Curious little country Belgium, likes to do most things in multiples, except governments that is – often manages without one of those at all. You know the sort of thing, hundreds of beers, two languages  ....but did you know that at one time it even had two Grand Prix? For two years only (multiples again) whilst the regular World Championship affair took place at Spa Francorchamps a non championship race was run around a street circuit in the Heysel district of Belgium.

Those two races took place in 1961 and 1962, run as three heats and a final. They attracted a good entry with many of the star names of the day taking part. The overall winner of the ’61 race, run on 9 April, was Jack Brabham at the wheel of a Cooper T53, having won two of the heats, although the honour of winning the very first F1 race in Brussels fell to Jo Bonnier and his Porsche 718. The second and final Grand Prix de Bruxelles took place on 1 April 1962 and fittingly local hero Willy Mairesse was the victor with his Ferrari 156.

The original was just over 4.5 km long and featured two long straights and a twisty section with a couple of very tight hairpins through the park. Fastest lap in 1961 went to John Surtees’ Cooper with a time of 2m 02.06seconds. The layout used for the Revival again featured two long straights but this time up and down either side of Boulevard du Centenaire Eeuwfeestin with roundabouts at either forming hairpins. Halfway down, a further roundabout that is home to the Atomium provided a chicane to slow the cars down. Came in useful where some of the more modern F1 cars were concerned!

Despite expressions of skeptisism from those ‘in the know’ beforehand, organisers Formula Club Belgium did in fact attract about 80 cars to the event, although they did not spread their net very far, most of them seemingly coming from the French-speaking part of Belgium. If the event is to grow – and we certainly hope it does – they will have to look a bit further afield. For example, there were virtually no representatives of the 1961/62 F1 era. Porsche were sponsors of the event but there was no sign of a 718; a couple of Panamera’s providing quick laps were not really a substitute!

The entry was split into groups with the Pre War section being the strongest, featuring a pair of enthusiastically driven Bugatti’s and some less familiar marques such as Amilcar, Ballot and Cisitialia as well as an enormous green 1926 Peerless. Particularly eye-catching was a 1947 Talbot Lago T26 – but wasn’t the war over by then?

 The Historic Grand Car group was varied too, but aside from an Emeryson they all pre- or post-dated the relevant with the possible exception of Guy Peeters 1962 Lotus 22. Even so, the considerable number of Lotus’s that raced in the period events appear to have all been Types 18 or 22. In amongst the GP cars was a pair of Formula 500’s, Alain Dufresne claiming his BMW-engined Lefebvre to be unique.

Bringing things up to date was a batch of F1/F2/F3 cars, including a couple of things that were not quite all that they seemed. Once they’d sussed things out, a trio consisting of Christophe D’Ansembourg (McLaren M26), J-Ch Faulx (Ligier JS11) and Bern de St Hubert (Surtees TS 20) were lapping faster and faster each time they appeared, so much so that the local Politie started to get a bit jittery. With parts of the course single-file, particularly around the Atomium, the slower cars acted as a natural brake. Amongst them a Shrike Formula Holden dressed up to look like a JPS Lotus and a Ferrari doppelganger of dubious parentage. If you wanted to see a proper Lotus you needed to take a trip down to Paddock B where Lotus 49 R2 was on display.

The Sports Proto section was a bit of a let down as aside from Nicholas D’Ieteren’s Porsche 550 and a pair of faux Ford GT40’s it consisted of modern Radical’s, Ariel Atom’s and a Peugeot Spider 207. Of interest amongst them was a Vaillante built in 2007 in connection with the Michel Vaillant books. Indeed Philippe Graton, son of the series creator Jean Graton, was on hand all weekend signing copies of the latest book.

Referring back to D’Ieteren, the company of that name are the Brussels-based Belgian Porsche importers and in connection with the Porsche event sponsorship brought along several examples from their extensive collection, including the Police-liveried 911 Targa which was in use as course car.

As is usual nowadays, a parking area was set aside for classics and this attracted a goodly variety and it was interesting to note that they were predominantly of British or Italian manufacture, a timely reminder of just how influential we used to be, with British classics ranging from 100E Anglia to AC 3000ME and including the usual Jaguar/MG/Triumph suspects. From the Italian side, a pretty Lancia Fulvia Coupe brought to attention the great days of that marque in the same week that a press release previewing the future models that will be revealed at this months’ IAA Frankfurt Show. All I will say is that any marque enthusiasts of a nervous disposition would be well advised to give the Lancia stand a wide berth!

But back to Brussels, this was a well-organised first time event, with the organisers claiming an attendance of 10,000 over the weekend – presumably that didn’t include those who could observe the action for free from one side (this is a public park), but considering the seering 30-degrees + temperatures on the Saturday and slightly pricy 15 Euro admission charge, that’s not a bad start. The location is good, so all they need to do is find some cars and they are on to a winner.

www.brusselsgrandprix.co