4 responses to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

1. 1 Rob Sinfield 6 September 2006 at 7:58 am

   Spa 2005 - Wet and wonderful!

   For the first time in a good few years, I was finally tempted to abandon the comfort of watching the Grand Prix in the pub for a trip to that thing called Europe, for a race visit. Actually, it was the current wife who decided to do this. Thinking, that as I had reached the milestone of the 40th birthday, and that my biological clock was now beginning to wind down, it was thought appropriate that should go back again to the heaven and hell that is Spa before I die. I hadn’t been to the Belgian Grand Prix since 1994 so maybe it was time for a return visit.
   She, who must be obeyed, also decided that if we were going to go to a Grand Prix, (in a country who’s average daily rainfall would put a rainforest to shame), that it should be done with a more than a hint of luxury. All I had to do was arrange the ferry crossing and she would take care of the rest. Booking the ferry, was really a mistake to leave to me. I always confuse the word ‘luxury’ with the word ‘economy’ so my choice of Norfolk Lines (’the truckers ferry’) did not go down very well. She could not complain about the price (£44 return) but stepping out of the Porsche in all her finery, onto something that resembled a cargo ship with lots of randy Dutch truck drivers was not what she had hoped for.
   After a few hours of relative silence on the drive from Dunkirk to Belgium, we reached our hotel, the Hostellerie Lafarque, a haven of all that is exquisite (and expensive). This absolutely beautiful hotel is only seven miles from Spa, it could happily look after the Ecclestone’s of this world, it even has its own helicopter pad, but the fact that Belgiums premier (for that, read ‘one and only’), sporting event was happening on its doorstep appeared to have escaped them. The place is almost empty. As we check into our room, it is a case of, do we explore the vast expanse of living space allocated to us or do we hit the bar. No prizes for guessing which option we chose.
   On Saturday, while my wife went into Liege for a bit of personal time with her credit card, I went to the circuit for qualifying. I stopped on the way to indulge in that most pleasant aspects of Belgian life - Frites and Mayonnaise, at a roadside café. It should be written in law that anybody visiting Belgium does this but for me it is essential. Last nights dinner at our hotel was mouth-wateringingly georgous but the portions were not enough to feed a supermodel and the meal took forever to arrive - I’ve seen quicker glaciers than our two waiters, so my 1 euro chip stop was a welcome one.
   Arriving at the Francorchamps circuit immediately reminds me why I love this stupid sport. I’m a bit late, and as I walk through the woods to my grandstand, the warm up has already started. First, I hear the totally, way over the top noise, of an F1 car obliterate the leafy silence and then I catch a quick glimpse of a Toyota as it exits La Source and rockets at a truly mental speed down the hill towards Eau Rouge. Hairs standing up on the back of the neck don’t come into it. I’ve been to Monaco, Silverstone, Barcelona and others, but nothing, just nothing beats watching an F1 car is the morning mist at Spa.
   Watching the ‘one by one’ qualifying format on TV is dull enough, but at the circuit it is obviously a bit better, but the race is what we are here for and when we arrive on Sunday the atmosphere is electric. It is also absolutely throwing it down with rain. The wife is not at all impressed. Thankfully, we have a pre-booked lunch at a fantastic restaurant near the circuit gates called ‘Le Roannay’. The meal is by no means cheap at about £100 per head but it is truly superb. Our host, Michel, is well into the spirit of the day and despite the frightening cost, the meal beats a Silverstone hamburger any day. This is our alternative of doing the ‘Paddock Club’ and it works a treat. We did consider selling both of our children for medical research to fund a couple of ‘PC’ passes but lunch at Le Roannay and a couple of Gold 3 grandstand tickets at a third of the cost was the preferred option - and we got to keep the kids.
   The race - well you know what happened, Kimi won, somebody else came second, Montoya crashed again - whatever, the result was almost secondary to the whole experience. It may have been wet, cold, expensive and full of drunk Germans but if you do nothing else before you shuffle off this mortal coil then you must visit Spa - and just don’t forget to try the frites and mayonnaise..

