Eleven of our Open racers made the trip to Spa. As with previous overseas rounds (and at Silverstone this year) the two club series, Open and formula classic, were to share a grid. This made the overall grid size respectable, and the event viable from a financial viewpoint.

As with Silverstone the fastest cars in Open would be around 30 secs quicker on a lap than the fastest cars in formula classic. This is a big speed differential, and the classic racers certainly had to keep an eye in their mirrors. With a big track like Spa this shouldn't be too much of a problem though, and so it proved this year.

In qualification 1 & 2 it was Sam Smeeth who held a clear advantage over the field. Sam's 458Ch doesn't enjoy the benefits of any aero kit, and yet he manages to get great times out of the car. His commitment on track is most impressive, and is similar to watching Jim Cartwright in classic. It would be great to see them head to head in similar cars.

Next up in both sessions were Paul Bailey, manfully managing a very bad back, Arwyn Williams in his GT3 458, and welcome series returnee Graham Reeder. Graham's 360Ch has been for sale for a while. With no immediate takers (why not?) it may as well have a run.

As expected Sam Smeeth was gone from lights out, and would not have been caught. However the officials didn't like his green flag lap (too much aggressive warming of tyres) and put out a drive though penalty board. Frankly Sam could have complied with this and still have won the race. However for whatever reason he didn't, which of course brought out a black flag.

For some reason Sam didn't see this either and continued to finish the race. After the race he was disqualified of course and fined. So the winner was Paul Bailey from Williams and a delighted Graham Reeder. Tim Ingram-Hill spun at Les Combe on lap 1 and re-joined at a very reduced pace for the remainder of the race.

Race 2 was if anything hotter than race 1. Even a short race was quite tough to manage for everyone. Sam Smeeth was perhaps fortunate to have been allowed to start race two, following his indiscretions in race 1.

This time however he made no mistakes and won by nearly half a minute. Again, Paul Bailey and Arwyn Williams followed in the next two places. Class winners were Graham Reeder (C2 360Ch) Tim Ingram-Hill (the sole C3 430Ch), and Paul Brooks (C1 456GT).

With only one overseas round being possible at present, nobody will complain if Spa is on the 2014 calendar. However if a chance ever presented itself to race at Monza ...

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Click here for results of both races.

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