- 24,336
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Spa Francorchamps • Sept 29th-Oct 1st • Mk1 Lotus Cortina
As i'd mentioned in my 'Croix' thread the next couple of races this season would be at Oulton Park and Spa Francorchamps. Unfortunately we had to knock Oulton Park on the head since the damage caused at Croix hadn't been repaired yet, i didn't mind this too much since i've never really got on with Oulton Park anyway. We've been trying to get to the prestigious 'Spa 6-hour' event for the past 4 or so years but never made it for one reason or another. This year we managed to get our act together and so headed off last Thursday night.
Some changes had been made to the car since we raced in France so we were pretty hopeful of a successful weekend. Apart from a new drivers side front wing, we had some new rear leaf springs - the previous ones had 'flattened' over the years, and some new top mounts on the front springs enabling us to reduce the camber on the front wheels which should give us a more positive front end at turn-in and a more stable back end at the same time.
One thing we couldn't resolve was the fact that in top gear (4th) the box will jump out of gear if throttle opening is reduced. For most circuits this isn't a problem since you don't come across many really fast corners where you might want to lift-off the throttle slightly to reduce speed or settle the car before you commit to a quick corner. Spa, however, has two such corners - Blancimant, the fast double left-hander before the 'Bus Stop' and the infamous 'Eau Rouge' which i'm sure most of you motorsport fans are familiar with. This issue with the gearbox leaves us with three options: A) Just keep your foot in (not really an option since if this was possible in the first place you do it anyway and lifting off wouldn't be an issue) B) Keep your foot in but left-foot brake to stabilise the car instead (not an option unless you're a professional Finish rally driver and have practised the move upto the point of it being second nature) or C) Hold the gear-stick in place and drive the corner one-handed feathering the throttle 'till your hearts content. There are forth and fifth options of either braking and changing down to 3rd. Or braking to a point where you can just accelerate all the way through the turn, but these are not really viable options unless you want to lose too much time and momentum or have a quicker car slam into the back of you.
The actual 6-hour race is one of perhaps 8 or 9 races over the weekend, and not a race we were eligable for with the car in it's state of tune. The races we were down for were two half-hour races for Sports and Saloon cars on the Saturday and a 1 hour/two driver race on the Sunday. I was to do the first half hour race, my dad was going to do the second and my step-bro and i would share the 1-hour race. This would mean my dad and i would both have to share the Friday afternoon practise session for the two Sports and Saloon races for us both to qualify, and my step-bro and i would have to do the same for qualifying on the Saturday morning, which was immidiatley before my first race. This gave us a tight schedule, especially since we could'nt get to the circuit until Friday lunch, then had to warm up the car, sign on (register), have the car scrutinered and get changed into suits and helmets with little time to spare.
A recurring problem we have with the car is actually starting the engine. The starter motor must have a missing tooth somewhere so sometimes just jams against the fly-wheel. Race engines don't often have an alternator fitted (extra weight) so the more you try to kick the engine over, the more you just drain the lightweight race battery. Of course this issue decided to raise its head just as i was going out to qualify. I had to let the rest of the field of 60+ other cars leave the assembly area before i could get a push/jump start and head off up the pit exit besided Eau Rouge.
A lap of Spa
Starting from the pit exit, the one thing that hits you first about Eau Rouge is just how steep the hill is, down too and up from. Its probably twice as steep as it apears either on TV or on a game like TRD3. Not only that but the 'straight' afterwards is also quite steeply uphill, which you wouldn't guess at all from watching TV footage.
The next corners you come to are the right/left 'Les Combes' section, not difficult corners in themselves, but the run upto them from the long straight leaves you unsighted to the turn in point, mainly since the road here carries on straight where the old pre '79 circuit carries on.
Right after Les Combes comes the right hand 'Malmedy' corner which is just about flat-out, as long as you have managed to get your car back across to the left coming out of Les Combes.
Next comes a steep downhill run to the 'Bruxelles/Rivage' hairpin. With the approach being so downhill you never seem to be able to brake enough for this corner - which i'm sure causes more than a few raised heart beats. The corner itself isn't too bad, it must be slightly 'banked' and leads you too the next 90 degree left hand turn that seems to have no name - but most people just refere to it as 'Rivage pt2'.
From here you have yet another 'much-steeper-than-on-TV' run down to the excellent 'Pouhon' double appex left-hander which is pretty fast, but off camber so you have to be acurate. If down well its an extreamly satisfying complex of corners to take.
