Spa Ferrari Days: The Shell Historics
by Keith Bluemel
6.5.01

The three grids had an entry of sixty-seven cars between them, which was reduced by ten with "no shows", with a further depletion in the form of the 250 LM of Hartmut Ibing which appeared but took no part in the proceedings.

However, there was still a fine range of valuable machinery to put on some good races for the crowds, with two races for each grid on Saturday and Sunday afternoons respectively.

Free practise and qualifying took place in miserable wet conditions, which left you in awe of the drivers risking themselves and their cars on the streaming track, particularly the early single seater drivers with minimal safety equipment and plumes of spray streaming off the wheels, reducing visibility even further. Fortunately all, apart from the Maserati 250F of Thomas Bscher, survived unscathed and the track conditions were much better for the races, only the first Grid A single seater race taking place on a track still wet in places.

In the single seater Grid A race on Saturday it was Burkhard von Schenk who took victory in his Maseati 250 F, although it was a close call as the engine broke a cam follower during the race and lapsed onto five cylinders. This allowed a flying Stefan Schollwoeck in his Maserati 6 CM to close up, finishing only 1.7 secs adrift at the flag, with the similar model of William Binnie taking the final place on the podium.

Unfortunately Carlo Vogele rearranged the suspension of his beautiful 158 Alfetta, after trying to outbrake the 1932 Tipo B of Robert Fink at the Bus Stop chicane, the off line wet track catching him out, with the resultant spin ending against the barrier.

For the second race on Sunday, von Schenk's crew had travelled home to Germany to get new parts, repaired the damage and had the car ready to take another victory. This time it was from the 6 CM of William Binnie and the 250 F of Peter Heuberger, which had beached in a gravel trap in race one.

The Grid B races for drum braked sports and GT cars were another Maserati benefit, which after practise looked as though it was going to be a shoot out between the 450 S models of Thomas Bscher and Bernd Hahne. However, in Saturday's race Bscher overshot his pole position slot on the grid and had to complete a further lap, whilst the remainder took the start. This made it easy for Hahne who stretched to more than half a minute lead from the 300 S of Burkhard von Schenk by the end of the race, with the similar model of Richard Binnie taking the third step on the podium.

On Sunday Bscher didn't make the same mistake, but it was still Hahne who took the victory followed by Bscher, with Binnie again taking third.The best Ferrari could manage was fourth on Saturday for the 250 GT LWB TdF berlinetta of Plinio Haas, and seventh on Sunday for the 750 Monza of Carlos Monteverde.

The Grid C races for disc brake sports racing and GT cars saw David Franklin take pole in the 712 CanAm in absolutely appalling weather conditions, from the 312 P(B) models of William Binnie and Christian Glasel who was making a return to the series after a season away doing FIA GT racing. Fourth fastest was the ever spectacular Peter Hardman in the front engined Dino 246 S. The water seemed to cause the 512 S of Jean Guikas electrical problems, as he was way back on the grid.

The 712 CanAm powered into a lead it was never to lose in the first race, chased by William Binnie, whilst the Glasel car only completed one lap before retiring. Jean Guikas stormed through the field to third place by the end, whilst the 365 GTB/4 of John Bosch just took fourth from Hardman in the closing stages.

The Glasel car was back in rude health on Sunday, although the Guikas 512 S was sidelined with gearbox problems. The race saw a continuous duel between the bellowing 712 CanAm and the screaming 312 P(B) of Glasel, victory going to the latter by a scant 2.5 secs, with the second 312 P(B) of Binnie taking the final podium place, albeit somewhat adrift of the leading pair.

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