Julian McBride Overcomes Challenging Spa-Francorchamps Weekend

The third round of the Britcar Endurance Championship took Julian McBride and Geoff Steel Racing to Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most famous and demanding circuits in world motorsport.

Nestled in the Ardennes Forest, the 7.004km venue is renowned for its high-speed corners, dramatic elevation changes and ever-changing weather conditions. Over the course of the weekend, competitors experienced all of those elements, with torrential rain, thunder and lightning giving way to warm sunshine within a matter of hours.

Saturday morning’s free practice session took place in some of the most challenging conditions of the season so far. Heavy rain lashed the circuit throughout the session, with standing water and poor visibility making life difficult for the entire field.

“It was absolutely peeing it down,” said McBride afterwards.

“There was thunder and lightning around the circuit. You were doing 125mph on the Kemmel Straight and couldn’t see more than 20 yards ahead of you.

“It was good to get a feel for the track in those conditions, but it was incredibly difficult.”

The rain continued into qualifying later in the day. As confidence around the circuit grew, so did McBride’s pace. His opening flying lap of 3:15.223 was followed by a 3:09.914 before he improved again with a 3:04.150.

With five minutes of the session remaining, a red flag brought proceedings to a halt. The interruption broke the rhythm that had been building and left little opportunity to improve after the restart. McBride was unable to find further time and ultimately qualified 27th overall and 12th in class.

By the time the first 61-minute race of the weekend got underway on Saturday afternoon, conditions had changed completely. Sunshine had replaced the morning rain, with air temperatures reaching 23°C and track temperatures climbing to 34°C.

Starting from 27th overall, McBride was hoping to convert the pace shown in qualifying into progress through the field. Unfortunately, his race would come to an early conclusion on the opening lap following contact with David Ward’s JWA Engineering Ginetta G55 at Stavelot.

The incident left McBride's BMW M3 stranded on circuit, and, with another incident out on track, the Safety Car was deployed.

Following an investigation, the stewards reviewed the available onboard footage from both cars and heard from their drivers, before concluding that McBride had left sufficient room and that contact had been initiated by car 95, with the Ginetta driver subsequently issued with a verbal warning.

The focus on Saturday evening quickly shifted from disappointment to repair. Geoff Steel Racing worked late into the night to rebuild the damaged BMW, ensuring McBride would be back on track for Sunday’s running despite the setback suffered in Race One.

Overnight rain once again left Spa damp, although conditions improved throughout the morning.

Photo courtesy of Britcar Endurance Championship.

Qualifying for Race Two brought further frustration. Although the BMW had been repaired overnight, the damage sustained in Saturday’s collision continued to have an impact.

An ABS sensor cable on the rear left corner of the car had been damaged during the incident with Ward’s Ginetta. On his third lap of the session, the fault caused a complete brake lock-up at the end of the Kemmel Straight. McBride narrowly avoided a more serious incident, using the escape road to avoid leaving the circuit entirely, but the lock-up heavily flat-spotted all four tyres.

The issue effectively ended any realistic opportunity of improving his position. McBride was unable to complete his planned final runs and ultimately recorded a best time of 2:43.347, leaving him 32nd overall and 12th in class on the grid for Race Two.

Race Two proved equally frustrating, with circumstances conspiring against McBride before he had even seen a green flag.

An early incident in the Dutch Supercars race damaged the barriers at Raidillon and forced the Britcar field to begin behind the Safety Car. During the extended caution period, a Ginetta towards the front of a group of Britcar runners failed to maintain the required gap to the cars ahead, creating a substantial separation between the leading cars and those behind.

By the time the race was finally released, the front of the Britcar field had already established a significant advantage. McBride found himself among a group of cars effectively detached from the leaders before the race had properly settled into a rhythm, leaving valuable ground to recover from the outset.

Once the race settled into a rhythm, McBride focused on making steady progress through the field. The first mandatory pit stop came at the end of lap seven before the race moved into a more conventional pattern.

A track limits warning later in the race provided another challenge to manage, but McBride kept the BMW out of further trouble and continued to move forward.

At the chequered flag, he finished 24th overall and 8th in class, ensuring the team left Belgium with a finish after the disappointment of Saturday’s retirement.

Reflecting on the weekend, McBride admitted that the results did not fully reflect his enjoyment of the circuit itself.

“I enjoyed driving Spa. It’s an incredible place and a circuit every driver wants to experience.

“Honestly, the racing side of the weekend was frustrating. The incident on Saturday cost us more than just the first race. The damage from that carried over into Sunday’s qualifying and put us on the back foot again.

“The boys worked incredibly hard to get the car repaired after Race One. They were working late into the night and did a fantastic job getting me back out there. A huge thank you to Geoff Steel Racing for everything they did over the weekend.

“We’ll take what we’ve learned, move on and look forward to the next round.”

While the results from Belgium may not tell the full story, there were positives to take from McBride’s first visit to Spa-Francorchamps. Across changing conditions, disrupted sessions and a race-ending collision that was ultimately deemed not to be of his making, the pace and confidence shown throughout the weekend continued the encouraging start to his debut Britcar campaign.

The championship now heads to Snetterton on 11th July, where Britcar will feature as a guest support series alongside the British Truck Racing Championship and TCR UK. Competitors will tackle the full 300 layout and return to the championship’s traditional single 90-minute race format.

After a weekend in which circumstances repeatedly interrupted any opportunity to build momentum, McBride will arrive in Norfolk hoping for a cleaner run and the chance to demonstrate the pace that was often evident throughout the Spa-Francorchamps weekend.