Next comes another downhill run to the 'Les Fagnes' right/left complex. Along with the previous corner, this complex has ditched its gravel traps for tarmac run-off areas, which gives you much more confidance when attacking the bends 👍
'Stavelot 1 & 2' come next, again approached from downhill. The first part is quite tight, but the second one opens out nicely and can be taken pretty much flat out.
Next comes the very quick double left hander known as 'Blanchimont'. As with Eau Rouge, Blanchimont can be taken pretty much flat-out in a 'slicks and wings' single seater or sportscar. However a saloon car with treaded racing crossplys is never going to go through flat so requires a 'lift' first. Like i mentioned earlyer on, our car jumps out of top so a 'one hand on the stick, one hand on the wheel' approach is required here - quite daunting at 100+mph! The first time i managed this corner with no braking and only a slight lift had me grinning like a chesire cat inside my helmet. Taking a corner at that speed with one hand giving the wheel as much lock as i could physically manage is a fantastic feeling i can tell you.
You then have a short righthand curve towards the 'Bus Stop' which has changed in the past few years and has a much tighter lefthand entrance. Its the only 'Mickey Mouse' section of the track which spoils an otherwise great flowing circuit, which these days is hard to find. The exit from the Bus Stop and subsequent run down the F1 start/finish straight is taken flatout down to the 'La Source' hairpin which is a tight 1st gear corner where the track falls away from you on the exit. Its a real 'chuck it in' kind of corner where little time can be gained by doing it 'right'. A clean exit is important however cause it leads to the main steeply downhill start/finish straight. Its called a straight but actually it's a shallow righthand corner - a fact intensified by the high pit wall and cpit complex on the right and grandstands on the left giving it a tunnel like quality.
'Eau Rouge' itself is taken almost flat-out. The first time i approached it in anger i can tell you, i was really brickin it, i mean, come on, its the most 'infamous' corner in the world! You head very steeply downhill into the first lefthand appex where you experience a load of compression before you turn steeply back up to the righthand appex. At this point the hill starts to flatten out and you have no sight of where the next lefthand appex is. Added to this the car begins to 'lighten' (because the previously compressed suspension is now begining to extend again - just as you are changing direction at 100+mph. This is where most accidents happen with quite a few cars destroyed this weekend against the barriers at this point of the track!
......i'll continue this story tomorrow....
As i'd mentioned in my 'Croix' thread the next couple of races this season would be at Oulton Park and Spa Francorchamps. Unfortunately we had to knock Oulton Park on the head since the damage caused at Croix hadn't been repaired yet, i didn't mind this too much since i've never really got on with Oulton Park anyway. We've been trying to get to the prestigious 'Spa 6-hour' event for the past 4 or so years but never made it for one reason or another. This year we managed to get our act together and so headed off last Thursday night.
Some changes had been made to the car since we raced in France so we were pretty hopeful of a successful weekend. Apart from a new drivers side front wing, we had some new rear leaf springs - the previous ones had 'flattened' over the years, and some new top mounts on the front springs enabling us to reduce the camber on the front wheels which should give us a more positive front end at turn-in and a more stable back end at the same time.
One thing we couldn't resolve was the fact that in top gear (4th) the box will jump out of gear if throttle opening is reduced. For most circuits this isn't a problem since you don't come across many really fast corners where you might want to lift-off the throttle slightly to reduce speed or settle the car before you commit to a quick corner. Spa, however, has two such corners - Blancimant, the fast double left-hander before the 'Bus Stop' and the infamous 'Eau Rouge' which i'm sure most of you motorsport fans are familiar with. This issue with the gearbox leaves us with three options: A) Just keep your foot in (not really an option since if this was possible in the first place you do it anyway and lifting off wouldn't be an issue) B) Keep your foot in but left-foot brake to stabilise the car instead (not an option unless you're a professional Finish rally driver and have practised the move upto the point of it being second nature) or C) Hold the gear-stick in place and drive the corner one-handed feathering the throttle 'till your hearts content. There are forth and fifth options of either braking and changing down to 3rd. Or braking to a point where you can just accelerate all the way through the turn, but these are not really viable options unless you want to lose too much time and momentum or have a quicker car slam into the back of you.
The actual 6-hour race is one of perhaps 8 or 9 races over the weekend, and not a race we were eligable for with the car in it's state of tune. The races we were down for were two half-hour races for Sports and Saloon cars on the Saturday and a 1 hour/two driver race on the Sunday. I was to do the first half hour race, my dad was going to do the second and my step-bro and i would share the 1-hour race. This would mean my dad and i would both have to share the Friday afternoon practise session for the two Sports and Saloon races for us both to qualify, and my step-bro and i would have to do the same for qualifying on the Saturday morning, which was immidiatley before my first race. This gave us a tight schedule, especially since we could'nt get to the circuit until Friday lunch, then had to warm up the car, sign on (register), have the car scrutinered and get changed into suits and helmets with little time to spare.
