What started as a weekend that almost didn’t happen turned into one of the most memorable trips I’ve had in a long time. My dad and I made a last‑minute decision to head out to Belgium for the 6 Hours of Spa WEC race. Before we knew it, we were on the road, carving through miles of forest on an eight‑hour drive that felt like its own adventure. There’s something special about that approach to Spa‑Francorchamps: the trees closing in, the roads twisting, and then suddenly the circuit opening up like a hidden world built for speed.
The weather couldn’t have been better. We spent the day sitting in warm, golden sunshine, one of those rare Spa weekends where the sky doesn’t decide to throw four seasons at you. From our spot, we watched the WEC field thunder past: the howl of the hypercars, the rhythm of the GTs, the constant dance of strategy and chaos that makes endurance racing so addictive.
One of the unexpected highlights was getting the chance to catch up with a few engineers I know through working in the industry. Seeing them in their element, busy garages and headsets on added a whole different layer to the weekend. It’s always surreal and brilliant to bump into familiar faces in such a high‑pressure environment and chat about the work behind the scenes that most fans never get to see.
Although it was not the result we wanted, it was great to see BMW M Team WRT walk out of Spa with the German marque’s first overall WEC win since Le Mans 1999. Spa is not just another race. For 25 years it has been the dress rehearsal for Le Mans, the final long-form competitive benchmark before the manufacturers commit their cars and their drivers to 24 hours at La Sarthe. Long-run pace, fuel strategy under safety cars, tyre degradation across compound changes, driver stints in traffic. Everything Le Mans demands, Spa stress-tests three weeks earlier. Reading the results without that context misses the point.
A weekend that nearly didn’t happen ended up being one I’ll remember for a long time, I will see you again Spa!
