Round 6 - Spa Francorchamps

RESULTS

Sean Mulcahy's PHOTOS

Spectacular - Super Spa

Following the series' first visit in 2023, 20 CALM All Porsche Trophy (CAP) cars returned to the spectacular Spa Francorchamps circuit for the 2025 SuperSpa meeting.

The CAP teams were invited to join the latest round of the Netherlands based Porsche Club Racing series. This runs to a different structure to CAP, with classes for slick shod RS Cup, GT4 Cup and Cayman cars running at the front, with older GT Cup, 944 Cup and Boxster Cup classes making up the balance of the field.

The CAP Boxsters and 968s were included in the GT Cup class, the 4 CAP Caymans in the Cayman Cup class and the sole 924 was promoted to become an honorary contender in the 944 Cup.

With three hours of track time, made up of free practice, qualifying and two hour long races the weekend promised a real endurance test.

The first casualties of the weekend were the Goodwin family Boxster, Colin Tester's Cayman and Ryan Mone's 944S2, all of whom completed free practice with a variety of gearbox or clutch isssues, and only Colin made it to qualifying. The other two were fixed in time for next day's racing after working into the night with all sorts of people joining in, with a special mention to Dutch team RFF Motorsport and the young 924 Owners Club members who went to extraordinary lengths to get the cars out for Saturday qualifying.

The quickest CAP car in Qualifying was Richard Neall in his 997, followed by Paul Simpson (Cayman), Andrew Duce (Boxster), Colin Tester (Cayman), newcomers Stuart Marston (Cayman) and Jason Brown/Johnny Lovell (Boxster), and a closely matched gang of 968s led by Steve Potts, sharing his car with ex-924 Champion Pip Hammond, ahead of the Nick/James Carey and Clayton/Ed Sampson cars.

Between qualifying and the first race on Saturday, 90% of the field had their qualifying laps deleted for not complying with parc ferme rules and they lined up behind the 4 slower cars that had met the rules. Saturday also saw heavy rain, so the sensible decision was taken that there would be no overtaking until after the first corner.

The front of the field was dominated by the powerful RS Cup and GT4 Cup runners, taking full advantage of their wet tyres. CAP cars dominated the midfield and the early pace was set by the Charlie Dye and the Lovell/Brown Boxsters which were also on full wets, with Richard Neall and Colin Tester the next CAP cars. There was an early Full Course Yellow (the first of many) and then a long stop with water in the electrics dropped Johhny Lovell out of contention. Meanwhile Colin Tester got past Charlie Dye to lead the CAP contingent. Paul Simpson was running strongly in his Cayman until he tagged the pit wall after a lurid spin on the start/finish line due to misaligned suspension after an earlier incident, causing another FCY.

Andrew Duce had been moving up the field after a cautious first half of the race, taking the rapid Stuart Marston with him as they hit the front of the CAP pack, and Stuart passing AD to be the first CAP car home towards the end of the race. Colin Tester finished 3rd CAP car ahead of Richard Neall's 997 and Charlie Dye. Next up was the charging Garry Goodwin with a recovery drive that earned him Driver of the Day. He started the race dead last after his transmission problems, and in the confusion of the start lost a lap right from the off. Despite a faulty clutch he carved through the field, in the process setting a lap time second only to AD among the Boxster contingent. The Carey/Carey car was first 968 home ahead of the Potts/Hammond and Sampson/Sampson cars.

By the start of the second race, the track was drying, but the grid was formed with only the first few rows in their correct places and the rest out of position. This benefitted some of the CAP cars, but not all. Colin Tester, Andrew Duce and Richard Neall were all beneficiaries, mixing it around the top ten overall, and as high as 4th on laps 9 and 10. Colin led this group until Richard overtook on lap 8, dropping back a couple of laps later, but finally establishing himself as top CAP car by the final 2 laps. Colin and AD swapped places throughout, completing the race less than a second apart with AD to the fore. A little further back Stuart Marston and Paul Simpson made rapid progress through the field from the back finishing ahead of Jamie McHugh's Boxster and Pip Hammond/Steve Potts in the first of the 968s.

There were non finishes for Hugh Peart's 924, reporting low oil pressure at his pitstop, and the unfortunate Ryan Mone who's repaired 944 transmission finally gave up after just 2 laps.

A red flag brought about an early race finish, with the circuit blocked by the shared 968 driven by CAP founder Phil Waters which made contact with the barriers on the exit of the Blanchimont left hander, making for a slightly subdued end to a great weekend of racing.

The CAP teams finished with a clean sweep of the popular GT Cup class with a race 1 result of Andrew Duce (1), Charlie Dye (2), Garry Goodwin (3), and with AD taking the race 2 class win from Jamie McHugh and the Potts/Hammond 968. Overall the SuperSpa weekend was a great success highlights being a warm welcome and great hospitality from our Dutch hosts, excellent racing and many happy memories from the magnificent Spa circuit.