FIA WEC Spa 6 Hours 2026
True to tradition, early May was once again time for the 6 Hours of Spa. Due to the unrest in the Gulf region, the races in Qatar and Bahrain had been postponed, meaning Spa was only the second round of the championship after Imola. It was bound to be a special edition regardless.
The training days were dry, but cloudy. Which makes for significantly less interesting light for me as a photographer. But that didn't spoil the fun. After a chaotic sprint through the morning rush hour towards the accreditation point and the scheduled media briefing, I started photographing the first practice sessions at the highest point of the circuit. It remains beautiful to look out over the circuit like this, winding through the Ardennes.
Races from the Legends of Endurance championship were also held in the support program. These featured Le Mans cars from the past, including the beautiful Peugeot 908s that took on Audi in the first year I went to Le Mans.
Friday afternoon was time for qualifying. That was when it became truly clear just how competitive the field was. And also what progress the underdogs of recent years had made. Aston Martin advanced to the final Hyperpole session with two cars. And Peugeot ultimately took pole with the #94 car, their very first in the WEC, as they withdrew just before the official start of the championship in early 2012.
Multiple pit walks were held for the fans, including autograph sessions. The atmosphere was great. The event was also well-attended; the reasonably priced paddock tickets were sold out, and ultimately a new attendance record of over 101,000 visitors was achieved.
On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of around 20 degrees. I was ready well before the start to capture it from Raidillon, so that you could see the cars coming towards you via Eau Rouge. This provided a nice view of the circuit surrounded by spectators, and the chance to capture the entire hypercar and prototype field. The race started and Cadillac soon took over from Peugeot. But this would not last. There would be plenty more overtaking maneuvers and incidents to follow that would shake up the race order.
Along the track, fighting cars roared past me. Especially at the old pit wall, it is a spectacle when the cars pass at speeds well over 200 while you can almost touch them—hold on tight! Several incidents occurred on the track. I used the (virtual) safety car periods to move around. When I was back at the circuit early in the evening to photograph in the evening light, the Peugeot that had started from pole crashed into the orange Mercedes that had just spun—game over.
Thanks to a clever strategy by the Belgian WRT team, they took the victory with the #20 BMW. Dutchman Robin Frijns got to drive it home. Very cool to be able to experience such a home victory with a Dutch touch up close.
In GT3, it was the #10 McLaren that triumphed after the #21 Ferrari received a penalty at the last moment. This way, the Garage 59 McLaren secured a win after coming very close in Imola. As photographers, we waited for the winners in the pit lane; time for a party!
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