A few weeks ago, Rolex invited me to participate in the 6-hour Spa Francoal Champs World Endurance Championship. The series also includes the famous 24-hour Le Mans, which took place in Belgium on May 10th. Hypercar and GT3 racing cars compete for six hours on this beautiful track. This year’s winning cars were the Ferrari 499p, driven by Calado (UK), Giovinazzi (Italy), and Gidi (Italy).
Just before the start of the 6-hour Spa Franco Champ
Rolex and the World Endurance Championship
Rolex has been a partner in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) since 2016. This is the official endurance race watch of this series. This includes 1,000 miles of Sebring (USA), 6 hours of Portimain (Portuguese), 6 hours of Spa Fransol Shampoo (Belgium), 6 hours of Monza (Italy), 6 hours of Bahrain (Kingdom of Bahrain).
Take a photo with Tom “Mr. Le Mans” Christensen in the paddock
I’m looking forward to a hot rap with Tom Christensen
The invitation included a hot rap with nine-time Le Mans winner Tom “Mr. Le Mans” Christensen, which I’ll go into more detail later. First, I had to complete my own little race. The famous Spa Franco Champ Truck is about 3.5 hours drive from my home and is often heavily traffic. However, I was staying at my mother’s location in the eastern Netherlands, so I was already warming up through Germany to Belgium. After a 2.5 hour drive I arrived at a very busy truck! I didn’t expect to see almost F1-like traffic!
Essential list shot
Apply the brakes vigorously
After a snack at the paddock, Rolex invited guests to the truck for a hot rap for the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. I was very excited about this, especially after learning that the driver would be Tom Christensen. I don’t own a Porsche right now, but acceleration is one thing. But braking is completely different! As you approach a corner, the driver brakes slowly (very slow) and gets very stiff. The brakes were the most surprising element of this hot lap, followed by speeds through long corners.
Porsche 911 GT3 RS with Hot Wrap
I couldn’t laugh for about an hour after getting out of the car. What an experience! Christensen told me he was pushing the 911 GT3 RS to about 80% of the limit as the tires weren’t warmed properly yet (there was only one hot wrap in the car in front of me). Christensen’s calm in his car was incredibly incredible as he explained what he was doing and gave live commentary on his driving.
Grid Walk
A few hours later, a total of six hours of Spa Franco Champ begins. Before that, we were able to use the grid walk to see the team’s cars. After that, everyone had to leave and the team prepared for the start. We were able to see the start from the paddock, and inside, there was a huge TV screen that allowed us to follow the competition in detail.
Before we started, I talked about Tom Christensen and his Le Mans races, and of course his watch. As the official Rolex ambassador since 2010, as the winner of the 9th time 24-hour Le Mans race (6 consecutive times), he has a soft spot on the Daytona chronograph. On his wrist was the Daytonal Man, introduced by Rolex in 2023 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Le Mans race. His watch is a white gold version with special engravings on the panda dial and clasp, as shown in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgm_oozg8xw
Enjoy a video interview with Kristensen at Spa-Francorchamps. After quitting recording, he continued talking about the clock! Of course, his passion lies in the lace, but he certainly loves watches.
