Formula 1 Circuit, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium

...many of my F1 reviews Formula 1 tickets are quite expensive, but Spa is a unique circuit and in my opinion the best to witness some truly gripping motor racing. Current 2001 tickets offer Bronze, Silver and Gold tickets depending on how many days practice you wish to see. The Bronze is the cheapest ticket starting at
86 Euros (~£53) rising to the Gold 3- day ticket costing 347 Euros (~£217). For current details please check the official Spa ...
...the tense atmosphere as 22 Formula one cars are lined up on Grid with 800bhp under their bonnets waiting for the lights to go red and start….Montoya in Pole position on the world’s most spectacular circuit hoping, just hoping to win his first Grand Prix….Unfortunately Williams were not to be as lucky in the race as they were in Qualifying..and more high drama was to unfold..

This race was full of drama even before ... more

This is it, the World’s most exciting racing venue Spa Forenchamps, every drivers dream.. In the last race at Budapest we saw the 2001 Championship Title won for the 4th time by Michael Schumacher. Just a couple of weeks later all the drivers and teams were lined up to experience yet another Grand Prix at one of the most spectacular racing circuits in the World..Spa Francorchamps in Belgium.

This opinion will be spilt into 2 parts once again with firstly some details about the circuit and secondly an analysis of the historic and highly dramatic Race that took place in September 2001, which certainly moved me immensely…….

1) The Circuit ~

Unlike Hungary’, Spa Francorchamps is an amazing drivers circuit that has several places where over taking manoeuvres are possible. It is also the longest circuit in F1 comprising of about 44 laps that consists of twisting roads and turns through the lush green setting of the Ardennes forest in Belgium.

This is a stunning racing circuit that offers plenty of action along the undulating twists, ups and downs of the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit. This medium downforce circuit also prone to plenty of climate variation as it often rains here which can have a significance effect on the cars and race set up with choice of tyres etc. Qualifying on this circuit often sees a different set up with the fastest cars not always at the front, timing of qualifying with the correct choice of tyres is critical here to enable to get a fast lap time, as we shall see later on.

Being the longest circuit of 4.3 miles (6.96 km), it consists of about 16 turns. The start/finish line is spectacular as cars are known to reach speeds of 160mph just on the first corner and some superb action has been seen in the past. This leads to a hairpin bend the La Source where cars brake hard downshifting into 1st gear in order to anticipate this sharp total narrow ‘U’ turn. La Source is the place where many cars have gone off in the past, if you remember about 3 years it is where Coulthards Mclaren went off and several other cars were involved in a massive accident.

The next famous part of this track is the long yet bumpy stretch called Eau Rouge where the drivers drive flat out reaching speeds of almost 195mph. It is a straight stretch comprising of a few small corners and you need to guide yourself through very carefully. Most cars retain the high speed on approach to next part of this track called Les Combes.

There are few more chicanes whose names I cannot remember. I will point out the most significant parts of this circuit. Just before the pits is the famous Blanchimont corner where you’ll see cars flying past at 185mph just before approaching that they need to brake hard to tackle one of the most toughest chicanes of all…. the Bus Stop - where you will witness loads of cars jumping across the kerbs to take this as fast as possible. If any of you have Playstation F1 games you will know how difficult this corner really is as I could never stay on the track to take this and always flew off. After the Bus stop there is one final corner bearing left and one is back at the start/finish line again.

Tickets~

As mentioned in many of my F1 reviews Formula 1 tickets are quite expensive, but Spa is a unique circuit and in my opinion the best to witness some truly gripping motor racing. Current 2001 tickets offer Bronze, Silver and Gold tickets depending on how many days practice you wish to see. The Bronze is the cheapest ticket starting at
86 Euros (~£53) rising to the Gold 3- day ticket costing 347 Euros (~£217). For current details please check the official Spa Francorchamps website at http://www.spa-francorchamps.be/en/index2.html.

There are possibly many UK tour operators that do Package deals that I am unaware of. For further travel details I suggest you read ‘Modena’s Spa opinion which details his recent visit to this awesome circuit.

2) Now, to the last part of this opinion; the 2001 Belgium Grand Prix:-

Under wet varying weather conditions the Qualifying produced an interesting Grid Position, with the Williams benefiting from a wise choice of tyres, thus helping Juan Pablo Montoya take Pole position. Usual lap times around this circuit are expected at 1:50, but due to the wet weather Montoya’s Pole time was 1.52.

 Qualifying:-

1. Juan Pablo Montoya (Pole) -1:52.07 Williams
2. Ralf Schumacher - 1:52.96 Williams
3. Michael Schumacher - 1:54.69 Ferrari
4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 1:55.23 Prost
5. Rubens Barrichello - 1:56.12 Ferrari
6. Jacques Villeneuve - 1:57.04 BAR

Mclaren’s were 7th Mika Hakkinen and 9th David Coulthard, 8th was Giancarlo Fisichella
and John Alesi was 13th for Jordan. So it was a great day for Qualifying for Williams and a lucky result for Frentzen to qualify 4th in the Prost (only his 2nd race for the team since he was sacked from Jordan).

