Report & Gallery: The Spa Summer Classic 2026

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on April 30, 2026

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

The 17th edition of the Spa Summer Classic was on the calendar for the penultimate weekend of April. The main race of the weekend was the familiar Spa 3 Hours, a 3-hour endurance race for historic GTs and touring cars with a field of fifty-eight cars. Last year’s undisputed favorites, Palle Birkelund Pedersen and Alexander Weiss from Denmark, came to defend their title.

Just how determined both were to successfully defend their title became evident when Alexander Weiss rode the small but oh-so-fast 1720 cc Ginetta G4R to pole position once again. Alexander and Vincent Kolb had no answer with their mighty Cobra to the lightning-fast Weiss, who secured pole position by a margin of 5.910 seconds.

After the first lap it was already abundantly clear that if Weiss and Pedersen managed to bring the Ginetta to the finish line without problems, a second consecutive victory would be secured. And so it happened. The Danish duo did not encounter any difficulties during the race and drove to a controlled victory. After three hours of racing, Pedersen and Weiss held a twol-lap lead over the Ford Mustang of Andy Taylor, Dave Coyne and Mike Wright. The small Danish team once again demonstrated the true spirit of historic racing: achieving great results with a limited budget, optimal preparation, the necessary passion and conviction.

There is no shortage of diversity in the Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge. During this weekend in Spa too, the grid was packed with an array of touring cars and GTs. Daniel Schrey made his mark on the first two races with the bright yellow Porsche 935 K1. During the first race, David Verzijlbergen managed to keep the gap to the leader by no more than about five seconds with his BMW M3 E36. Schrey looked set to score three out of three on Sunday morning, but during the second lap of the final YTCC race the 935 suddenly stalled. The battle for the lead then took place between the BMW M3s of David Verzijlbergen and Sam Adriaans, which was ultimately decided in Verzijlbergen’s favor.

From Germany the Touring Car Legends had once again found their way to Spa. The public was treated to two races featuring mainly BMWs in a number of versions and a wide range of different Porsches. Markus Weege proved to be the fastest in his BMW E46 M3 during the first race of the weekend. Thomas Ardelt dominated the second race of the weekend with his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.

Popular in Belgium as well as abroad is the Belcar Historic Cup from Belgium. For years this championship attracts interesting starting grids with a wide range of historic GTs and touring cars. During this weekend, Wim Kuijl proved to be a cut above the rest of the competition with his impressive Ford Capri RS3100 and won both races convincingly.

The British Classic Sports Car Club CSCC had brought two series down to Belgium: the CSCC Modern International & Ramair BMW Championship and the CSCC Classic & Morgan Challenge – British GTGT.

Nathan Wells faced little opposition during the first race of the weekend with his BMW M3 E46 GTR. Nigel Mustill and Craig Dolby drove a lonely second race of the weekend in their BMW GT3, where they encountered no opposition from anyone or anything. Louis Workman-Ruff drove his Morgan Plus 4 dominantly and convincingly, crossing the finish line as the winner twice.

The Spa Summer Classic guarantees an international character and to underline this once again, the FHR Historic Championship ’65 and ’81 were present from Germany. HC ‘65 had two half-hour races on the program, while HC ‘81 had a race that lasted 90 minutes.

Bas Jansen drove brilliantly in HC ’65 with his Shelby Cobra 289 and faced no opposition whatsoever. During the second race it was Jac Meeuwissen who set the pace. While the Dutchman had to watch Jansen take the victory unchallenged during the first race, he called the shots during the second with his Cobra Daytona Coupe.

In HC ’81 Maxwell Polzler and Nick Salewsky took home the victory with their Porsche 911 RS. After ninety minutes of racing, they crossed the finish line first although Daniel Schrey, this time in a Porsche 911 RSR, was flagged in second place just two seconds behind.

Touring cars and GTs from the seventies were combined with the European Championship for 1300 cc cars in the ETCC Seventies Revival by 1300 ETC. Daniel Schrey made his mark here with his well-known Porsche 935 K1, which he drove convincingly to victory twice.

The smallest cars of the weekend came from the Kampf der Zwerge, or Battle of the Dwarfs. A large field of Mini Cooper’s, Fiat Abarth’s and NSU TT’s battled for top honors. As is often the case in this series, the best duels were once again fought right to the finish line. During both races, Hans März fought a duel for the lead against Michael Männl and Gregor Nick that lasted until the finish. In both cases, März managed to win the races by the blink of an eye.

The 17^th edition of the Spa Summer Classic proved to be another very successful weekend for the Roadbook organization, thanks to the excellent spring weather, the well-filled starting grids and the large crowds that were present. We are already looking forward to the 18th edition in 2027.

Results Spa Summer Classic 2026

Spa 3 Hours