As summer draws to a close in the Belgian Ardennes, the devotees of classic competition machinery are preparing to get into their starting-blocks. Indisputable autumnal event on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the Spa Six Hours is on the point of going full swing during the weekend of the 19th and 20th September. Once again the Roadbook team has brought together the cream of international historic motorsport on the greatest circuit in the world, with the spectators getting ready to be entertained to a compendium of races taking in Formula 1, Prototypes, GT and Touring cars.

If the meeting is given the name Spa Six Hours, it is in honour of the endurance race that traditionally starts on the Saturday on the dot of 16.00hrs. A race reserved to pre-1965 cars, all a reference in their own right. And this year once again there will be in excess of … 100 muscle cars going head to head, defying the undulating Ardennes circuit and its elements, if one recalls the sequence of events during the 2014 edition. At the front of the grid the Ford GT40 can inevitably be seen as the top favourites, and for the 2015 edition, they will be … 12 to battle it out for overall victory!

Teamed up with his fellow countryman Tony Wood at the wheel of the #6, the Brit Martin Stretton will attempt to add a fifth win to his record at the Spa Six Hours, but he will need to cross swords with other top teams, such as Gläsel-Kelleners-Ellerbrock, Meins-Lillingston Price, Henderson-Henderson-Fisken, Walker-Jordan-Griffith, Voyazides-Hadfield, McInerney-McInerney-Reuben, Lynn-Haddon, etc. It is worth mentioning that this year a Belgian driver will be behind the wheel of one of these prestigious GT40, none other than … the Managing Director of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Pierre-Alain Thibaut in person, who will be teamed up with Wolfgang Kaufmann and Afschin Fatemi at the wheel of the #15!

To counter the Ford, we obviously have the Jaguar E-Type in their most appropriate versions, with the Lightweight of John Clark, Howard Redhouse and Richard Shaw, the Low Drag manned by Jason Minshaw, Rob Hall and Martin Melling, not forgetting the muscle car of John Minshaw and Phil Keen. As for the Shelby Cobra, they will do everything in their power to regain the upper hand from the GT40 brigade, with Summers-Donaldson-Cottingham, Hart-Hugenholtz-Van der Lof and Chiles-Chiles-Ingram in the leading roles. It is also worth keeping a close eye on the nimble Lotus Elan 26R, of which the Shapecraft version of Schryver-Schryver-Twyman, or the Grant Tromans and Richard Meaden machine, who will be joined by a certain … Marino Franchitti, younger brother of Dario Franchitti, winner notably of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Spa Six Hours is also the opportunity to appreciate some truly exceptional and extremely rare cars, such as the Aston Martin DB4 GT DP214, the Morgan +4 SLR, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé, the Gilbern 1800 GT, not forgetting the monstrous Ford Galaxie and Falcon Sprint and their ‘NASCAR’ look…

Even if they are not prophets in their own land when up against the best international specialists, the Belgian drivers at home in historic events will once again be on hand this year. Apart from P.A. Thibaut, we have Christian Dumolin-Stephan Meyers-Christophe Van Riet (Ford Mustang MK1), Philippe Lambilliotte (Lotus Elan 26R), Gaëtan Woitrin (Ford Shelby Mustang 350 GT), José Close (with the Frenchmen Raymond Narac and Michel Lecour with Porsche 911), Kristoffer Cartenian (Ford Mustang Notchback), Luc Geebelen-Xavier Martens (Porsche 911), Serge Libens-Jean-André Collard (Austin Healey 3000 MK2), Eric Duthoit (Jaguar E-Type), Diederik Ceyssens-Geert Boels (Porsche 911), Paul Lejeune-Grégory Paisse (Triumph TR4), Eric De Doncker-Patrick Henry de Frahan (Ford Shelby Mustang 350 GT), André Van Dyck-Freddy Van Sprundel (Ford Mustang Notchback), Maurice Damseaux-Eric Damseaux (Mini Cooper S), Eric Everard-Christian Bouriez-Christian Lange (Ford Mustang), etc.

As you will have realised these Spa Six Hours definitely act as High Mass on the international historic scene, with only very few specialists not present in the paddock, and where the Spa-Francorchamps grandstands will be awash with enthusiasts during the third weekend of September.

Rendezvous for a further communiqué taking in an overall presentation of a meeting where surprises, always good ones, will inevitably be abundant …