Spa GP visit question

Sorry, Andreas, I have not been to the Belgian GP(yet) so I can't answer any of your questions, but is on my list of tracks to see. The picture taking would be awesome and hearing those cars through the forest would be breathtaking. Good luck on your pursuit of visiting the venue. Check out this information on the old track. If I were to go, I think I would walk the whole thing. Would give me chills.

http://www.circuitsofthepast.nl/francorchampsenglish.html


Good Luck,

Alex

 

WOW! That must have been very cool. Any pictures?

Alex

 

I was there last year. Do NOT count on being able to go anywhere by car over the shortest route. When the race is over, they close all roads around the track and allow traffic only in one single way. The cars from all the parkings get routed to one road in one direction (in a giant traffic jam) and then split up. We went past the ramp to the motorway in a distance of about 50m, but the short road leading there was blocked with a barrier, so we had to merge with the rest of the traffic. 1 hour and a few KM through horribly congested backroads later, we found ourselves on the other side of said barrier. It really is horrible.

 

Hi Andreas,

Just got back to my hotel near lake Como and saw your post.

Was at Spa two weeks ago. Miserable conditions all four days at the track. Cold-=rainy. Was expecting rain (always does) but not the cold. First time to Spa as a spectator, but I raced there 30 some years ago. Totally different experience! I have been to may circuits all around the world and this was the only one I would not really want to go back to as a spectator. Beautiful circuit, spendid scenery, history ,yada yada. Was on my bucket list of races I wanted to attend, so I decided to go.

I enjoyed Spa, but it was primitive compared to what we are used to in the US. Parking is a looooong way from the track and it is an uphill and downhill hike to the track and your seats. Mud was ankle deep (literally) in the parking area where we were and it took us four hours to even get out after the race. Probably not typical if the weather cooperates, but it didn't this year. Had advance parking which I paid big $$ for (oops, euros) but that area was full and had to park waaaay away. Not happy about that. Porta potties...... overflowing..............no evidence of toilet paper........keep a pack of tissues in your pocket just in case. Was really surprised that there were no concessions selling Spa or GP souveniers (shirts, hats, posters etc) for the event. I really wanted a souvenier from the race. Just the normal team wear from all the teams, which I already sell in my store! But the Belgian waffles and Belgian beer were terrific. Food stands were everywhere.

Seats were in the Gold 3 stand up the Hill from Eau Rouge. Great view from La Source and all the way up past the old garages, now used for support races. I can recommend these seats, as we walked around nearly the whole course, or as much as we were allowed to, and didn't see anything that I thought was a BETTER stand. Would definitely recommend covered stands, because you know it will rain.

Stayed in Van Valkenburg, Netherlands, about 45 minutes from the track. Dozens of nice small hotels for about 80 euros, and a great downtown area with hundreds of pubs and eateries. Even an old castle on the hill! Hotels near the track are few and expensive during the event. I would even consider going back there just for a vacation.

 

Man oh man is that cool. I will make it one of these years. Thank you for posting those. I love looking at photos from vintage tracks like Spa. Makes me think of the history and the drivers that drove there, the accidents, great passes, etc. Very cool. Thanks again and good luck with your search.

Alex

 

Hi Andreas, this year was my second year at Spa and it was very different to last year. The rain was incredible and never seemed to stop long enough for you to dry out properly so I was cold all the time except in the pub in the evenings! We camped and luckily our tent stayed upright and dry, unlike some others on the site! On Sunday night the weather was very stormy. On Monday morning there were tents strewn over the site! On Friday morning there was the biggest thunder clap I have ever heard. Joe and I were in our tent and I thought a Jumbo Jet was about to land on us! It just came from nowhere as there was no thunder before or after it? A guy in the next field was using his motorbike to charge his mbile phone while he made a call. He was struck by the lightning. I spoke to him the next day and he told me he was thrown away from his bike and his phone and charger were fried, but he was ok.
I would say that Spa is the least glamorous Grand Prix of the year, but I still want to go again!
I discovered this year that the campsite we used also do Bed & Breakfast in the farmhouse. I know the campsite owner and would be happy to find out prices and availability for you. The campsite is a 20-30 minute walk from the entrance nearest Eau Rouge so you wouldn't need to drive. It's a gentle downhill on the way to the circuit and what feels like a mountain on the way back! Also the campsite have a shuttle bus which we used a couple of times.
Gold 3 sounds like a good place to watch, but this is a circuit where General Admission can also be great (if you don't mind mud!). We watched from Pouhan and the Kemmel Straight. The good thing about Kemmel is that you can get so close to the cars. On Friday morning we were standing against the fence and getting soaked in the spray from the cars as they went past!

