Zenith

PRESS RELEASE

The 4th Spa-Classic held between 16 - 18 May with Zenith as Official Timekeeper was a great success with the public. The organiser, Peter Auto, saw an increase in attendance with more than 15.000 spectators present this year.

Spa-Classic, held in blazing sunshine over the three days, brought eight grids to the Francorchamps circuit for a total of almost 350 historic racing cars. Once again the entertainment on offer to the public was paramount. The on-track spectacle and the amusements in the paddock were aimed at the greatest number, all generations combined.

 

The public loved the fact that they were able to rub shoulders with the entrants/drivers and they formed guards of honour around the cars about to go out onto the track.

The Belgian circuit, a real temple for endurance races for touring cars hosted two grids devoted to them: the Heritage Touring Cup and the U2TC with nighttime races recalling the great era of the Francorchamps 24 Hours.

The grids on the track, which attracted huge numbers of cars, confirmed the expansion of Spa-Classic since its first running in 2011 ranging from the Sixties’ Endurance grid with more than 50 cars at the start (AC Cobra, E-Type Jaguar Type E, Porsche 904, Chevrolet Corvette, Austin Healey,..) to Classic Endurance Racing with 40 entries in CER 1 (Lola T70, Ford GT40, Ferrari Daytona Gr 4, Porsche 911 RSR 3L, etc) and more than thirty in CER 2 (March, Sauber, Lola, Porsche 935, BMW M1, etc).

The Trofeo Nastro Rosso, reserved for Italian Sports and GT cars from 1950 to 1965, is receiving an increasing number of entries with 27 cars. It was without doubt one of the most beautiful grids of the meeting thanks to some exceptional Italian cars: Ferrari 250 LMs, GT Berlinettas and 275 GTBs, Maserati 300s, Alfa Romeo Giulia TZs and Giuliettas, Bizzarrini 5300 GTs.

The U2TC reserved for under 2-litre touring cars received almost 20 entrants (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTAs, Ford Cortina Lotuses, BMW 1800 Tis, etc). The Heritage Touring Cup set up last year by Peter Auto to bring back to Francorchamps the touring cars that shone in the famous 24 Hours also attracted more entries with nearly 30 saloons on the grid on Saturday (BMW 3.0 CSLs, Ford Capri 2600 RSs and Escorts, Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAMs, Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs, etc). 

Along with his trophy, Eric Mestdagh, the winner of the Heritage Touring Cup in his BMW 3.0 CSL, received an El Primero Chronomater 1969 watch, presented by the offical race timekeeper, the Zenith watch manufacture.