On the 2nd May 2015 the teams and drivers taking part in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship will line up on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps for the traditional dress rehearsal for the 24 Heures du Mans a month later.  Since 1923 Spa has been a venue for some of the best sportscar and endurance racing in the world and the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is the latest chapter in this long and illustrious history.  

With just over 9 weeks until track action begins in Belgium, here are 20 interesting facts about sportscar racing on Belgium’s premier race track.

1. The WEC 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps can trace its history back to the first post war sportscar race held in 1953.  From 1953 to 1962 the non-championship races were held over distances ranging from 169km to 282km on the long 14.1km circuit.

2. The first World Sportscar Championship race held at Spa Francorchamps in 1963 and won by Belgian Willy Mairesse in an Ecurie National Belge Ferrari 250 GTO.  The races in 1963, 64 and 65 held over 500km.

3. The first 1000km race was held on 1966, which was won by Mike Parkes (GBR) and Ludovico Scarfiotti (ITA) in a SpA Ferrari SEFAC Ferrari 330 P3.

4. Due to safety problems on the traditional long and very fast 14 km track over public roads, the race was discontinued after 1975. 

5. The last race on the old circuit was won by Henri Pescarolo and Derek Bell in an Alfa Romeo 33TT12.  While scheduled for 1000km, the 1975 race was shortened to 750km due to an approaching storm.

6. The 1000km race was revived in 1982 on the new 7.0km (4.3mile) circuit.  The World Endurance Championship race was won by Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass in a Rothmans Porsche 956 in a time of 6 hours 6 minutes 4.140 seconds.

7. Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell are the only two drivers who have won on both the old 14.1km and the new 7km circuits at Spa-Francorchamps

8. Since 1953 Ferrari and Porsche have both won nine times.  

9. The last overall win for Porsche was in 1984 with Stefan Bellof and Derek Bell winning the World Endurance Championship race in the Porsche 956B in a time of 5 hours, 53 minutes.  Stefan Bellof was tragically killed the following year in a collision at Eau Rouge during the 1985 race.

10. The last overall win for Ferrari was in 2001 Jean-Marc Gounon and Marco Zadra winning in a Ferrari 333SP in the FIA Sportscar Championship. 

11. Of the other manufacturers currently competing in the WEC Audi have four wins, Toyota one (2014) and Aston Martin two. 

12. Nissan have never recorded a win in the 1000km race but were victorious in the other Belgian classic endurance race, the 24 Hours of Spa, in 1991.

13. In 2011 the 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps was the opening round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) and was won by Anthony Davidson, Alex Wurz and Marc Gene in a Peugeot 908 covering 161 laps in 6 hours 2 minutes 3.799 seconds.

14. In 2014 the race distance covered by the no8 Toyota TS040-hybrid of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Lapierre was 1197.67km / 748.54 miles (171 laps).   This compares to 1176.66km (168 laps) in 2013 and 1120.62km (160 laps) in 2012.

15. The total race distance covered by the entire grid in 2014 was 29,780km

16. Current Lap Records for the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 

• LMP1 L. Di Grassi Audi R18 e-tron quattro 1m58.934 4 May 2013 

• LMP2 N. Minassian Oreca 03 Nissan 2m07.697 4 May 2013 

• LMGTE Pro G. Bruni Ferrari F458 Italia 2m19.106 4 May 2013 

• LMGTE Am P. Ruberti Ferrari F458 Italia 2m20.020 3 May 2014

17. The WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is the only event on the World Endurance Championship calendar to be on the same weekend in 2012, 2013, 2014 and now in 2015.  All other events have moved weekends at least once.

18. Ferrari have had the upperhand in the GTE classes at Spa, winning both the Pro and Am classes in 2013 and 2014.  Porsche won both classes in 2012.

19. Over 114,000 spectators have attended the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in 2012-2014.

20. The WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps has one of the largest grids of the year as race by race entries are received for the Belgian race as teams prepare for the 24 Heures du Mans.  Since 2014 the average grid size has been 35 cars for the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.  With 35 full season entries for the 2015 season, the grid for this year’s WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps should be above average.

The WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

The WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, which is Round 2 of the 2015 World Endurance Championship, will take place from Thursday 30 April to Saturday 2 May at the world famous circuit in the Ardennes region of Belgium.