1.000 KM of Spa 1982

Group C

Jan 1

The 1000 km of Spa started in 1966 on the old 14,120 km track over public road. The last race on former track was run in 1975 (shortened to 750 km) and saw Derek Bell associated to Henri Pescarolo winning his second Spa race (first in 1973) on that track. Jacky Ickx did win in 1974 with a Matra-Simca MS670C as well as in 1967 and 1968 with John Wyer’s Fords.

Due to safety issues, the race was discontinued between 1976 and 1981. As the old track had been deemed too dangerous, the circuit was shortened to 6,9 km in 1979 to alleviate safety concerns, allowing the 1000 km race to return in 1982.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

F1 and F2 drivers entries

For its first race on the new Spa-Francorchamps track, the FIA World Endurance Championship could count on 5 former F1 drivers (Theo Fabi, Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Henri Pescarolo), 4 active F1 drivers (Michelle Alboretto, Ricardo Patrese, Marc Surer and Manfred Winkelhock), top F2 drivers like Boutsen and Bellof, and 4 manufacturers for overall win: Ford, Lancia, Rondeau (leader of the Championship ahead of the race) and Porsche.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

The grid was a clear ranking of the manufacturer’s speed on track with the 2 Porsche (Ickx and Bell) in front of 2 Lancia (Patrese and Ghinzani). Surer with the Ford C100 was in third row and Boutsen with the Rondeau #12 started in fourth row.

An intense battle between Lancia and Porsche

Patrese (Lancia LC1 #50) took an authoritarian leadership in lap 1, followed in his exhausts by Marc Surer with his Ford C100 #6. Ghinzani was 3rd with the Lancia LC1 #51. Ickx didn’t take any risk and was 4th in front of Bell and Boutsen.

A bit later Patrese started to have ignition problems, which enabled Ickx to come back.

Later in the race, Ickx was running 1st, with Alboreto 2nd, running the fastest lap. The duel was cut short by a battery problem causing Alboreto to lose 1 minute, followed by a rupture in the valve of the reserve tank system, forcing the Lancia #51 (then in P2) to abandon in the last lap.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

Ickx-Mass winners and Champions, Porsche double

After an epic battle with Michele Alboreto and Pier Carlo Ghinzani (Lancia LC1 #51), Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass won the 1.000 km of Spa with their Porsche 956. It was Ickx's second win of the season after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the win of the 6 Hours of Fuji and the 1.000 km of Brands Hatch, Ickx clinched the 1982 FIA World Endurance Championship for drivers.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

Jacky Ickx currently holds the record of the most wins of the 1000 km Spa race, having won it 5 times, in 1967, 1968, 1974, 1982, and 1983. He is also one of two drivers who won the 1000 km on both the original and current circuits, the other being Derek Bell.

Those records will hold forever, as the race format was changed to a six-hour race from 2012 onwards within the FIA World Endurance Championship.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

Derek Bell associated with Vern Schuppan ended 2nd, 3 laps behind sister car.

Lancia 3rd, Martin brothers fourth

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

Ricardo Patrese and Teo Fabi ended 3rd, 4 laps behind Ickx-Mass, with a gearbox in delicacy. With a P3, Ricardo Patrese was taking over Pescarolo in the FIA World Endurance ranking for drivers.

1982 was the 1st appearance of the Lancia LC1. With a classification in group 6, they could not mark points for the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Makes. Michele Alboreto, Alessandro Nannini, Teo Fabi, Rolf Stommelen and Piercarlo Ghinzani did win 3 of the 6 races they raced during the 1982 season: 6 Hours of Silvertone, 1.000 km of Nurburgring, 1.000 km of Mugello.

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

Local’s Jean-Michel Martin (Maxime Martin’s father) and his brother Philippe with Belga Team Joest Porsche 936C #4 started from P14 on the grid. After a careful and consistent race, they finished 4th and first private team with their Porsche 936C, 10 laps behind the winners.

Rondeau keep manufacturers leadership

📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 1.000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps 1982

François Migault and Gordon Spice with their Rondeau M382 #11 ended 5th, 11 laps behind the winning Porsche.

Before the race, Rondeau was leading the provisional world ranking. They were counting on the new Boutsen – Pescarolo tandem with #12 to bring as many points as possible to keep the Championship leadership.

The Rondeau’s experienced handling problems with their tires. Their only chance resided in their greater autonomy, which allowed them to refuel 4 times instead of 5 for Porsches. The faster #12 car driven by Boutsen-Pescarolo was eliminated before the first pit stop, when Boutsen, then in the lead, was knocked out before Blanchimont, due to the clumsiness of a driver.

After Boutsen exit, Pescarolo jumped in car #24 driven by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Jean Rondeau but the car had to pit for several mechanical issues and ended 8th.

Classified 4th in Group C as Lancia could not mark points in the manufacturer’s championship, Rondeau scored enough points to keep the 1982 FIA Manufacturers Championship lead with 60 points and 55 points to Porsche.

At the end, Rondeau lost the manufacturer’s Championship by 5 points to Porsche after Porsche was credited 15 points for a second place in Group C by the Porsche Müllerbraü Team at the 1.000 km of Nürburgring.

Hans-Joachim Stuck and Hans Heyer with their BASF Cassetten Team Sport Sauber SHS C6 ended 9th.

Ford C100 misfortunes

Manfred Winkelhok and Klaus Niedzwiedz ended 18th, 21 laps behind the winner, with the C100 suffering vibration problems that broke the exhausts, the ignition, the steering column, ...

Marc Surer with the Ford C100 #6 was leading the race during the first few laps but, together with Klaus Ludwig, he had to abandon after a fuel pump failure.