New photo blog posted on Spa-Francorchamps track day

[Croc]

 

Link here

 

 

 

[Saudio]

enjoyed that very much, thank you!!  

[bball7754]

I turned 70 in July, and Spa was (I can now use the past tense) a bucket list item.  I contacted Mike back in January, and his assistance (contacts, knowledge, etc.) was instrumental in making the trip a reality for me.  He sent an email intro to TFL Racing and Sarah, and from there it was actually amazingly simple.

 

We (my partner Julissa and I) started the trip with 8 days in Tuscany, then flew into Brussels on the Thursday before the first day at the track.  Some flight challenges made us a bit late, but we met Mike for dinner that night, then back to the hotel.

 

We arrived at the track around 8:00am Friday morning, met Phil, checked in with Goldtrack, and I settled in to wait a bit in the hopes the rain would stop.  It finally slowed and stopped, and the track traffic picked up to assist with somewhat drying the track.

 

My plan was to go out after lunch.  There were some breaks in the clouds, and the sun had made an appearance or two.  I was standing in the pit lane during lunch, when it started to rain.  Again.  With the sun shining.  There actually was a rainbow at the end of the pit lane!

 

It stopped shortly before the session resumed at 1:00, and I started to trundle down the pit lane for my first session around 1:30.  I stopped at the end of the pit lane to show my wrist band, and after getting a thumbs up to proceed, closed my visor, then promptly stalled the Caterham.  Not once, not twice, but three times!  My excuse is I’d never driven the car before, it did have a touchy racing clutch, and the dog ate my home work.

 

The pit exit puts you out on the straight leading to Eau Rouge/Raidillon, so those were going to be my first turns at Spa.  In the wet.  And, apparently blind as my visor had totally fogged up and was not clearing!  Not trusting it would clear quickly enough on its own, I cracked the visor a bit, and made it through at an extremely slow pace.

I proceeded around that first lap, learning the car, the track, dealing with the wet, constantly being shown flashing blue lights and waving blue flags, and doing my best to minimize the impact that being a moving road block was inflicting on the other drivers.

 

Finally, I made it around turn one for the first time (pit exit is immediately after one) and proceeded down the straight to tackle Eau Rouge for the second time.  Still going quite slowly and cautiously, I make the entry left, then the right, and as I start to turn again for the blind left hand at the top I slightly let off the throttle.  Big mistake, and immediately the back comes around and I’m going up hill and off the track sideways!  I do about a 270 degree spin, and stop off track at the top of the hill facing the inside of the circuit.  This is why I purchased the insurance!

 

I find first gear, rejoin the track, and have no other “moments” for the rest of my first session, which lasted around an hour.  When I came in, Phil mentioned that he had been trying to get my attention as he was concerned I was going to run out of gas.  I had noticed him on the pit wall periodically during the session, but as the track dried and my speed increased, had stopped looking in that direction on the straight heading to turn one.

 

By the end of day one, the track had become essentially dry and both my speed and comfort level had increased substantially.  Of course, I’d set an extremely low bar initially for both.

 

Day 2 was, thankfully, totally dry.  And no major moments, other than running out gas on the Kemmel straight and having to be towed in.  Yes, even after being warned and told of the signs that fuel was becoming low, I managed to ignore it all and run out of gas. 

 

Phil had shown me the different settings on the installed Race Monitor, and I decided to check my lap times after lunch.  Something was off for the first session, as it never picked up the start/finish line, and displayed that message throughout the session.  I fiddled with the settings for the next session, during which I did manage two 2:59 laps, with lots of 3:00 something laps.  Still a ways from Mike’s time, but I was and am happy with it.

 

What I haven’t mentioned is that the track is AMAZING!!!  It’s fast, and certainly has its intimidating sections (see “Eau Rouge”), but the flow is incredible.  Its reputation is well deserved, not that it needed my approval or confirmation.

 

If this is something you have considered, all I can say is DO IT!  Is it expensive?  Yes, but I truly believe that it was, for me at least, money exceedingly well spent.

So, who wants to split a car with me next year?

Edited October 22 by bball7754

[Croc]

15 minutes ago, bball7754 said:

 I make the entry right, then the left, and as I start to turn again for the blind right hand at the top I slightly let off the throttle.  Big mistake, and immediately the back comes around and I’m going up hill and off the track sideways!  I do about a 270 degree spin, and stop off track at the top of the hill facing the inside of the circuit.

 

This might be why you spun?  Eau Rouge/Raidillon is a left, right, left. 

[bball7754]

 

3 hours ago, Croc said:

 

This might be why you spun?  Eau Rouge/Raidillon is a left, right, left. 

Can I blame it on the RHD Caterham?😊