?
The circuit of Spa-Francorchamps is a law unto itself. It obeys no one, is unpredictable, dangerous and capricious. Located deep in the forests of the Ardennes, the area has its own microclimate, meaning it could be raining on one part of the track whilst it's bone dry on another. On a single lap around it a driver is faced with some of the most consistently challenging corners on the planet. Now think about doing that 550 times. For 24 hours. In a high-powered GT racing machine. In the wet. After all, it was *always* going to rain, despite this being the Summer…
?
This is Valhalla. This is Mordor. This is where you come to face the ultimate racing showdown of machine versus nature. The Nurburgring is an object lesson in survival: hundreds of cars in hugely different classes battling over a narrow ribbon of track; Le Mans about the fastest prototype sportscars. Spa is simpler, more compact and somehow more approachable as an event. It's a year-round racetrack – it just happens to also be one of the best ones.
?
Manufacturers are deploying their most advanced, modern cars in an effort to overcome its challenge. Can technology defeat Spa? Unlikely. Most of these cars will be in very different shape come the end of the 24 hours. Previously beautifully flowing bodywork will be held together by tank tape and prayers. Electronics will be Engines will be tortured. Technology will be failing.
This is a track where drivers make the difference. Over the last month more top-line drivers have been announced, United Autosports sporting one of the most impressive. Their trio of Audi R8s includes ex-F1 drivers Stefan Johannson, Johnny Herbert, Eddie Cheever and Mark Blundell plus IndyCar veteran Arie Luyendijk. Audi DTM star Mattias Ekstrom has been loaned to the WRT team, and another ex-F1 pilot, Olivier Panis, drives a Mercedes SLS.
Marc VDS – already running Ford GTs in GT1 – have three different cars here: a GT3-spec Ford, a couple of Mustangs and then this BMW Z4 as well. There are strong rumours about them taking the Z4 into GT1 next year.
?
The race hoovers up entrants from several European national GT3 series as well, like the Preci-Spark Mercedes SLS from British GT.
Team Need For Speed have one BMW Z4 on the entry: one driver from each of the FIA GT3 pairs will be taking the wheel this weekend (Claudia Hurtgen and Edward Sandstrom) and they're joined by BMW factory driver Dirk Werner.
?
The car is a brand new chassis, and the livery has returned to the full Team NFS wireframe wrap – plus new sponsors just for this race.
?
There was palpable excitement for the Speedhunters team as we pulled into the track to collect our passes. The European contingent, myself and Andrew, plus Rod flying in from Sweden, had started out around 4am that morning; but any fatigue we felt was trumped and then some by Larry – he'd come in from LA, so had a full day of flying behind him. Coffee and chocolate would be our friends.
?
Piling out of the hire car with all our camera kit we rode the media shuttle up to the pits, getting our first views of Eau Rouge. No matter how many times you see it, it's truly a spectacular… corner? Climb? Cliff?! It's so much more than just a bend in the road.
?
It's just an immense corner. Even the approach is daunting: a flat-out downhill blast past the old endurance pits (and also the start for the 24 hours, moved round from the F1 start-line).
?
F1 cars laden with superfluous levels of downforce might be able to cruise up and through Eau Rouge flat, but anything else rides a knife edge as they threads their way through the sequence of corners, starting with the left kink at the bottom of the hill.
?
Cars teeter on the limit of adhesion as they throw themselves right and into the body of the corner. The long pit-lane exit runs in parallel, not joining the main track until the top of the hill.
?
Popping out at the crest of the hill and the Raidillon right-hander – assuming they've made it that far and are still on track – they then start their long journey out into the forest. Two and a half minutes later, and you get to run the rapids again.
?
Access to the corner is thankfully easy for both fans and photographers: a tunnel runs right under the track, next to the stream of Eau Rouge that gives the corner its name. The bad thing is that subsidence means that there's a massive crease in the track running above the tunnel, which is particularly noticeable on the pit-ane exit: cars crunch over the ridge in the road as they pass over the tunnel.
?
Standing on the inside of the corner gives great views as the cars aim for the inside apex.
?
But the classic view is from head-on: spectators will be lining the banks above Eau Rouge come the race. It's the place to watch and admire, come rain or shine.
