![]() It was raining and I was puttering back to the pits. I had a big one at Spa one year in the wet. Sure it was nice to drive, really high speed but dangerous, so dangerous. I couldn't believe that bit of banking at Stavelot. Another former World Champion, Denny Hulme, said of the circuit: "I went back there recently and it was unreal, unbelievable that we ever raced there. Jim Clark was very successful at the Belgium circuit, but hated the place. Mass arrived at the kink expecting to find bits of car everywhere, but was horrified to find the body of a marshal on track. During a routine driver change at night, Hans-Joachim Stuck told his teammate Jochen Mass to be careful at the Masta Kink and look out for the body parts. The track was still used for major competition, however, and during the annual Spa 24 Hours, in 1972, a particularly gruesome event happened. The race was held again in 1970, but as the circuit had not been brought up to the safety standards expected by 1971, the Belgian Grand Prix was moved to Nivelles and Zolder until the 1980s. In 1969, the race was boycotted by the drivers due to the dangers, and they lobbied, led by Stewart, that ARMCO barriers should be added to the circuit. Stewart was luckier than others, Spa-Francorchamps had claimed the life of 10 Formula 1 drivers over the 1960s, in addition to a number of marshals and spectators. ![]() They then undressed Jackie as the fuel was burning his skin, and they were found in the barn by a couple of nuns. Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant stopped their cars and removed the steering wheel so that Jackie could escape. The track was made yet faster in 1947, and was loved by spectators, but was a very dangerous circuit, according to British racer Jackie Oliver and winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour, "If you went off you didn't know what you were going to hit." One such example was in the 1966 race, Jackie Stewart crashed his BRM at the Masta Kink and ended upside down in a barn, trapped in his car with fuel gushing all over him. The track has gone through six different incarnations, the most notably were when the track became the modern circuit used today in 1981, and then 2000 when the track became a permanent circuit and no longer made up in part of public roads. The circuit was extremely fast and dangerous, with the roads making their way through trees, past houses and barns, and featuring corners like Eau Rouge, Radillon, Blanchimont, Les Combes and the Masta Kink. It was first used for GP in 1925 and hosted races in this guise until 1939. The original Spa-Francorchamps circuits was mapped out by Jules de Thier and Henri Langlois Van Ophem in 1920, measuring 9.31 miles and was a triangular shaped road circuit which took cars between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmendy and Stavelot through the Belgian forests. The view down to Eau Rouge at the start of the 1955 race.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |