Report & Gallery: Spa Six Hours 2025, The Sound of History
By Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica
The traditional Spa Six Hours took place on the last weekend of September, organised by Roadbook under the direction of Alain Defalle and Vincent Collard. The three-day event is one of the annual highlights of the European historic motorsport calendar, with the highlight being the six-hour endurance race on Saturday afternoon.
Although the number of participants shrunk slightly compared to last year, there were no fewer than 16 Ford GT40s among the favorites. However, no one anticipated the strength of a small Ginetta, driven by a trio of likeable drivers from Denmark who had won the Spa 3 Hours and the evening race during the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring earlier this year.
In addition to the six-hour endurance race, the Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge, F3 1000 cc European Trophy, Historic Grand Prix Car Association, Pre War Sports Cars, RAC Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy, Classic Sports Car Club & British HTGT Competition, Historic Championship ’65 & ’81, Alfa Revival Cup, GT3 legends and Classic GP – Historic F1 Pre-1986 were all scheduled during the three day event.
Most of the attention naturally focused on the six-hour endurance race that started at 4:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. As expected, pole position went to a Ford GT40 during qualifying. The fastest car was the #25 GT40 of Christian Albrecht and Seb Perez, who were 0.427 seconds faster than the #20 GT40 of Michael Funke, Luco Sanchez, and Nick Salewsky.
The entire top ten was claimed by GT40s, with the first car to break the streak the #2 Ginetta G4R, driven by an all-Danish team: Palle Birkelund-Pedersen, Alexander Weiss and Nicolai Kjaergaard. The small British sports car set the 11th time overall.
After the lights turned green, the #40 GT40 leapt to the lead, but after a safety car intervention and several exciting duels, the #20 GT40 of Funke, Sanchez, and Salewsky claimed it. Thanks to Nicolai Kjaergaard, the Ginetta had worked its way up from 11th to 8th place. In the second hour, the #20 GT40 remained in the lead, about four seconds ahead of the GT40 of pole-sitters Albrecht and Perez. However, halfway through the race, the #2 Ginetta surprisingly took the lead, 55 seconds ahead of the #7 GT40 of Martin Stretton and Diogo Ferrao.
In the fourth hour of racing, the #30 GT40 of Marcus Count Oeynhausen, Nico Verdonck, and Andrew Newall led the standings, over a minute ahead of the #3 GT40 of Nikolaus Ditting and Sam Hancock. The Ginetta dropped back to a strong fifth place, a lap down on the leading GT40.
The #7 GT40 of Martin Stretton and Diogo Ferrao then steadily worked its way to the top of the standings, and by the fifth hour of the race, the British-Portuguese combination had taken the lead.
The small Danish 1.720 cc Ginetta was impressively in second place overall, and its fuel consumption was much lower than that of the thirsty V8 in the GT40. At that point, everything looked like the Pedersen-Weiss-Kjaergaard combination would make history by taking the lead and winning the coveted Spa Six Hours.
However, disaster struck during the fuel stop. One of the 4 available fuel pumps broke down, and as a result the queue with cars grew. The Danish team waited for six minutes but did not change their strategy, while Stretton and Ferrao intelligently changed theirs. The Danes, with their Ginetta, were in line for a broken pump and had to join the back of one of the other lines. Victory was gone! Nevertheless, the achievement of the small team run by family members and friends remains great and had it not been for the fuel pump problems they would have won the race by a lap.
Besides the iconic endurance race, the program included much more. Three races were scheduled for the Youngtimer Touring Car Trophy. The British team dominated the first race on Friday with a complete top three, led by Alex Taylor in a TVR Tuscan.
The British team once again put in a strong performance in the second race, with Piers James Masarati taking the win in his Porsche 964 Turbo, although he only held Switzerland’s Felix Haas from taking victory.
Brittania rule would also be demonstrated during the final race of the weekend for the ever-popular Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge, organised by Randal Lawson and his team. Stephen Scott Dunwoodie held off Felix Haas and drove his Ford Sierra Cosworth to victory.
A welcome addition were the 1-litre F3 cars, the so-called “Screamers,” thirty of which lined up for the first race of the weekend. Peter de la Roche proved too strong, as the Briton outclassed the competition with his Alexis Mk.17.
The battle for victory in the second race was a different story altogether. The top three ultimately crossed the finish line within two seconds of each other, with Ross Drybrough taking victory in a Merlyn Mk.14A.
The historic single-seaters from the Historic Grand Prix Car Association always bring out a large field and interesting races. During the first race, the battle for the lead was between Rüdiger Friedrichs and Tim Child, but the Briton ultimately took a convincing lead and took victory.
The second race had a completely different story. While Friedrichs managed to break away immediately after the start, it was Michel Kuiper, who, despite a failed start, fought back from seventh place. The Dutchman caught up with Friedrichs, but ultimately decided to take the risk and settled for second place.
The oldest cars on display during the event, both on and off the track, were from the Pre-War Sports Cars. The forty-minute race was convincingly won by Rüdiger Friedrichs and Charlie Martin in a 1932 Alvis Firefly Special.
While in the past, we were able to admire up to fifty iconic Le Mans cars from the 1950s on the combined grid of the Stirling Moss Trophy and the RAC Woodcote Trophy during previous editions of the Spa Six Hours, we’ve unfortunately seen a negative trend in recent years. Only fourteen cars were on the starting grid for this edition of the Spa Six Hours. Frederic Wakeman and Chris Ward won the Stirling Moss Trophy, while Paul Pochciol and James Hanson triumphed in the RAC Woodcote Trophy.
The Classic Sports Car Club and British HTGT Competition were brought together for the occasion. Steve Osbourne dominated both races in a Jaguar E-Type. In the HTGT, Philippe Vermast won the first race in a Triumph Vitesse, and Jon Wolfe won the second race in a TVR.
From Germany, the Historic Championships of ’65 and ’81 were merged into a single grid. Francois Rivaz was fastest in the 90-minute race in HC ’81 with a Chevron B19. Oliver Hartmann did the same in HC ’65 with his Elva Mk.8.
The Italian Alfa Revival Cup was also one of the series that compensated for the loss of Masters Historic Racing. Alfa Romeo Giulia and GTAm enthusiasts were treated to a field of around twenty cars. The battle for victory was between the GTAms of Ambrogio and Daniele Perfetti, with the former crossing the finish line first after just over an hour of racing.
The most modern cars competing in this edition of the Spa Six Hours were the GT3 Legends. Although the starting field of 15 was rather limited, the spectators were at least able to enjoy the first-generation GT3s. Graham Davidson drove his Aston Martin V12 Vantage to victory in both races without any opposition.
Due to the cancellation of Masters Historic Racing, the historic Formula 1 cars were initially absent from the program. However, Diogo Ferrao collaborated with Vincent Collard of Roadbook with the intention of organizing an F1 race. The plan was to organize two races back-to-back: Spa, followed a week later by Estoril.
Unfortunately, only six cars were on the starting list at Spa, only three of which ultimately taking to the track. Paul Tattersall took the win on Friday, being the only one to cross the finish line. On Saturday, it was the experienced Michael Lyons who, after the lights turned green, immediately disappeared over the horizon and secured the victory.
The Spa Six Hours remains one of the most coveted historic endurance races in Europe. The grandstands were certainly packed during Saturday’s endurance race. We’re already eagerly anticipating the 2026 edition, which will undoubtedly go down in history just like editions before.
