SPA 6 HOURS 2016
After a week of badgering my son to come to Belgium for the racing he finally phoned on Thursday night to say he was coming. Talk about leave it to the last minute. Well anyway I managed to get a cheap ferry from Dover at midday for the bargain basement price of £66. So we chucked a tent in the back of the Astra van and left first thing in the morning.
Arriving in France at about 3pm it was my sons first chance to drive on the continent. We pushed on at around 80mph and made good time. If you have never been to Spa it is not as near as you might think. But with good roads and very little traffic you can make it in about three and half hours. We did the compulsory hyper market stop at Liege to grab a few beers and cheeses! And of course we couldn't, pass the opportunity to have our first Belgium French Fries from the Friterie. Wow enough chips for twenty people and a choice of numerous sauces and mayos. Boy these are the best parts of foreign racing trips I thought as my son munched another mouthful of horse Croquet!
We arrived at spa around 7.30pm and chose the camping opposite the Racing Drivers Hotel in the main village. It was a pretty reasonable 20 Euros per night per pitch with electric and showers. We were a little surprised at how few fans were about and also the complete lack of Brits. With amazing weather we thought more people would be staying over. Still with the tent up and and only fifty yards to the pub we needed very little persuasion to try another speciality Belgium beer! I was again finding hard to fault these foreign trips as I sank a golden Jupiler and spotted a pool table! Heaven for me and the lad. I didn't think five yo yos a pint was bad either!
I woke the next morning about 7am and needed my mug of tea. Charlie was still asleep choosing to bed down in the back of the van and leave the old git to the tent. So I sat there with a brew and could not have been happier. Even in the early morning the sun was strong and the surroundings were a delight. Although Belgium is a generally very flat country Spa Francorchamps is in some quite high hills. It certainly has its fair share of rain which keeps it incredibly lush. From my vantage point sat on a concrete breeze block as we forgot to pack chairs I looked down the green valley towards La Source and behind a cow was munching contentedly on the long grass. With a little imagination you would be forgiven to think you were in an Alpine setting.
By the time I had finished my first brew it was quite noticeable how busy the road was becoming.
With the race starting at 2.30pm we had a very leisurely morning once Charlie woke up! I cooked a great bacon and eggs with French bread from the local patisserie a few yards up the road. Again we reflected on how lucky we were with the glorious sunny weather. We showered and then we finally met a couple of Newcastle lads on the campsite. All the time the cars on the road poured in.
At the gate a ticket cost 35 euros which we thought wasn't to bad. In fact it turned out great value with access to all stands and all areas of the circuit. We were able to explore the back of the pits, above the pits and WEC area all before the start. It was tempting to watch the start from above the pits but after travelling all the way to Spa it would be stupid not to experience it from the mighty Eau Rouge corner. My god it's steep when you get there! We were both surprised to how close you could get to the track. We were right up by the fence half way up the hill. And yes it did blow me away. It had been quite a few years since we were both here for F1 and Spa had not lost it's soul. Such a change in the stereotypical health and safety world we live in to get close to the action. The month before at Silverstone you need binoculars to see the bloody cars and here we were within touching distance. The start was mighty and before we new it half an hour had flown by.
We decided with a six hour race it would be good to explore the track. It was a great decision because Spa really is one of the last great tracks for viewing. We experienced all types of corner on so many different elevations. There were great spots for watching the braking, acceleration and plenty of overtaking. And as we walked around the very long track we realised just how busy that road was, there were literally thousands of people enjoying a great days racing. I got the impression that although not so many fans stay over there were many others who found the easy access from Germany, Holland and Belgium an easy drive for the day.
The racing was cool and the days walk exhausting and toward the end of the day we reflected on what good value it was here. Not just the entry but even food and drink were pretty good value. Not cheap but in no way a rip off! Five Euros for sausage and chips and three for a can of beer! It is so easy to write reports on races and racing cars but a trip for the normal punter is about all the extras and Spa was brilliant in this regard.
After the race it was back to the campsite stopping off for more chips on the way. A couple of pints in the pub and it was home for an early night. Or so we thought before we met a group of Dutch guys who shared their BarBeQue. Great sausages, great beer and a late night of WEC Le Mans chat! Wonderful. And just before bed a couple of cans with the guys from Newcastle.
A very long days driving to make it home by 7pm but well worth it. My son is 21 and was blown away with the spectating. I would recommend one extra day to make it a bit more relaxed but overall WEC at spa was a resounding YES! Highly recommended.
[/img][/img][/img]
