Very sad to hear that Dilano van 't Hoff died at Spa today.
I've loved being at Spa, but it has been about as awkward as I expected it to be, thanks to my dumb decision not to camp near the circuit, and to rely on public transport. I'm also regretting listening to my workmates who said I didn't need to buy portable Wi-Fi because I can just use roaming/mobile data; obviously, there's no Wi-Fi at a circuit as huge as Spa, and so there was no way to follow the race on YouTube at the circuit without using all my data. Ironically, watching the race now on YouTube is by far the most I've seen of the bloody race weekend
I was all set to tough it out overnight at the circuit tonight, but I chickened out and came back to my hotel. I'm just too tired to face it, plus the weather is very changable, and its chilly and breezy already, so I made the painful decision to get the last bus home (at 6.45pm
) rather than stay at the circuit (until 6pm tomorrow night...), hitch-hike, or walk 2hrs in the darkness back to Spa.
-
Still, I met Richard and Sally Neary, whose son Sam is driving the #58 Grasser Lamborghini, and even Sam is having to kip in their campervan because there's nowhere else for him to stay. Richard is a former GT3 driver as well, and we had a couple of beers in the paddock, and it was a real highlight of my trip to speak to them. I saw Valentino Rossi in the town and again at the circuit today, as I just happened to be passing as he got into his shuttle bus, albeit surrounded by adoring fans. I also saw David Schumacher and spoke (briefly) to Nicki Thiim, plus I've spotted myself on YouTube a couple of times already, including at the very start of the race today, where I had a great view of the front of the grid (though not much else
):
I had a seat at the edge of the new grandstand overlooking Eau Rouge/Raidillion, but when it started raining, everyone put their brollies up and killed my view. The grandstand was also full of smokers and quite a few obnoxious people, so I decided to move and walked through the paddock (which was astonishing - they didn't seem to be stopping anyone from almost anywhere, including into some team garages while they were getting ready to put the cars out onto the grid, so I didn't enter any garages), before settling on a cosy spot (above) overlooking the overall pole position.
I'll watch the rest of tonight's action on YouTube, but I am gutted to miss the sunset and nightime at Spa. 15 mins before the last bus, I changed my mind and headed back to the circuit, only to get stung/bitten on the back of my neck by some bastard thing, and that was enough to make me think that I should go home. I'm looking forward to tomorrow though, the climax of the race plus a night at La Source hotel and dinner in Francorchamps itself.
It's been an amazing experience and I'm officially in love with the Spa circuit - though, as this morning's tragic events prove, just as has happened many times at the great circuits of the world before - it can, at times, be an extremely dangerous place. Little wonder that competitors and fans alike treat the place with such awe and respect. RIP Dilano.
