But first, let’s talk a little about the journey. It is almost a 2 hour drive from Brussels to the circuit. A pretty simple drive once you get out of Brussels (sidenote: Laura's WiFi only iPad, knew EXACTLY where we were as we drove through the streets of Brussels. Not really sure how that happened (magic), but we didn’t argue.) and get onto the E40 toward Liege.
One of the neat things was that as we were driving at about 120 kph with some very flash cars just flying past at great speed, we got to see which side of the car the steering wheel was on as each one of them went by. With so many cars from GB making the trip over, there was quite a good mix.
We leave the E40 and head South on the E42, and there are just a handful of exits to go. We start to see signs for the race and get very excited. We had already purchased our parking pass, so we had a designated exit that took us to our parking area. There were 15 different areas plus VIP and more down just our exit, and three or four exits servicing the circuit.
It was hard to decide if their system of parking logistics was flawed or as streamlined as it could possibly be given the limitations of trying to get over 100,000 people in and out of basically a tiny area surrounded by forest and farmland. From the time we reached the exit on Saturday to the time we were parked took just over an hour. And on Sunday, when we hit the line for our exit still on the E42 about 1Km to go, it took 1:45 before we were parked.
I have to say that one thing I really appreciated is that ALMOST all the drivers were respectful and there were only a few pricks that drove past the over 1Km back up and forced their way in line. It was nice to see the other drivers banding together to make it difficult for those few cheaters. I can’t help but imagine that the same thing in the States would be a cluster of people trying to cheat their way by and forcing their way in just making far worse for all. We couldn’t decide if they were good or flawed because there were great periods of time were we seemed to not move at all. How could this be? But there never seemed to be an area of confusion or mix-up, and there was always someone at the next intersection telling you which way to go, so there was never any question.
Now when I say this circuit is out in the forest, I am not kidding in the least. For greater details on just how much in the forest we were, refer back to the Spa Race Day post. That topic is well covered there. But the one thing I will add is once we finally reached our grassy field to park in, we were parking alongside a Ferrari 458, next to another 458, down a few from a Ferrari 599, next to a couple of Lamborghini Gallardos, followed by a Lotus, and then further down was an Aston Martin DB9, and in the next row an Aston Martin Vanquish. Then filling in around that were Audi RS flavors and BMW M-Series flavors, and I almost forgot, rows of Porsche 911s. And oh’ya, so many of them right hand drive. And our little Fiat 500C. It was excellent!!
Back to the circuit. As I alluded to earlier, one of the things that make Spa great is all of the elevation changes as you wind your way around the circuit. The greatest one of these combinations of hill and turn occurs at Eau Rouge - one of greatest turns in all of Formula 1. Not as daunting for the drivers in modern day given the tamed power of the engines combined with their incredible grip levels allow them to take Eau Rouge flat out with little difficulty. But it is still one hell of a rollercoaster ride.
You come around La Source hairpin at the equivalent of an F1 standstill and start accelerating downhill toward Eau Rouge, climbing up through the gearbox all the way to 7th gear as you kink left and hit the bottom of the hill. You are traveling so fast, and the downforce is so great, as the hill climbs abruptly in front of you, that the bottom of your car is forced into the pavement from all of the compression, and it bounces three or four times. You are now climbing steeply up hill and have to turn back to the right. As you look forward, all you see is sky as the track levels out at the top of the hill. You have to turn back to the left and hit a blind apex as your car (and your stomach) go light from flying over the crest of the hill. You then continue on down the Kemmel Straight. And don’t forget that is all taken without lifting your foot off the throttle. If you get it wrong, you end up skidding off into the wall. THAT is what a trip through Eau Rouge is like. And THAT is where we got to sit.
We arrived Saturday morning (after our traffic adventure) and sat through the one hour practice session. It was time to just take everything in. Took a bunch of pictures and just enjoyed the moment. After practice we had two hours to wander about. We grabbed a bite to eat, frites with ketchup and mayo, of course. We headed back through the merchandise area, LOTS to consider purchasing, but we mostly resisted. We then walked up the opposite hill toward La Source to just get some different perspective and then it was back to our seats for qualifying. Then some of the fun began.
One of the things that you can always count on at Spa is rain. It will always rain at least once during the weekend, and sometimes it will rain a lot. With qualifying getting ready to start, so was the rain. It was truly damp for the first qualifying session as the cars came out. This added a bit of excitement as they negotiated Eau Rouge and the rest of the track. Things dried out through Q1, and Q2 was almost totally dry. Then right as Q3, the final 10 minute session started, so did the rain again.
One driver gambled and came out on the wet tires, while the other nine remaining drivers were on the dry tires. Well those nine had to immediately pit for wet times while the one could continue and set a time that would be quickest as the track was looking to get wetter and wetter. This turned out to be a great gamble that almost paid off. In the final minutes of the session, things were drying slightly, and four drivers were able to just best his time, topped by Lewis Hamilton who captured the pole. It was truly exciting to watch them play that gamble with the rain.
After the Formula 1 qualifying, there was a GP2 race. GP2 is a feeder series for F1 with lots of drivers trying to get noticed and make a name for themselves. They sometimes can have wild races. We stayed in our seats to watch the beginning of their race, but alas no great shenanigans on the opening few laps.
We set out on some more exploration before heading home for the day. We wondered further up the track to the Kemmel Straight. From there, which is the highest point on the track, you can see down the hill and portions of the track as they dart in and out from the trees and around the contours of the terrain. A very cool view.
We returned for the main event on Sunday. We missed some of the support races with our traffic fun again but had plenty of time before the F1 race, so no worries. Not too much time for wandering before the race, so we settled into our seats again and anticipated the beginning of the race. As you can see from Laura’s video, 22 F1 cars screaming by is a marvelous sight.
I have to say the race brought very little drama. Sebastian Vettel passed Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap and pretty much ran away with the race. Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari fought from a poor starting position to end up 2nd. Lewis slipped back to 3rd followed by his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in 4th. Mark Webber rounded out the top 5. There was one accident that happened on the opposite side of the track that took out a few cars, but nothing to exciting. Still and marvelous time.
One of the absolute best parts, however, is at the end of the race they “give the track back to the fans” and allow everyone to walk all over it. Laura and I made our way out there and got to stand on Eau Rouge! We walked to the top of the hill and looked back and then made our way slowly all the way down the hill and up to the La Source hairpin, taking in all the sights.
Everyone was taking pictures, picking up bits of worn tire, examining the pavement where the cars bottom out as they begin their climb up the hill. There were two guys who had decided they were going to take home the DRS (Drag Reduction System start line) sign from the side of the track. Why not? There was also the couple with the baby discussed in the earlier post, with the stroller right out on Eau Rouge. It was just a truly great time with all the fans just enjoying being there together.
It was just awesome it actually be there, see a race at this historic track, and now be standing in the middle of it.
We took our time all the way to La Source and peered back up the main straight and all the work in the pit lane as all of the teams were packing up to hit the road.
Only to do it all over again at two weeks’ time at Monza in Italy . . . and we will be there TOO!!!
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