I prefer BA Concorde Captain Hutchinson's take on the spacer issue and the evidence of unbiased witnesses to which the report gives little heed, above the complete dismissal the BEA report gives it.
According to the series of lectures given by the ex BA Concorde flight engineer, one of the best witnesses was the captain of Mitterrand's Airbus which was holding to cross the runway. Apparently he witnessed that there were signs of fire before the Concorde reached the metal strip. His testimony was not included.