Spa 24 hour FIA-GT race
24 hour motor racing events are not at all well-known in Australia. There is the recently inaugurated Bathurst 24 hours event, but the Bathurst 1000 is much more famous and has a longer history. That starts at 10 a.m. and lasts for about a little over 6 hours, and by that time I would have usually left the TV set already.
The Spa-Francorchamps race circuit is located about an hour away from the German town of Aachen, which is within walking distance of the Belgian and Dutch borders. I stayed with my colleague who conveniently owns a flat in Aachen. Driving to Spa was more or less a trip into a lush, dense forest - the race track itself is very scenic and a walk around the circuit feels like going for a hike. There are some impressive elevation changes, with the famous Eau Rouge corner rising 76 m from the lowest point of the track, over a track length of 300 m. The track then continues upwards for another 60 m to the highest point, the Les Combes corner.
For me, it was very exciting to see in person this track, on which I have driven many laps in computer games and seen numerous formula one races. The corners are actually named after the nearby towns - we avoided the traffic and ended up at a sign with "Combes" written on it with a big parking sign. We drove down that road and weaved through some charming small Belgian villages (I thought that we were lost) before parking at a camping ground next to the circuit.
The main event started at 4 p.m., when 46 cars roared up the Eau Rouge with a rolling start. Here was where understanding of the Belgian language would have helped, since I was clueless about the commentary and didn't have much of an idea of the occurrences in the race. We tried to track the race with a book and stopwatch but were confused after a couple of hours.
At 9 p.m., we headed back to Aachen for some dinner before returning to the race track at 1 a.m. to see some night racing. It was a strange sensation - most people were walking out of the track as we walked in, and the air was completely still except for the thundering of the race cars. Visually it was also similar - completely darkness except for some very swiftly moving headlights. 
The glamour of the day was gone - the cars went around like clockwork and the pit crew simply went about their business at the pitstops and then returned inside. We stayed until 4 a.m., and by that time we have managed to see some very slow and some very efficient pit stops, and just about become deaf from sitting on the pit straight grand stand. We have come to realise that staying at the track for the full 24 hours was not for us. However it was a great experience.
For the record, the Corvette C6-R of Carsport Holland won the race by 1 minute 17 seconds from the second place Maserati. You will find many more photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokmanho/sets/72157601153539391/
The Spa-Francorchamps race circuit is located about an hour away from the German town of Aachen, which is within walking distance of the Belgian and Dutch borders. I stayed with my colleague who conveniently owns a flat in Aachen. Driving to Spa was more or less a trip into a lush, dense forest - the race track itself is very scenic and a walk around the circuit feels like going for a hike. There are some impressive elevation changes, with the famous Eau Rouge corner rising 76 m from the lowest point of the track, over a track length of 300 m. The track then continues upwards for another 60 m to the highest point, the Les Combes corner.For me, it was very exciting to see in person this track, on which I have driven many laps in computer games and seen numerous formula one races. The corners are actually named after the nearby towns - we avoided the traffic and ended up at a sign with "Combes" written on it with a big parking sign. We drove down that road and weaved through some charming small Belgian villages (I thought that we were lost) before parking at a camping ground next to the circuit.
The main event started at 4 p.m., when 46 cars roared up the Eau Rouge with a rolling start. Here was where understanding of the Belgian language would have helped, since I was clueless about the commentary and didn't have much of an idea of the occurrences in the race. We tried to track the race with a book and stopwatch but were confused after a couple of hours.At 9 p.m., we headed back to Aachen for some dinner before returning to the race track at 1 a.m. to see some night racing. It was a strange sensation - most people were walking out of the track as we walked in, and the air was completely still except for the thundering of the race cars. Visually it was also similar - completely darkness except for some very swiftly moving headlights. The glamour of the day was gone - the cars went around like clockwork and the pit crew simply went about their business at the pitstops and then returned inside. We stayed until 4 a.m., and by that time we have managed to see some very slow and some very efficient pit stops, and just about become deaf from sitting on the pit straight grand stand. We have come to realise that staying at the track for the full 24 hours was not for us. However it was a great experience.For the record, the Corvette C6-R of Carsport Holland won the race by 1 minute 17 seconds from the second place Maserati. You will find many more photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokmanho/sets/72157601153539391/
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