The seven dozen competitors in the traditional Spa Summer Classic headline race, the 3 Hours of Spa, which pits touring and grand tourer cars up to 1976 against each other, held its qualifying session late on Friday afternoon.
It is well known that a race of this nature is not determined during the session that determines the starting grid positions. However, with such a numerous and competitive Iberian Historic Endurance field, nobody was willing to give up anything. After all, a good starting position theoretically allows for taking fewer risks in the early stages of the competition.
The growing popularity of the 3 Hours of Spa, the fourth Historic Endurance race of the season, has attracted an increasing number of top teams. This means the battle to succeed Christophe Van Riet and Fred Bouvy, the 2021 and 2022 winners behind the wheel of a Shelby Cobra, will be even closer.
On a day when the unpredictable Ardennes weather conditions were not a factor, the Danish duo of Palle Pedersen and Nicolai Kjaergaard, driving a fast Ginetta G4R, was a pleasant surprise. They took pole position for the race and recorded the best time among the competitors of the H-1965 class. They beat the Porsche 911 3.0 RS (H-1976) driven by fellow Dane Lars Rolner and local racer Pierre-Alain Thibaut, a former Belgian touring car champion.
The second row of the grid will be shared by the TVR Griffith 200 of Britons Harry Barton/Oliver Reuben (H-1965) and the pink Porsche 911 3. 0 RS (H-1976) of Denmark's Annette Rolner/Michael Holden, while on the third row will be the Shelby Cobra Daytona of Franco-Belgian duo Brice Pineau/Oliver Muytjens, who gave such a good account of themselves in the Portimao and Jarama races, and the Jaguar Type-E of Rhea Sautter and Andrew Newall, who finished on the podium at the same race last year.
In a race where mechanical reliability will be put to the test, victory in the Index of Performance will also be at stake. The winner of this classification receives an exclusive model from the Swiss watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos.
The 3 Hours of Spa concludes the Spa Summer Classic program on Saturday. The race starts in the late afternoon and ends in the early evening, creating a fitting tribute to the great endurance races of the past. The cars, with their headlights on, will evoke the nostalgia of the time when the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps spanned 14.120 kilometers per lap.
