1978 | Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours | Trophae de l'Avenir

"The usual Ford versus BMW fight took place again at Spa in 1978.
On 10:30 Sunday morning, Claude Bourgoignie missed the oil pressure light on his dash; moments later, his engine blew, bringing the second-placed BMW coupé to a standstill - and now the Victory of Spice and Pilette in the Capri seemed no longer to be challenged, since Vermeersch/van Hove/Joosen were two laps adrift. An hour later, victory for Ford did not seem so certain now; a holed radiator had to be replaced, and now the Capri was 3 minutes behind the BMW! Pilette went 2-3 seconds per lap faster than Joosen, but this would not be enough - so Spice replaced the Belgian at the next stop, while the BMW was piloted by Vermeersch now. Spice trashed the lead of the young Belgian by up to 30 seconds a lap, and finally took the lead with 30 minutes to spare."

Frank De Jong
March 4th 1959 - March 10th 2018