Spa 24 Hours

Spa 24 Hours

The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium (RACB).

It was held for the first time in 1924 over a 9.3 miles (15.0 km) circuit on public roads between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot. The present 6.9760 km circuit was inaugurated in 1979.

The Spa 24 Hours were part of the European Touring Car Championship from 1966 to 1973. The event also counted towards the World Sportscar Championship in 1953 and 1981. As on the Nürburgring, both a 24h and a 1000 km race is held at Spa, as the 1000 km Spa for sports car racing were introduced in 1966.

Cars entered included Russian Moskvitch and engine sizes ranged from 996 cc NSU Prinz TT to the luxurious V8-powered Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3, tuned by Mercedes-AMG, the so-called "Red pig" . This heavy and fast vehicle with 6834 cc and 420 hp (313 kW) finished only 2nd in 1971, as frequent refuelling was necessary, and tyre wear was also high.

With the participation of Swiss Lilian Bryner on the victorious Ferrari 550 of the BMS Scuderia Italia team, the 2004 race marked the first time in history that a female driver has won a 24 hour endurance race in a Gran Turismo with more than 500 hp (370 kW).

The race is currently sponsored by Total S.A..