Rain, snow and dirt – European rallying can have it all. But it is a motorsport unshaken by seasons or weather. Because the months get colder, tarmac racetracks go into hibernation. Not so for rallies. The sound and vision of rally cars flying through woods stays alive and well.
Late last month, I got an actual taste of it after I travelled over to Belgium for the 2023 Spa Rally.
In the case of motorsport, Spa is best known for its grand prix circuit – Spa-Francorchamps. But there’s more to it than that, with Spa and the encompassing area often hosting hill climb and rally events. Most of those are low-key affairs geared toward amateur racers and aren’t widely promoted, hence why I often only learn of them after they’ve happened when photographers start publishing their work.
Prior to this event, I had never been to a rally, so it was a little bit of a learning curve. The largest challenge I faced was determining methods to navigate the route. My day began by following two rally cars – a Mk1 Ford Escort and an Opel Kadett – as I assumed they’d lead me straight to the primary closed-road stage of the event.
Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. After parking up, I quickly set off to seek out a spot nearby to start out shooting from.
The Opel Kadett I had followed got really sideways while exiting a corner, throwing wet mud in my direction. I can’t complain though; you could have to like rear-wheel drive rally cars after they’re driven like this.
An excellent number of cars passed by, from old MGs and Fiats to a BMW E46 M3 and even the newest Hyundai i20 N Rally2. Some took very tidy, fast lines while others placed on a show with massive slides, but all of them sounded superb.
The explanation there’s such of a combination of latest and old on this event, is that the Spa Rally also incorporates the Spa Rally Classic. The historic cars were definitely a highlight for me, because the competing field was so diverse.
A Porsche 911 GT3 might sound like an odd alternative for a rally automotive, however the 911’s history is crammed with rallying. The sound of the de-restricted naturally aspirated flat-six, combined with the way in which the automotive’s driver handled tight corners, was spectacular. It was considered one of the cars that I heard from miles away because it approached, and long after it had flown past.
Competing directly with with the GT3 was this Alpine A110. The pair battled it out within the Group R-GT class for rear-wheel drive sports cars.
A Group B MG Metro 6R4 was also seen on stage, though not as a participant. Before every stage kicked off, a legendary rally machine did a demo run alongside the safety cars.
Nevertheless, some notable historic cars were seen among the many participants. Probably the most famous of all of them was a Group A ST165 Toyota Celica GT-4, which looked stunning with its Toyota Team Europe livery.
It’s value mentioning this Opel – a Group B-homologated Manta 200, which was a more subtle version of the Opel Manta 400.
In fact, participating rally cars were often seen driving on local Spa roads during their touring stages. I saw many cars being worked on and checked over on the side of the road as I made my approach to the subsequent special stage.
The 2023 Spa Rally was only a glimpse of the lesser-known motorsport motion that goes on around this beautiful region of Belgium, which handily for me is not removed from the German border. There’s still plenty that the Spa village has to supply, and I plan to return next yr to uncover more.
Steve Edward
Instagram: stevedwrd
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