FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa 2022

It started as a sunny day. My return to Spa-Francorchamps. Finally, I was going to attend an international endurance race again. I'd booked the tickets in early 2020, but after a slightly longer wait, the green light finally came. Arriving at the circuit, I was once again enjoying the open atmosphere of sports car racing. Doing a pit walk, occasionally sneaking into a garage. Walking among famous drivers, team principals, and so on.

With much drumming, t-shirt shooting, mountain bike stunts and of course the national anthem, the starting grid became quite a spectacle in Le Mans style and the time until the start ticked away.

The race kicked off. The #91 Porsche quickly returned with a broken rim, but otherwise things started relatively smoothly. As usual in a long endurance race, after a while you start walking around the track to look at various spots and take photos. This was no different. I was shooting away at the track. But once I got to the back of the karting track, it started to drizzle, and then it rained harder and harder. A brief stint in the karting track canteen quickly turned into a longer stay. A car soon skidded off the track, bringing out the safety car. Shortly after, marshals and road signs raised the red flag, and everything came to a standstill. And that lasted for quite a while. Karting was still occasionally taking place on the track, with incidents, and karts, piling up.

After a while, the race resumed and the rain had mostly stopped. So I was back outside, taking pictures of the cars on the wet track. Then it started raining heavily again. Henri immediately went back inside. But I was already wearing my rain pants and jacket, and the dramatic conditions gave me the opportunity to take some fantastic photos. I couldn't pass that up.

I went a little further to take photos. Cars were driving around in a massive downpour. Heavy spray behind the cars, a mirrored track. Where I was standing, just as I was about to walk away, of course, a car flew off the track. And again, the action stopped. I returned to the karting canteen. By now soaked through, my jacket wasn't even stopping the rain anymore.

Tired and wet, we headed home, racing for some well-deserved fries. It was a shame, actually, that watching the race was a washout. But the photos put a smile back on my face. On to Le Mans!