?
Despite its size, Spa is also a place where in places you can reach out and touch the cars. Although the long forest sections are way off in the distance, it's up close and personal in the triangular loop around the pits.
?
This is where the La Source hairpin is located: the place to make photographers dizzy and give them neck problems for life. It's an addictive place to stand, as especially with a grid this big there's a never-ending stream of cars screaming in from the left, scrabbling through the corner and stamping on the power for the run to Eau Rouge.
?
Night is always the best time to stand here. Drivers are pushing the steering to its lock-stops, arms completely crossed up as they struggle to make the slow apex – and many don't. It's like the cars are paper darts thrown at the corner: they're all over the place, especially when rain is thrown into the mix.
?
Trajectories vary so much – and spins are so frequent – that it's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security. You lean closer and closer in…
?
Then a car comes steaming past so close that it takes your breath away and you almost fall back off the narrow parapet on the inside of the concrete retaining wall.
?
The pit-lane entrance is a similarly visceral experience. A narrow walkway runs down the side of the equally narrow track – this new pit entrance was built in 2003 on a built-up bank and there's a sheer drop the other side…
?
It gives you great views across the final chicane, but the cars entering the pits blast past behind you still at maximum speed. Here you get an even clearer demonstration of the elevation changes, as you can see Eau Rouge in the background.
?
The cars then squirm under braking to get down to the pit-lane speed limit.
?
Once in the pits, there's a long, slow drive ahead: both the F1 pits and endurance pits on the downhill run to Eau Rouge are used when so many cars are racing, making one conjoined lane that takes a couple of minutes to traverse. This makes limiting time in the pits over the 24 hours even more important.
?
Officials patrol the pits, looking for regulation infringements. Speeding to make up time is not an option.
?
Over the weekend we'll be having a better look round at what's on offer around the track (I'm for hoping waffles, mostly), but here are some initial finds. This Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG won its class and finished second overall in the 1971 running of the Spa 24 hours. Next to it was a SLS GT3 show-car from the Black Falcon team, painted in the same colours. I would bet that the show-car will be stripped bare for spares by the end of the race…
?
Another example of old and new: Marc VDS' tents had this classic (though rather dented) Mustang on show.
?
This matched its modern racing GT3 cousin, the #85 car running in the Gentlemen's driver class.
?
We'll expect to see plenty of manufacturer's latest models on display as well. There's not going to be any time for sitting down during the 24 hours!
?
During the daytime on the first day, two sessions took place for the GT cars: the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS headed free practice with a 2:23.917s lap, whilst the brand new McLaren MP4-12C topped the times in Pre-Qualifying. That session, which started just as we arrived, also coincided with torrential rain: the time of 2:38.401s showing how much time is lost when it's wet.
?
The three sessions of qualifying would take place in the evening: the rain might have abated after Pre-Qualifying, but the clouds weren't shifting and the mist hung in the trees. Rain wouldn't be far away… News from the two evening qualifying sessions is coming up next!
Jonathan Moore
Royal Automobile Club Of Belgium
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
omg, a lord of the rings comment on speedhunters, for shame
Nice report! But 2 mistakes...
Marc VDS only runs one Mustang! The yellow one is brand new, the red one is pretty old (and slow) and is run by VDS Racing Adventures (= 2 different teams)
The new pitcomplex was built in 2007, not in 2003
Its only a matter of time Before Mclaren takes the gloves off - goes with MP4-12C to the 24 hours of Lemans and does exactly what they did there first time out in 1995 with the F1 GTR- win a complete outright victory!
That merchant SEL 300 looks mint, did you get any pics of it.
@Jose lol outright victory with the MP4-12C against the Audi R18 TDI? good luck with that...
Anyone know of any live streaming, preferably english? Or just any live stream and I'll run Radio Lemans like I did with Nurburgring haha
@samwhk, live streaming in english is available on blancpain endurance series website as well total 24 hours of spa website. happy viewing!
Nice stuff!
Is there a reason you guys constantly feel the need to post pictures of your media passes and talk about using the media shuttles and being in the press room? It's all a bit self-congratulatory. We get it, you got accrediation, well done, so why can't you just focus on the cars and event?