SuperSixties report from Spa-Francorchamps

 

Qualifying

Turn 7 was the deciding factor in the SuperSixties qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, with many track limit infringements and some more serious excursions that resulted in loads of gravel on the track. Through it all came the Peter Thompson/Charles Allison TVR Griffith to claim pole from Kennet Persson in the Ford GT40. Andy Newall qualified Rhea Sautter’s E-type in 3rd with Bob Stevens 4th in the first of the Lotus Elans. Next up were the three Shelby varieties, Armand Adriaans (Cobra), Roelant de Waard (Mustang GT350) and Oliver Douglas (Cobra Daytona). Michiel Campagne only managed a lowly 8th position in the Corvette Grand Sport, and could be expected to be nearer the front in the race. Then it was more Lotus Elans, mixed with the fastest of the touring cars: Luc de Cock (Elan), Carlo Hamilton (Ford Falcon), Jos Stevens (Elan), Bas Jansen (Ford Mustang), Niek van Gils (Elan) and Bijleveld/van der Ende (Ford Falcon). Eric Douart in his 2-litre BMW is not far behind the V8 Fords. The Mini’s were fast with Jop Rappange ahead of René de Vries, then Dieter-Karl Anton in his Lotus Cortina, fastest in CT08, Alexander Schlüchter (Mini) and the Van Leenen/Du Toy van Hees and Ralf Wagner Lotus Cortina’s. In GTS11 Erwin van Lieshout was fastest in his Porsche 911, ahead of the MGB’s led by Frank Veenstra.

Race 1 – mighty TVR

A safety car to remove the stranded Mini Marcos of Greg Carini caused chaos in the first SuperSixties race at the Spa Summer Classic. Many drivers decided to pit when the yellow flags came out, which was a good idea, but several did so before the pit window was actually open, which was of course penalised. They received a draconic 5-minute penalty. Kennet Persson had been leading in the Ford GT40, closely followed by the TVR Griffith of Peter Thompson and Michiel Campagne in the Corvette GS. The big Corvette lost its brakes while circulating slowly during the neutralisation and dropped to fourth. Armand Adriaans took the opportunity to take the final podium spot and first in GTS12 in the Shelby Cobra. After Bob Stevens was an early retirement, it was Luc de Cock who came 5th overall and first in class, followed by Niek van Gils, Philippe Vermast and Jos Stevens all in Lotus Elans. Rhea Sautter was classified 9th in the E-type because the other three cars on the lead lap were penalised. Carlo Hamilton won the touring car class in his Ford Falcon ahead of similarly mounted Jaap van der Ende and Bas Jansen in his Mustang. Jop Rappange was first on the road in the Mini class but collected a penalty which handed the win to René de Vries from Alexander Schlüchter, who had an entertaining ding-dong battle with Dennis Bron in his MGA twin cam. CT08, the Lotus Cortina class, had a trio of pit window offenders… as a result the win went to Van Leenen/Du Toy van Hees, from Dieter-Karl Anton, Magnus Lillerskog and Ralf Wagner. In GTS11 Erwin van Lieshout started from the pits in the Porsche 911 and overtook all the MGB’s to win the class from Frank Veenstra and Arnold Herreman. Finally, it is interesting to have a look at the smaller GTP cars. The Marcoses of Mark Dols and Greg Carini dropped out. Rob Rappange spun on the first lap, but still went on to finish in the Porsche 904. Frank Weidema followed him home in his little 1,3 litre Marcos, a great result in his debut race.

Race 2 – Persson is the person in charge

It took some 10 minutes for Sunday’s SuperSixties race to get properly underway. The delay was caused by several stranded cars on the grid and the formation lap, plus an unfortunate startline incident. When the field was finally released, Kennet Persson took the lead from the Thompson/Allison TVR, only relinquishing it for a short time when he pitted early, Michiel Campagne taking over in the Corvette GS. At the flag the Swede had a 20 second lead from the TVR, with Campagne another 20 seconds behind, closely followed by Adriaans in the Shelby Cobra. Roelant de Waard came 5th and 3rd in GTS12 in his Shelby Mustang. In GTS10 father and son Jos and Bob Stevens shared the orange Lotus Elan. Jos kept Luc de Cock’s yellow Elan in his sight, so that after the compulsory pitstop Bob could reel him in and pass him for the class win. SuperSixties debutant Felix Feltes came third in this well contested class, ahead of Marc Morawietz. In GTS11 it was no surprise that Erwin van Lieshout took the win in his Porsche 911. Tiziane and Fabienne Mutschler came second in the fastest of the MGB’s ahead of David Waterhouse. Greg Carini made up for his retirement in the first race by slicing through the field to 12th in his little Mini Marcos, winning the invitation class. The big V8 touring cars all had some sort of trouble. Martin Bijleveld came out on top in his Ford Falcon, Hemmo Vriend was second in another Falcon and Bas Jansen salvaged 3rd in his Mustang. The Mini Coopers made their own show, with René de Vries, Jop Rappange and Alexander Schlüchter trading places. Schlüchter spun and De Vries had to pit with a flat tire, so Jop looked to have it in the bag, but then the white Mini gave up the ghost with 2 laps to go, so Alexander took home the trophy. In CT08 it was the old fox from Austria, Dieter-Karl Anton, who was unbeatable, with Ralf Wagner, van Leenen/du Toy van Hees and Magnus Lillerskog chasing him, all in Lotus Cortina’s. Running like clockwork but unable to challenge the Cortina brigade were the two Alfa Giulias of Günter Zahnenbenz and François Leloutre.

Results: Results – Super Sixties Racing

SuperSixties Magazine Spa edition: NKHTGT Spa V2 high res

SuperSixties actie op YouTube: Supersixties – YouTube