MikeF, did you see the little shop near La Source? It sold Spa-Francorchamps t-shirts, hats, umbrellas etc. They had a nice big aeriel photo of the circuit that they were selling as a poster. A friend of mine from the US bought one and I now wish I'd done the same. We also got some nice souvineer shot glasses with a map of the circuit on from the pub. They fell into my pocket and I found them when we got home!

 

Hi Mike

I was in the same stand as you!

I did enjoy my short visit to Europe to see the race but it was not the most enjoyable F1 experience I ve had. It was a long way to go for 4 days.

Pros:

- On my list of tracks to go to,
- Great to see the cars going flat out through Eau Rouge,
- We were on a package tour so had a coach from Liege to just outside the concession village, about 500 yards from our stand.
- Belgian Beer
- History of the place
- Stayed in Liege - quite a pleasant town about 30 miles away, lots of good food and beer
- We had a covered stand, although even on our stand the front couple rows were getting wet, as were the dozen or so seats on the left end of the stand

Cons:

- Weather - very cold and wet
- Inaccessibility of the rest of the track, as we were on a deadline each day to get our bus back,
- Lack of overtaking / action where we could see, (I think the small covered stand at the bus stop seems the place to be),
- Poor light conditions meant poor photo ops, couldnt get fast enough aperture speeds,
- Mud, and toilets at a dollar a pop
- Safety barriers, fences and advertising hoardings meant we lost sight of cars about 1/3 up Eau Rouge hill.

---- and last but not least Ferrari's poor showing and the fact that there were so many Ham-bone supporters on our bus

I would probably not go back, I would rather go back to Monaco, I think.

Dave

 

Oh and the big screen TV was so far away you needed binoculars to see the graphics

 

We stayed here in May for the 1000KM LMS race.

http://www.beausite.be/

Older restored place. Very nice bar and restaurant. Very nice free breakfast. About 15-20 minutes from the track.

But the LMS race is not the crowd of the F1 event. I think I heard 60K people in attendance. General admission with pit access gets you on top of the F1 garages with a nice bar and food. We had access to everywhere. It was cold and rainy, but I knew it going in and was prepared and comfortable. 6 hr race and I walked most of the track. Some mud, but I had proper shoes. No toilet problems. Good beer and waffles. Another plus was the over 50 vintage LeMans cars event.

I watched that track on the tube for years and it was always my favorite. I went and it did not disappoint. I love that place. It should be on your list.

 

I was in the gold stands at Eau Rouge - awesome seats. We were about 2/3rds up the stand and there was no blocked vision due to fences, it was awesome. I'd never spend thousands to go to a race just to get cheap seats, though, so I can't say what it would be like in the lower level seats - presumably not as enjoyable. Eau Rouge was awesome though - you see the cars for a long time, you see passes and can get great photos.

I would not drive from Brussels each day - no way. A good 45min-1hr just to get to the area of the track. We stayed in Tongeren. There is no need to stay right at the track (I presume those hotels fill up QUICK anyway). And if you're going to drive, may as well find a nice hotel in a town you like within a reasonable distance. It was maybe a 30 minute drive from the time we left our hotel to the time we were pulling into the parking areas.

You don't want to park in those lots. If you do, you will be screwed. Do what I did - park in the lot I mentioned. I was stuck in traffic for about 3 minutes on race day and only because we had parked in a field and lots of people were trying to get out of the field onto the country lane at the same time. We followed this winding country lane for about 3-4 miles (we were in a line of cars but we never stopped - we were going 20mph or so the whole time across pretty rough gravel roads) then this road literally dumped us right out onto the main highway in a rest area... the highway was busy, but not too bad - maybe going 35mph in some parts, up to 55mph - then a few miles away it thinned out. Took us maybe 40 minutes to get to the hotel that day vs. 30 minutes on practice day.