Results Spa Six Hours 2025
Spa Six Hours
- Ford GT40, Martin Stretton/Diogo Ferrao
- Ginetta G4R, Palle Birkelund-Pedersen/Alexander Weiss/Nicolai Kjaergaard, + 1:28.464
- Ford GT40, Michael Funke/Luco Sanchez/Nick Salewsky, + 1 lap
Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge
Race 1
- Alex Taylor, TVR Tuscan
- Piers James Masarati, Porsche 964 Turbo, + 37.291
- Mike Manning, Ford Sierra RS500, + 55.991
Race 2
- Piers James Masarati, Porsche 964 Turbo
- Felix Haas, Morgan MMC4, + 0.424
- Ashley Shelswell, Ford Sierra XR4i, + 1.656
Race 3
- Stephen Scott Dunwoodie, Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth
- Felix Haas, Morgan MMC4, + 1.405
- Piers James Masarati, Porsche 964 Turbo, + 4.553
F3 1000 cc European Trophy
Race 1
- Peter de la Roche, Alexis Mk. 17
- Charlie Martin, De Sanctis, + 29.972
- Jason Timms, Brabham BT21, + 38.241
Race 2
- Ross Drybrough, Merlyn Mk.14A
- Jason Timms, Brabham BT21, + 1.214
- Christoph Widmer, Brabham BT18A, + 1.987
Historic Grand Prix Car Association
Race 1
- Tim Child, Brabham BT3/4
- Rüdiger Friedrichs, Cooper T53, + 12.256
- Maxime Castelein, Lotus 18 915, + 15.799
Race 2
- Rüdiger Friedrichs, Cooper T53
- Michel Kuiper, Brabham BT4, +1.520
- Maxime Castelein, Lotus 18 915, + 23.080
Pre-War Sports Cars
- Rüdiger Friedrichs/Charlie Martin, Alvis Firefly Special
- Robert Beebee/Joshua Beebee, Frazer Nash TT Rep, + 1:18.234
- Alexander Hewitson, Riley 12/4 TT Sprite Rep, + 1:42.639
Stirling Moss Trophy
- Frederic Wakeman/Chris Ward, Cooper T38
- John Spiers, Lister Knobbly, + 29.466
- Guillaume Peeters/William Nuthall, Lotus XV, + 1:35.361
RAC Woodcote Trophy
- Paul Pochciol/James Hanson, Jaguar D-Type
- Miles Griffiths, Kieft Bristol, + 5 laps
Classic Sports Car Club & British HTGT Competition
Race 1
- Steve Osbourne, Jaguar E-Type
- Philippe Vermast, Triumph Vitesse, + 31.178
- Nicolai Kajergaard, Lotus Elan, + 41.817
Race 2
- Steve Osbourne, Jaguar E-Type
- Jon Wolfe, TVR, + 23.319
- Dean Halsey, Datsun 240Z, + 1:13.604
Historic Championship ‘81
- Francois Rivaz, Chevron B19
- Luco Sanchez/Michael Funke, Ford GT40, + 6.796
- Michael Wittke, Porsche 911 RSR, + 33.247
Historic Championship ‘65
- Oliver Hartmann, Elva Mk.8
- Rüdiger Friedrichs, AC Cobra 289, + 11.802
- Reinier van Abbe, Ford Mustang, + 2:10.745
Alfa Revival Cup
- Ambrogio Perfetti, Alfa Romeo GTAm
- Daniele Perfetti, Alfa Romeo GTAm, + 4.176
- Roberto Restelli, Alfa Romeo GTAm, + 37.417
GT3 Legends
Race 1
- George Davidson, Aston Martin V12 Vantage
- Christoph von Oeynhausen, BMW Z4 GT3, + 28.703
- Julian Thomas, Audi R8 GT3, + 46.682
Race 2
- George Davidson, Aston Martin V12 Vantage
- Christoph von Oeynhausen, BMW Z4 GT3, + 18.103
- Christian Albrecht, McLaren MP4/12C, +28.531
Classic GP-Historic F1 Pre-86
Race 1
- Paul Tattersall, Ensign N179
- John Spiers, March 761, + 1 lap
- Michael Lyons, Hesketh 308E, + 5 laps
Race 2
- Michael Lyons, Hesketh 308E
- John Spiers, March 761, + 41.499
- Paul Tattersall, Ensign N179, + 1:53.015