Spa Six Hours 2024: Masters Sports Car Legends

In their Lola T70 Mk3B, Dutch father-and-son duo David and Olivier Hart emerged victorious in an extremely exciting Masters Sports Car Legends race at a very wet Spa, in which the lead changed several times in the final few laps. Following a brilliant opening stint by John Spiers, who surged into the overall lead before handing the pre-66 McLaren M1B over to Nigel Greensall, Hart Jnr and Greensall fought tooth and nail over victory, with Greensall failing to admit defeat after young Hart passed him for the first time.

“In the beginning it went well”, said Hart Snr. “I only drove in the rain and this was half rain, half dry. But I enjoyed it a lot. Two cars were much quicker than me on the straight, so I had to do it in the corners. It was a lot of fun.”

“Well, wonderful race and to be at Spa racing a McLaren coming second overall, you know…” said a delighted Spiers. “The car is the second oldest car in the race. So we’re very, very happy and pleased to be here.”

Initially dropping behind two other strong pre-66 contenders – the Andy Newall/Steve Seaman Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder and Richard McAlpine’s McLaren M1B – the James Claridge/Gonçalo Gomes Lola T296 bounced back to claim third overall right at the end, partly helped by a late safety car that also allowed the Dion Kremer/Ben Mitchell Elva Mk8 to snatch a strong fourth overall and the Bonnier class win. In the end, McAlpine and Newall/Seaman came home a close fifth and sixth.

“It was tricky because of the changing conditions, but I tried my best. That was the only thing I could have done!” said Gomes.

In the opening stages, Chris Ward’s Lola T70 Mk3B featured as well, initially storming up into the lead from David Hart’s similar machine, but thwarted by a lack of oil pressure, his challenge evaporated halfway into the car’s first stint. Meanwhile in the ex-Leo Voyazides/Simon Hadfield Lola T70 Mk3B, Jim Norman looked set for a strong finish but the American dropped out of fourth by a late moment that caused the safety car. He recovered to seventh.

Some visiting the Spa Six Hours event were having an early dinner around this time, but the Masters Sports Car Legends field was ready for its wet 60-minute race into dusk. James Claridge in the Lola T296 was on pole on the track that was still awash from a recent deluge, with the two quick T70 Mk3Bs of David Hart and Chris Ward ready to pounce from second and third on the grid. Claridge’s Stommelen-class rivals were back in ninth and tenth – Michael Gans in the Lola T290 and local hero Ron Sanen in the Chevron B36 – so in between it was mostly about the pre-66 Hulme-class contingent headed by John Spiers’ McLaren M1B and Andy Newall in Steve Seaman’s Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder. Dion Kremer in the Bonnier-class Elva Mk8 split the pre-66 cars in two sections of two, as the Elva was followed by Richard McAlpine’s McLaren M1B and the Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger Cooper Monaco ‘King Cobra’, Bellinger at the wheel. Just outside the top ten were Austrian Ingo Strolz in the Lola T210, American Jim Norman in the ex-Voyazides/Hadfield T70 Mk3B, and two more Belgian competitors in the form of Maxime Castelein and his Bonnier-class Porsche 906 and Thomas Dozin in a Chevron B16.

Into the first lap, Hart and Ward duly charged into the lead positions, with Spiers and Newall following them through past Claridge, who proved to be slightly more careful in the wet. Kremer, McAlpine and a fast starting Norman were next, followed by Sanen, Bellinger, Strolz and Dozin. Before the lap was over, Kremer in the agile Elva had also found a way past Claridge, but on lap 2, McAlpine came storming through to pass both. At the back, Michael Gans was in trouble on the grid and was now behind the field, his team having dealt with a clutch issue.

Hart (D.) and Ward were nose to tail on the next time around, but an inspired Spiers was catching both of them, with Newall not far behind either. McAlpine was a solid fifth, ten seconds behind the leader, and now nine seconds up the road from Kremer and Norman. Claridge and Sanen had their class fight in eighth and ninth, with Stroltz completing the top ten for the moment.

Once Ward was through into the lead, though, he began to power away from Hart Snr, leaving the Dutchman to worry about Spiers still looking for a way through. The two had dropped Newall by four ticks, but the T70 Spyder was comfortably ahead of McAlpine’s McLaren. Ward’s joy proved shortlived, though, as the Lola was seen slowing before heading into the pits at the end of lap 4, a lack of oil pressure the cause.

