Spa Six Hours

I've owned this thing for eleven years at this point. And in that whole time it's always been intermittently terrible at hot starting. There have been a combination of factors contributing to this, and I've dealt with them. New earths. New ignition switch. New fuel pump non-return valve. New cylinder head temperature sensor. And now a new starter, which, let's be honest here, was an absolute sod to change. And now I really need a new positive lead to the starter. No problem. I look up the part number and fire an email off to my usual supplier.
Nope. I email Porsche Amsterdam. Nope. Rose Passion list it for 550€, delivery time unknown. Balls.
The problem is that it's not just the power cable to the starter, but also to the ignition switch and fusebox. Looks like I'm going to have to repair this. After a trawl around my local industrial estate nets nobody willing to repair it or provide parts to repair it myself I traipse off to a DIY place. 10mm aluminium tube? Perfect. I buy a length and head home.
At home I strip back the positive cable to shiny copper and do the same to an old earth lead. I crimp the two bits together with the aluminium tube and heatshrink the absolute bejeezus out of it. Connect everything back up and discover the speed that my starter should have been turning over at all this time. Fab. Time for a test run!
I take it out for a decent run, get it properly, properly hot, then stall it reversing back up the driveway. It restarts immediately! Yessss! I leave it for ten minutes to heatsoak and it restarts immediately. Excellent. I reverse it back into the garage and get it back in the air, just to check everything.

Yep, the first stop is Porsche Gelderland, where one of our party has arranged a tour. The showroom is cool.










The private collection is insane.

Next morning dawns bright and cold, and damp to boot. Last time I was at Spa I was crewing for a pal racing his E30, and naively thought that there would be a food truck or two. There wasn't and I had to scrounge sandwiches from him. Not wanting to make the same mistake again, we head to the supermarket and stock up on pain au chocolat and Oasis, then head off to the track. The classic parking is an event in itself.




















































The Samba convertible? Find another.

Walking around the outside of the track, though? Sitting in grandstands? That's F1 stuff. This is historic motorsport. Let's get inside the track.














































Ohhhh yessss.

Saturday, and the Six Hours proper. But that doesn't start until nearly four. Time for a leisurely breakfast and then a look at the museum in Stavelot.

The Six Hours is brilliant. The maddest bit is the refuelling. It's not in the pits. It's at the petrol station. Turns out you prepay before the race, and afterwards get either some cash back, or a bill. The attendant hands the racers the nozzle, and they have to fill up themselves. This adds a whole new variable to the whole endurance race, because you can legitimately hit the pumps at rush hour.

That looks like an epic way to spend a few days .

Good write up & pics .

👍

Epic. That refuelling method is nuts and awesome 😎