The Belgium city of Spa is known internationally for its water – the mineral sort that flows from many natural springs around town. In the motoring community though, it’s what lies 7km outside the city – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Along with the Belgian F1 Grand Prix, the annual 24 Hours of Spa is one of the famed circuit’s most prestigious events, and last week – in preparation for the 2022 race – Spa and its inhabitants welcomed a couple of hundred GT race cars to the main thoroughfare for a rolling parade. A spectacle like that doesn’t happen often, so I had to go and check it out.
I arrived a couple of hours before the event, and even then struggled to find a parking spot. After I finally did, I walked around to familiarize myself with the historic part of the city. The Ardennes town is called ‘Spa’ for good reason – the phenomenon of spa towns started right here. Back in the 14th century, Romans frequented the town for the purported curative properties of its mineral baths.
On a sunny Wednesday in 2022, tourists flocked to the city for a very different reason. The bars, terraces and every roadside vantage point were filled with racing enthusiasts, everyone waiting for their favorite drivers to show up.
Valentino Rossi was easily the favorite – that is, if the amount of ’46’ branded merchandise being worn and waved was anything to go by. After retiring his motorcycle boots, the nine-time MotoGP champion has contested the entire 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season driving an Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 for Team WRT.
As the parade grew closer, the excitement grew too. A couple of police motorcycles gave everyone some false hope, but any minute now the first GT3 machine would drive down Rue Royale.
A collective engine roar soon followed, and the full grid of 66 GT3 cars made its way into the town center. And that’s not all; support class cars from the GT4 European Series and Lamborghini Super Trofeo championship followed too.
Together with all the modern-day race cars, fans were also treated to the sights and sounds of a few classic competitors from the SRO 30th GT Anniversary race. I drooled a bit when a Gulf-liveried Venturi 400 Trophy from 1993 made an appearance.
I wasn’t sure if Valentino Rossi had driven his Audi into the city, but he quickly appeared on a second-floor balcony. ‘The Doctor’ waved to the crowd and received a rousing reception in return.
I’m sure that the celebratory atmosphere continued throughout the day, especially since it’s been two years since this traditional parade took place. For me on the other hand, it was time to go to the hotel and prepare for the race weekend ahead. See you at the track in my forthcoming coverage from the 2022 TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.
Vladimir Ljadov
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Look at all those outdated racecars... Lol blows the mind how FASTER every generation gets! It's awesome to see the classics show up, like the history of the sport on parade, side by side. To think every manufacturer there has already debuted the newer class replacement, and that they will be faster with less driver involvement.
Also blows the mind how collectors value street cars over these uncompromised machines, maybe when the aged highway infrastructure gets defunded by uncontrollable costs and shrinking tax budgets, and status posing moves to flying, then will these very cars be properly valued and enjoyed.
There are plenty more goodies with the "historic" cars coming soon. Fun fact, they were also the loudest cars on track
For some reason, I'm getting Race Driver: GRID vibes lol especially with the GT race cars on the streets and the pictures especially lol
Can't wait to see the footage for 24 Hours of Spa!
wait until you see the race coverage, indeed!
Cool story and photos, I really really like the image of the 2 M4 cabrios followed by the gt3 version. The illuminated headlights and sharp angle make for an excellent photograph
Thank You!
Some of these shots look straight out of a 4K racing simulator. Incredibly jealous that people that people get to see this IRL.
Really lucky ones get to race them ; )
Love the Donckerwolke lights on the Porsches in that last pic.
It would be epic!