A return to the Spa 6 Hours podium for the DK Engineering team

As another bumper season of classic racing nears a conclusion, DK Engineering’s James Cottingham headed out to Belgium for one of the biggest historic race events of the season – the Spa 6 Hours. James returned to the cabin of a Ford GT40, pairing up with Olly Bryant, and battling to an impressive podium finish despite managing mechanical issues in the closing stages.

The pair arrived at the festival of historic racing in a buoyant mood, returning with the Ford GT40 which had claimed victory at the same event 12-months previously. A busy opening to the qualifying session saw heavy traffic as the field battled for clear space around the 7.004km circuit. With pace and performance looking strong in the opening laps, Olly then waited until later on in the session, with fewer cars on track, moving up to the front of the field and securing a second row grid slot. The race got underway with a frenzy of action, and the circuit was brought to life with the grid of 87 cars jostling for position. With the #1 blue Ford taking a sensible, steady approach to protect the car amid the chaos, Olly remained in contention among the lead pack during the opening laps. As the Safety Car was scrambled at the two-hour mark, and with the field now spread out, the team took the opportunity to optimise the strategy, pitting to switch for James.

Taking to the track, James quickly settlied into a good rhythm and continued to push on as part of the lead group. Within 30-minutes, however, Spa delivered its characteristic changeable weather with rain starting to fall. Managing the challenging conditions well, James continued to manage the pace well before a further strategy call was made as the Safety Car made a further appearance. With a final switch back to Olly for the final double stint, the iconic Ford was firmly engaged in the battle for the podium positions. However, with 90-minutes remaining, the 7.0-litre V8 developed an unknown misfire – later diagnosed as a broken pushrod – reducing the amount of power being delivered. In a break of good fortune, further Safety Car interventions and rain reduced the outright pace of the race, minimising the compromise that the team was managing.

A sticking throttle added a further challenge as the race approached the closing stages, but Olly continued to manage the situation. With reduced power, and driving around the issue, only one position was dropped. At the flag, the Ford GT40 managed a strong finish to maintain P3, and the team successfully returned to the podium for a second year.

DK's Harvey Stanley, lost his Lotus Elan virginity at Spa, sharing the Pursuit prepared number 70 car with owner Ted Tuppen. The pair qualified the Silver and Blue Elan mid field in the 20 Strong "P3" Class made up almost entirely of Elans, a fine effort given they were Stanley's first first ever laps in an Elan.

Ted started the race and drove a strong first stint, handing over to Harvey at the 1 hour 30 mark, Harvey then took over for another two and a half hours battling through traffic and gaggles of competitor Elans, working up to as high as 4th in Class. Sadly the latter half of the race was marred by a starter motor issue, which cost the team any chance of a class podium. Regardless the team still finished the race, a commendable achievement for any participant of this gruelling and extremely wet 6 Hour Race.