Triumph at the Spa Six Hours

Travelling to Belgium for the Spa Six Hours during the first weekend of October, three cars were piloted by James Cottingham and Harvey Stanley. James and Harvey drove DK’s own Tojeiro-Jaguar in the Motor Racing Legends Woodcote/Stirling Moss Trophy (prepared by ADP Classic Racing) while both of them piloted GT40s in Saturday night’s endurance race. James joined Oliver Bryant while Harvey raced alongside Richard Cook and David Cuff and the GT40 of Oliver Bryant, of which James shared driving duties.

Qualifying for the Woodcote/Stirling Moss Trophy saw James and Harvey place second behind the Lister of Rob Smith and Chris Ward. In the race itself, James managed to seize the lead from the start and stayed there for nearly the entire race, taking the chequered flag after nineteen laps of racing, finishing some 14.3 seconds ahead of the Lotus of Michael Gans.

An incredible twelve GT40s were entered into the six hour endurance race. Qualifying was just 75 minutes after the finish of the Woodcote/Stirling Moss Trophy, which saw the Bryant/Cottingham team qualify fourth on the grid, 2.1 seconds behind the leader, and Cook/Stanley/Cuff trio qualify twelfth. Starting just before 4pm on Saturday and racing into the night, during Oliver’s opening stint, their GT40 lost fourth gear, seemingly spelling doom for the pair’s podium aspirations. Despite this, the pair managed to make due, dicing in the top three for the majority of the race. Sliding into the lead at the 79th lap, the Bryant/Cottingham GT40 cruised to a hard-fought victory after six hours, a first for both Oliver and James at the event. The Cook/Stanley/Cuff GT40 also had a very good race, finishing in fifth place overall.

James and Harvey have a busy few weeks of racing in front of them, with the Peter Auto Estoril Classics next week, and the Goodwood Member’s Meeting the week following.

Images courtesy of Andrew Coles @agr_andrew