The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has been hosting the Motorsport competition for over 100 years, after a newspaper owner who created a racing circuit in a public road triangle connecting three villages in 1921.
“It’s one of the much better circuits,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing, a five-year 6-hour winner of Spa-Francorchamps, a five-year winner.
The 6 hours took place for the first time in 1953 and always took place on the track and since then, along with other sports car competitions. It is also the place of the Belgian Grand Prix of Formula 1.
The length of the route has also changed all these years and has a little more than four miles in the current size since 1982.
In 1985, the driver Stefan Bellof was killed in an accident in the Eau Rouge curve and after 1990 the event was interrupted. It was renewed in 1999, took place in 2010 and since 2012 participated in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship.
“Obviously, the spa and the track have changed a fair part, in terms of the drain areas, and the Eau Rouge in historical images seems different,” said Will Stevens of the Cadillac Hertz Jota team, who won the match in 2024.
The competitive nature of the Wec and the reappearing route that now provides more handle, means that the 6 hours of the spa – despite its endurance – has become a frenzied competition.
“Although it is a long race, it is one of the smallest races of the year and we have three drivers for the car, so we do two hours each,” Stevens said. “It’s basically a race from start to finish, so even though it’s a struggle race, it’s like a sprint race – cars today are very good at credibility so that we can push cars very hard.
“They have to qualify. Stay out of the problem for the first four to five hours of the match and make sure you are in a piece for the last hour of the race.”
Spa-Francorchamps is located in Ardennes, where the weather can be changed at one point. The 1975 race was reduced due to a storm, which happened again in 2002, while Snow gifted the drivers on the day of the race in 2019, with some falling even during the race.
“We recently tried there and we had a beautiful weather for two days,” Buemi said in an interview last month. “It feels like it’s the best place when you have good weather. The piece is obviously amazing.
The large area of ​​the circuit can also introduce problems.
“It is always a harsh struggle in terms of strategy,” Buemi said, “because the weather changes so much and the piece is so big that sometimes the piece is wet on the one hand and dries on the other, so it requires flexibility.”
Drivers also have another contest in mind when they question the 6 hours of spa. There are eight events in the WEC calendar, but the SPA’s six -hour competition is the final gathering before 24 hours of Le Mans in June, the central part of the year.
“I think the biggest race in our calendar is Le Mans and all races are an accumulation for the biggest race of the year,” Stevens said. “The spa is the race just before that, and as the features of the circuit go similar to Le Mans. It is always a good warm -up.
“So some people have their eyes on Le Mans. Try some things to maximize the package, but as long as we are here to win Le Mans. We also want to finish well in this match especially as it counts towards the main championship and want to do well in all matches.