So now Hart and Spiers were arguing over the lead. Hart initially broke away on the treacherous surface, but at the end of lap 5, Spiers was through after all, the two leading Newall by three seconds. McAlpine had assumed fourth, 22 seconds down on the leader, while Norman in the familiar ex-Avallone T70 was fifth, 31 seconds in arrears. Kremer led the Bonnier class in sixth, followed closely by Claridge and Sanen, while Strolz and Dozin had found a way past the struggling Bellinger. Indeed, the Cooper Monaco was seen grinding to a halt at the start of lap 6. Further back, the recovering Gans had finally caught up with Dozin to pass the Belgian for tenth.

20 minutes into the race, Spiers still led, but Hart and Newall were closing on the McLaren once again, the three leaders now just two seconds apart. But before either of them was able to overtake the leader, Newall found a way past Hart to be second, making it a sensational pre-66 1-2 for the moment. Going into lap 8, the leading trio would find the pit window open at the end of that tour, and indeed Spiers blinked first after a brilliant opening stint, with the aim to hand the McLaren to the even quicker Nigel Greensall. While Hart and Newall carried on, the Dutchman found a way to repass the Spyder and reclaim the lead. Meanwhile, Kremer pitted to hand the Elva to Ben Mitchell while Claridge gave the T296 to Gonçalo Gomes – around the same time as Gans’ T290 refused to continue after all.

On lap 10, David Hart was in too, being relieved by son Olivier, while Newall took in another lap before handing the car to Steve Seaman. Dozin came in as well, but McAlpine, Norman, Sanen and Strolz all elected to stay out for another tour of Spa. When Newall pitted on lap 11, they all followed suit – apart from Sanen, who just like at Zandvoort missed the pit window…

Once all the stops had panned out, Greensall led Hart Jnr by four seconds, but the young Dutchman was looking feisty in second place and soon closed down the gap. Unable to keep pace with the two quick drivers up front, Seaman was now a distant third ahead of Sanen (who hadn’t stopped), McAlpine and Norman, while both Mitchell and Gomes were making up large chunks of time in seventh and eighth, having quickly dealt with Strolz and Dozin.

While Sanen made his stop after all and was handed a drivethrough penalty to boot, Greensall was giving his all to stay ahead, but Hart Jnr had the gap to a few tenths when the pair entered lap 15. Now two minutes in arrears, Seaman was still third but in danger from being caught by McAlpine, who in turn was caught by Norman. Behind them Gomes was up into sixth, having passed Mitchell. With some 16 minutes remaining on the clock, Hart made the pass on Greensall stick as the two started lap 16, while Norman took McAlpine for fourth. In fact, the American was on a charge, as his pace was well up on Seaman’s too. The next minute, though, it was all over, as Norman failed to come round. Stuck in an awkward spot, the Lola prompted the arrival of the safety car, but eventually Norman managed to get going again under his own steam.

Just before the safety car was called, Greensall who had doggedly trailed Hart, had reclaimed the lead when the Dutchman made an error to lose three seconds on the McLaren, so the order behind the safety car was Greensall, Hart, Seaman, McAlpine, Gomes, Mitchell, Sanen, Strolz, Norman and Dozin. Less than three minutes remained, so at the front, Hart needed to do it all over again while Greensall would try everything to accomplish a shock overall win for a pre-66 car.

It would be two more laps, and that looked enough for Hart Jnr to get back on top. Behind them, Gomes profited from the safety car to pass McAlpine and Seaman in short order, with Mitchell following the Portuguese driver through. But still it wasn’t over, as Greensall failed to admit defeat and once again grabbed the lead coming onto the Kemmel straight! In the second half of the ultimate tour, though, Hart yet again restored order to salvage victory after all. Gomes took third ahead of Bonnier-class victors Kremer and Mitchell, with McAlpine and Seaman rounding out the pre-66 Hulme-class top three. Norman bounced back to take seventh ahead of Sanen who would undoubtedly be demoted for failing to take his penalty. Strolz and Dozin rounded out the top ten.