 The RACE :-

This is Spa imagine the tense atmosphere as 22 Formula one cars are lined up on Grid with 800bhp under their bonnets waiting for the lights to go red and start….Montoya in Pole position on the world’s most spectacular circuit hoping, just hoping to win his first Grand Prix….Unfortunately Williams were not to be as lucky in the race as they were in Qualifying..and more high drama was to unfold..

This race was full of drama even before it began…. Frentzen stalled on the grid which immediately meant he must start at the back of the grid and lose his superb 4th place slot, this resulted in a 10 minute delay. Then at the time of the 2nd Formation lap Montoya stalls his engine too! and LOSES his Pole position and is sent off to join Frentzen at the back of the Grid too… Finally the race did get started and both Scuhmacher’s got off to a fine start with a clear track in front of him as Montoya was sent to the back of the pack. Big brother Michael overtook Ralf on the first bend and started to pull away from Ralf in leading position.

Suddenly..on about Lap 5 at Blanchimont there was the most horrific high-speed accident involving Luciano Berti and Irvine that resulted in both cars spinning off into the gravel, luckily Irvine walked away but it was not clear what happened to poor Luciano that hit a block of highly stacked tyres at full impact at 190mph and all the tyres fell on top of his car..and the race coverage photos could not show the car itself that was embedded ..this was the most saddening part of the race and suddenly I felt very anxious and was assuming the worse..it is at this point the RACE was STOPPED, and this was a horrific incident. It took the marshals many minutes to retrieve Burt’s car and we saw a blanket appear around the scene it was a very very sad scene and brings home the truth that Motor racing is indeed a very dangerous sport..As much as I enjoy Formula 1 and Motorsport when something like this happens you suddenly are hit hard and go very numb..(watching this coverage with some medics wasn’t helping! As they were discussing the medical implications as what could have happened and their diagnosis wasn’t good). Fortunately Burti was still alive and airlifted to Hospital, and the time of writing this it was confirmed he has concussion.

Race-Re- Start~

So the Race started again for the 3rd time, as the previous 6 Laps had already been completed the race was to consist of 36 laps….and just when you thought just maybe this race will get started more Drama ..another Williams (Ralf Scuhmacher) is left stuck on the grid with all 4 wheels OFF the ground as the jacks were not removed quick enough in time for the re-start. I have never seen such a scenario in all the Formula One races I have watched, it certainly was not to be Williams Race day.

Michael Schumacher got away to an easy start with both Williams out of his way but surprisingly both the Benettons pulled away and managed to get themselves up to Position 2 and 5. Benetton’s Giancarlo Fisichella was 2nd right behind Michael Schumacher. The Williams were in Position 12 and 13 at this time. Luck was not on Williams side today as after a couple of laps Montoya’s engine blew up and he was out of the race. By this time the Mclarens were past the Benetton of Button and Coulthard was in 3rd position desperately trying to overtake Fisichella on every bend but it just wasn’t working. Finally Coulthard overtook Fisichella at Eau Rouge just before Les Combes. Ferrari’s Barrichello on the otherhand was not having a good race and lost his front wing and had to come in to the pits for a replacement. Whilst Michael Schuhmacher in the other Ferrari managed to clock the fastest lap time of 1:49.90, just under 1:50! Then just 3 laps before the end on lap 33 the Jordan engine of Jordan’s Trulli blew up and he was out of the race. The other Jordan of Alesi however was in 6th place with constant pressure from Williams Ralf Schumacher, but Alesi drove a mature firm race without any mistakes and kept his pace and retained 6th place securing that all important 1 point for Jordan.
Michael Schumacher won easily thus making history for winning the most Grand Prix’s in Formula 1.

 The Result

1. Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
2. David Coulthard – Mclaren
3. Giancarlo Fischella - Benetton

Overall this is a spectacular circuit and the 2001 race was a historic race. The last race in Hungary (see opinion) Schumacher equalled Alian Prost’s 51 wins, but now he has beaten that record with 52 Grand Prix wins. No other driver today has won that many Grand Prix's. Spa is also where Michael Schumacher first won a Grand Prix for Benetton in 1992, so this makes this circuit and day even more special with sad reminder that although Motor sport is so exciting it is very dangerous but the sport has come a long way since the great Aryton Senna’s death with a major improvement in car safety..it is amazing to think Luciano has survived a crash at 190mnph full impact… I dedicate this opinion to hoping Luciano Burti makes a full recovery and to recognise and celebrate Michael Schumacher’s’ outstanding achievement, driving skills and knowledge of the sport…

Update on Luciano Burti ~

The latest on the horrendous motor accident is that Luciano broke no bones at all. A brain scan showed some bruising ..so all is well and he should make a full recovery..this just goes to show how much the safety and build of cars has improved. Luciano or ‘Lucky’ Luciano as he is now called has had visits from Irvine and friend Barrichello and is live and well. Improvements in safety and run off areas will always be made but Motorsport cannot be completely safe and there will always be an element of danger.

Further details:-

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Circuit House,
55 Route du Circuit,
B-4970 Francorchamps
Belgium
Tel: (+32) 87 27 5138
Fax: (+32) 87 27 5196
http://www.spa-francorchamps.be/en/index2.html

“Motorsport is dangerous”
connoisseur_haggler©2001 ciao

Footnote:- In case you think you have seen this before –you possibly could have as this opinion had to be re-submitted due to a technical problems on editing –the original has been deleted, well you may even enjoy it second time round..:)
 

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