The Maserati MC 12 GT1 of Italian Italian Scuderia Playteam Sarafree revs up at Spa-Francorchamps last year. Photograph: Michel Krakowski/AFP/Getty Images
The Le Mans 24 Hours is known as the greatest race on earth - and for good reason. Aside from being an almost ludicrously tough challenge for drivers (who talk about having to learn the sprawling 8.468-mile track all over again in the dark) it is perhaps the only sporting event where time almost becomes irrelevant. Spectators can dare themselves to stay up for the entire duration, commonly aided by huge quantities of French lager, with a constant drone of more than 50 cars to keep them company.
Well, for the first few hours anyway - the 24 Hours is understandably tough on cars. It is in parts both electrifying and draining and if you've been once, you should want to go to every year for the rest of your days.
But, somehow, I prefer its lesser-known sister, the 24-hour race held at an equally legendary circuit, Spa-Francorchamps. It doesn't feature prototypes - those bedstead-resembling machines that wipe the floor with mere production-based sportscars at Le Mans - and it doesn't pull a quarter-million crowd. The only food to keep you going is frites mayonnaise, which tends to attract wasps to your head if the weather is fine. Yet standing trackside halfway up Eau Rouge, in the pitch black, while Maseratis, Aston Martins, Corvettes and every other sportscar you can think of hurtle their way towards you, well it feels like a hefty punch in the stomach. And I mean that in a good way.
This year the Spa 24 Hours celebrates its 60th anniversary - not bad going for a race you might never have heard of. These days it is the flagship event of the FIA GT championship and here's one of the reasons why I love it so: in 2006, the race didn't just go down to the final hour, it went down to the final pitstop. It was between the Vitaphone and Phoenix Racing teams. The Vitaphone Maserati came out of the pits just a few seconds ahead of Phoenix's Aston Martin - after 24 hours. And the following year it was neck-and-neck again in the final hour - and between the same teams. That time Phoenix (supporting Carsport Holland's Corvette) got their revenge.
I won't predict who'll win this year, but suggest logging on to the website regularly for updates. You might pine after a surreal wander through the Belgian forest under starlight this weekend, although I don't think you'd miss the wasps.
