Cowes-based Porsche racer, John Jones, took a podium place at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in his 43-year-old Porsche race car.
His race team, Shadowline Racing, backed by Island companies CNC Coatings and Wight Porsche, both in Lake, and the Portsmouth Distillery Company were racing as guests of the All Dutch Porsche Racing Club on 1 of their overseas rounds.
The famous Spa circuit in the Ardennes Forest is notorious for its wet weather, but it was bathed in sunshine in early October.
Jones tested at the circuit on the Friday, getting used to the track before the 50 Porsche car grid took part in official practice on the Saturday morning, a session red-flagged by a crash and a large amount of oil put down on the track. In qualifying, Jones was running fastest in class for most of the session and came into the pits as the leader in class. However, on the final flying lap, he was knocked down into 3rd in class missing out on 2nd by 32 thousands of a second!
The race itself was a 1-hour endurance race, where you can swap drivers over at the mandatory 2-minute pit stop; however, Jones was driving the whole stint himself.
An issue with his HANS device (which is the safety tether which attaches to the crash helmet) meant he had to get out of the car to adjust the attachment on the crash helmet, just as he was due to leave the pit garages!
This meant the pit lane was now closed, and he had to agonisingly start from the pit lane, losing his grid position and was released after the final car had passed at the start.
The car ran without issues and – after 60 minutes of racing – Jones had managed to claw back positions and finished 2nd place in his class.
This was a fantastic weekend of racing on this legendary and fearsome circuit.
That was the final event of the 2023 season, and the team’s next race will be at Easter.
They are due to again race in 2024, with the Dutch All Porsche Race Club at the Zandvoort Circuit in Holland.
Well done John, for your never say die attitude.The Spa experience will stay with you and you will relive the race over and over.