A recurring problem we have with the car is actually starting the engine. The starter motor must have a missing tooth somewhere so sometimes just jams against the fly-wheel. Race engines don't often have an alternator fitted (extra weight) so the more you try to kick the engine over, the more you just drain the lightweight race battery. Of course this issue decided to raise its head just as i was going out to qualify. I had to let the rest of the field of 60+ other cars leave the assembly area before i could get a push/jump start and head off up the pit exit besided Eau Rouge.
A lap of Spa
Starting from the pit exit, the one thing that hits you first about Eau Rouge is just how steep the hill is, down too and up from. Its probably twice as steep as it apears either on TV or on a game like TRD3. Not only that but the 'straight' afterwards is also quite steeply uphill, which you wouldn't guess at all from watching TV footage.
The next corners you come to are the right/left 'Les Combes' section, not difficult corners in themselves, but the run upto them from the long straight leaves you unsighted to the turn in point, mainly since the road here carries on straight where the old pre '79 circuit carries on.
Right after Les Combes comes the right hand 'Malmedy' corner which is just about flat-out, as long as you have managed to get your car back across to the left coming out of Les Combes.
Next comes a steep downhill run to the 'Bruxelles/Rivage' hairpin. With the approach being so downhill you never seem to be able to brake enough for this corner - which i'm sure causes more than a few raised heart beats. The corner itself isn't too bad, it must be slightly 'banked' and leads you too the next 90 degree left hand turn that seems to have no name - but most people just refere to it as 'Rivage pt2'.
From here you have yet another 'much-steeper-than-on-TV' run down to the excellent 'Pouhon' double appex left-hander which is pretty fast, but off camber so you have to be acurate. If down well its an extreamly satisfying complex of corners to take.
Next comes another downhill run to the 'Les Fagnes' right/left complex. Along with the previous corner, this complex has ditched its gravel traps for tarmac run-off areas, which gives you much more confidance when attacking the bends 👍
'Stavelot 1 & 2' come next, again approached from downhill. The first part is quite tight, but the second one opens out nicely and can be taken pretty much flat out.
Next comes the very quick double left hander known as 'Blanchimont'. As with Eau Rouge, Blanchimont can be taken pretty much flat-out in a 'slicks and wings' single seater or sportscar. However a saloon car with treaded racing crossplys is never going to go through flat so requires a 'lift' first. Like i mentioned earlyer on, our car jumps out of top so a 'one hand on the stick, one hand on the wheel' approach is required here - quite daunting at 100+mph! The first time i managed this corner with no braking and only a slight lift had me grinning like a chesire cat inside my helmet. Taking a corner at that speed with one hand giving the wheel as much lock as i could physically manage is a fantastic feeling i can tell you.
You then have a short righthand curve towards the 'Bus Stop' which has changed in the past few years and has a much tighter lefthand entrance. Its the only 'Mickey Mouse' section of the track which spoils an otherwise great flowing circuit, which these days is hard to find. The exit from the Bus Stop and subsequent run down the F1 start/finish straight is taken flatout down to the 'La Source' hairpin which is a tight 1st gear corner where the track falls away from you on the exit. Its a real 'chuck it in' kind of corner where little time can be gained by doing it 'right'. A clean exit is important however cause it leads to the main steeply downhill start/finish straight. Its called a straight but actually it's a shallow righthand corner - a fact intensified by the high pit wall and cpit complex on the right and grandstands on the left giving it a tunnel like quality.
'Eau Rouge' itself is taken almost flat-out. The first time i approached it in anger i can tell you, i was really brickin it, i mean, come on, its the most 'infamous' corner in the world! You head very steeply downhill into the first lefthand appex where you experience a load of compression before you turn steeply back up to the righthand appex. At this point the hill starts to flatten out and you have no sight of where the next lefthand appex is. Added to this the car begins to 'lighten' (because the previously compressed suspension is now begining to extend again - just as you are changing direction at 100+mph. This is where most accidents happen with quite a few cars destroyed this weekend against the barriers at this point of the track!
......i'll continue this story tomorrow....
- I leave a bit of a gap so i can just round off the lap back to the grid at my own pace much to the annoyance of the pace/safety car following us round. As we get to La Source the flag goes down and we're off!
cool field of cars there too 