   Rob Sinfield also writes for http://www.GrandPrixDiary.com and http://www.itv-f1.com

2. 2 Obster 14 September 2007 at 6:39 pm

   The return of the “modified” Spa-Francorchamps to the F1 calendar in the mid-1980’s meant I could finally visit the track that had captured my imagination years earlier in the film Grand Prix. I decided to make it my very first race off the North American continent. I was not disappointed. My flight over cost only $99 US on People Express-they were like Sir Freddy Laker’s airline-and a general admission ticket worked out to about $27 US-and looked just like a bus ticket!
   By the time I made it to the track Friday from Brussels, Lauda had already injured himself in a crash and was out for the weekend. This left only Prost to represent McLaren. But the man to watch this weekend would be Senna in the black and Gold Lotus-especially if the weather was tricky.
   There seemed to be plenty of time on Saturday to watch the cars from different corners, compare driving styles, and just take in the breathtaking and historic views from around the track. Naturally the La Source hairpin is the first view you get of the track on arrival. But there is also the dramatic vista from the top of the hill at Rivage, looking down the mountain to the pits complex at the bottom-one of the best scenes in all of racing, in my view.(You are actually looking down on the helicopters ferrying the drivers to and from the track!)
   Great to watch the turbos, especially Piquet in the BMW, come down the hill to Pouhon and blast thru the turn, right in front of you. Also unforgettable is standing at the base of the Eau Rouge/Radillon complex-which looks like a towering tidal wave of asphalt looming up over you.
   During the break in one of the days, I took my hire car around the old original track-which at that time still featured tiny white guardrails and imposing telephone towers right at the edge of the fairly narrow roadway. You could get a true sense of how imposing Spa was-Stavelot-the town and famous turn-seems very far away from Start/Finish. All of this is outstanding motor racing history and not to be missed.
   To my delight, it was pouring rain race morning. Had a tasty coffee, bought an umbrella, and headed for the top of the hill to Rivage, where there was a small bar with a big, lively crowd. Watched DeAngelis slide straight off the wet turn during warm up. Naturally the star of the show turned out to be Senna, who managed the wet/dry conditions in an exceptional manner to win. A Lotus winning at Spa was fine by me.
   At that time, the atmosphere was great, the crowd friendly, and the scenery beyond compare. You can keep your Tilke tracks-this one is an original.

3. 3 val Whitelock 22 September 2007 at 12:38 pm

   Giggling as i read Robs account of Spa above. We on the other hand did it on a budget. Booked the tickets & ferry in January, 3 day race tkts 105 euro’s, return ferry £100 for 6 of us -bargain. Left Dover at 7am and arrived at Spa (via beer & cig shops) just in time for 2nd practice on Friday. Sat in the same spot all weekend, on straight at top of Eau Rouge, blindin view of 2/3 of track, and smack bang in middle of giant tv screen. Had to get up at 6am Sunday morning to get our spot but was well worth it. You know the result, not as we’d hoped but the atmosphere is electic and the track itself awesome. Support races were Mini challenge, Porche’s and GP2.
   Couple of tips - camping at track was 80 euros for 2 nights, no water & no loos!! And extraordinarily noisy (germans partying all night long). Don’t book a ferry home any earlier than 11pm, motorway grid locked for 2 hours on return journey.
   Came home happy & tired and managed to do the full weekend, each for the price of a Silverstone ticket!!!

4. 4 Dank 18 March 2008 at 10:07 am

   After years of watching F1 on the telly I finally made the effort to actually go see my favourite past-time in ‘the flesh’ in 2007 – and what better place to do it than at Spa-Francorchamps! I went for a package deal via Motor Racing International which included coach, ferry crossing and one nights stay in the Dutch town of Heerleen which was right next to the border of Belgium/Germany/Holland. Including the price for a bronze ticket (£125) the total amount was about £400 which I thought was quite reasonable. Getting there and back was a breeze.  I was there for both qualifying and race and each time sat at Pouhon turn which gives you a brilliant view on proceedings and lots of track time when the cars go past. It is quite a steep embankment so I would recommend investing in a mat or similar to get yourself comfortable. I would also advise getting there as early as possible as by 8am the place was packed. Thankfully the weather held out for all of the weekend so I didn’t get to see the ‘micro-climate’ I was pre-warned about! Unfortunately the race was a bit of a procession but that didn’t detract from what was an excellent weekend and one that I would thoroughly recommend people to visit. It’s worth the asking price just to watch the cars go from La Source up the gigantic Eau Rogue corner.

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