As you know, you walk at any track - there is no track where you get out at your seats There are a couple of entrances to Spa, so it depends where your seats are. At almost any hotel close by there are shuttle buses - if you don't want to deal with driving, just find a hotel with a shuttle. They will usually have a few fixed times they leave - they will drop you pretty close to the entrance. Still gonna be a 20 minute walk to your seats, but no worse than any other track.

I will probably be going next year with my girlfriend... we stayed here:

http://www.differenthotels.be/eburon-hotel.php

I loved that hotel - ultra modern, very clean, see-through glass on the showers (hubba hubba!)

I rented a car in Brussels and there is a parking garage right around the corner from the hotel. Tongeren is a great little town - far enough from the race that it wasn't overloaded with people but close enough to easily drive to. And I am not joking - the drive to the track each day was by far the easiest I've ever experienced. We rented bicycles on the last day in Tongeren and rode about 30 miles around the surrounding towns - magical scenery. Awesome bars too and very friendly people.

If you go in '11, let me know - 90% chance I will be there. You must let me take you to this one bar I visited - they were (jokingly) upset when I told them I liked Hoegaarden and about my f-chat friend who preferred Stella Artois. He had many hundreds of beers for sale and we tried a bunch I'll buy you and yours as much as you can put away!

 

i've always felt renting a caravan in germany and parking at the track was the best way to do spa. load up on food and drinks and just stroll over to your seats. the best thing is you can see all the stuff going on before and after the sessions and the parties with the other campers

 

Awesome! That is one thing I will do, go to Europe and just go digging through old tracks. Then take a look around, think about the history, and get the chills. Very, very cool.

Alex

P.S. Sorry for sort of hijacking your thread...

 

1/ Tifosi12, without a doubt some of the best viewing has to be in the bronze section, which is 3/4 of the track.
Pou-on for example is fantastic from a viewing point of view. Its just the platform from which its watched that i have issue with along with the limited amount of large screens this year.
In terms of luxury and comfort then it has to be silver or gold sections, thats quite clear.

2/ I stayed at a very nice hotel which was 60 minutes drive away from the track. They even had rooms up to the week of the race. It was a very very easy drive to the track due to the Hotel being virtually on the motorway. I left out at 6am in the morning on all 3 days and drove right into my "red" parking area without any traffic or problems. And its right next to the airport to Here's the hotel link for you if it helps http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-2195-ibis-charleroi-aeroport/index.shtml

Regarding car parks, i can only tell you about the "red" carpark. The red car park section i parked on was literally 50 meters away from the bottom main entrance to the circuit. Yes the car park is full of rocks and boulders, but if you can negotiate them in a standard car as opposed to a Ferrari , Then you are laughing. On the Friday and Saturday i just drove into and out of the carpark with zero problems. even Sunday morning it was just a straight forward drive in, but at the end of the race it took 4 hours to get out
Heres a couple of location pics for you. In pic one i have arrowed the entrance to the circuit for you. http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6418/photo1smallj.jpg
In this picture you can clearly see were the "Red" car park is located on the track. http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8575/spa04map.jpg This car park cost 16 euros a day and was bought on line before hand and is the closest to track car park available. I hope my info helps mate.

I have only just come back from my trip to Monza. Which was an altogether different experience/trip from that of Spa. I will be going back there again The Tifosi thought it quite amusing that my son and i rocked up in a Ferrari, just to get out wearing Maclaren T-shirts

 

+1 at Kerpen its indoor and outdoor karting. Great place and fun.

There are some nice places at the Ring now that rent cars. No need to risk your rental or personal vehicle anymore. Insurance companies have really limited the options for any type of performance driving with your personal vehicle. The exclusions make an accident at the Ring very questionable for coverage.

If you have extra time both major museums in Stuttgart(Porsche and Mercedes) are well worth the effort. Plus you can actually drive at speed on the Autobahn(traffic/conditions permitting) and really have some fun. Stop at Hockenheim and the museum on the way down!

Avis in Stuttgart at the airport and main station rent most models of Porsche as well for another option of driving fun.