |
 |
|
The Capri didn't want to die just yet, with such an heritage in Spa. How about tenth overall, driven by Semoulin, de Dryver and Regout?! |
|
|
Jaguar #14 (Calderari, Sears and Pilette) retired after an accident. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Walkinshaw/Heyer/Percy - Still eight hours to go, a quiet Sunday run in the sunshine for the winners. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Hartge still had a car at Spa after a dismal season. And it even finished, with Enge and Ms Hemmes; they finished 11th. |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
The BMW Italia car finished sixth, with Grano, Müller Jr and Brancatelli. |
|
Schnitzer's second car retired with engine troubles. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
The second Juma car finished fourth, though I don't know if they were disqualified in the end or not. |
|
Tassin/Cudini/Snobeck - 2nd place this year for Tassin. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Stuck/Quester/Weaver - heading for the finish, in third place. |
|
But the win was for Jaguar! |
|
|
 |
|
|
Close/Hardy/Remion - 1st in division 1 and 19th overall. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|