The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

History

The

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

had been introduced in 1924, and other races followed. As on the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, both a 24-hour race for touring cars and GTs is held, and an endurance race for sports cars and GTs. The 24 hour race counted towards the inaugural World Sports Car championship in 1953, the last time that race would be held until 1964, and the last time it was for sports cars for several decades. Earlier in 1953 a minor sports car race, the Coupe de Spa was the first race held in the lineage of the 1000 km (now 6 hour) race. The first Spa Grand Prix was held in 1954, and in 1963 joined the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

and was extended to 500 km. Starting in 1966 the name Spa Grand Prix was no-longer used, and the race was run for 1000 km, following the 1000 km Nürburgring and 1000 km Monza. Due to safety problems on the traditional long and very fast 14 km track over public roads, the race was discontinued after 1975. Spa 1950

The 1000 km race was resumed in 1982 after the track was made safer by shortening it to 7 km. In 1989 and 1990, the race distance was lowered to 480 km. Due to the decline of the WSC, the "1000km" was discontinued after 1990 even before the WSC closed. The race was revived in 1999, as a part of the SportsRacing World Cup (the predecessor to the

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating ...

), running to a 2-hour, 30 minute time limit. In 2003, the 1000 km race was resumed as a joint event of the FIA SCC with the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

. In 2004, it was part of the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

(LMS), and in 2011 was also part of the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

. From 2012 onwards the race has been part of the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

, albeit in the format of a six-hour race.

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

currently holds record of most wins, having won the race 5 times, in 1967, 1968, 1974, 1982, and 1983. He is also one of two drivers to win the 1000 km on both the original and current circuits, the other being Derek Bell.

Winners

: The 1975 event was originally scheduled for 1000 km, but was shortened to 750 km the day of the race due to an approaching storm. : The 1985 event was originally scheduled for 1000 km, but was shortened to five hours (848 km) after the ensuing 40-minute caution caused by the collision of the Bellof/ Boutsen

Brun Motorsport {{Unsourced, date=December 2016 Brun Motorsport GmbH was a Swiss auto racing team founded by driver Walter Brun in 1983. They competed as a Porsche privateer team in sports car racing for their entire existence, running in a multitude of interna ...

Porsche 956 with the Ickx/ Jochen Mass Rothmans

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Europ ...

at Eau Rouge. Bellof died in the hospital afterwards, and officials ended the race at the five-hour mark, after 122 of 145 laps. : The 2002 event was stopped early due to heavy rain. : The 2010 event was red flagged during the race due to electrical outages. The race covered approximately 975 km when it on a six hour time limit. : The 2019 event was stopped early because of snow. : Race record for distance covered.

Records

Wins by constructor

Wins by engine manufacturer

Drivers with multiple wins

References

External links

Le Mans Series
- 1000 km of Spa

{{Automobile endurance races Auto races in Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps