Capri triple

The 1972 24 Hours of Spa were held at the old Francorchamps circuit that was 8.761 miles long (over 12 km). Main candidates for the overall victory were the Ford Capris RS 2600 and the BMW’s 2800 CS. On this very fast, dangerous but fantastic track, German ace Hans Joachim Stück made his ambitions clear, when he took a convincing pole position in his works Ford Capri (picture above).

The race was dominated by the Fords who scored a fantastic 1-2-3 with Mass and Stück taking victory five laps ahead of Birrell/Bourgoignie and touring car specialists Glemser/Soler-Roig. The first BMW (Fitzpatrick/Ethuin/Peltier) entered by Schnitzer, was only fourth.

Jochen Mass declared: “This car is so good, Hans and me could go flat out for another 24 hours! 

Picture below: Jochen Mass (Ford Köln) and Gerry Birrell (Ford BP Racing Team) next to their Ford Capri RS 2600 (they share the front row), just before the start of the 1972 24 Hours of Spa.