Old Spa Francorchamps Full Lap with Abandoned Sections
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2020
- Old Spa Francorchamps Full Lap with Abandoned Sections
In this Circuits of the past video Herman shows you a lap at old Spa-Francorchamps, with some abandoned and forgotten sections.
We start on the original Start/Finish straight. Because this one was too steep, they moved the Start/Finish for the returned Formula 1 Grand Prix to the straight before La Source in 1983.
Before 1939 they turned left after the start, to the ‘l Ancienne Douane Hairpin. The name of this left-hander may sound familiar, this is the Eau Rouge, named after the brook that flows here underneath the track.
The old loop was actually a detour on the public road to make the slope less steep. Untill 2000 it was still in use as public road. But since Spa-Francorchamps became a permanent circuit, it is an abandoned section of the original layout of the track.
In 1939 this section was cut off by a new artificial corner, to make the circuit even faster. Because the new corner was very steep they called it the Raidillon. Raidillon comes from “raide”, which is the French word for steep. Raidillon actually means steep path of steep road.
Today most people call the Raidillon incorrectly Eau Rouge, which is actually the old pre 1939 left-hander. More about this name confusion in the video "Eau Rouge or Raidillon?": • Eau Rouge or Raidillon...
After the Raidillon follows the Kemmel section. Today we know Kemmel as a straight, but original this was a series of fast kinks. It was straightened in 1979 with the contruction of the new circuit.
At Les Combes we leave the current circuit and follow the public road. This is the original Les Combes section. Not a chicane, but a fast left-hander at the highest point of the track.
a little further we pass the remains of the old Malmedy Chicane.
The Malmedy Chicane was mainly used in the pre-war version of the track. First from 1921 to 1929. Than from 1934 to 1939. After World War Two the chicane was initially not used anymore, because of the trend to make the circuit faster.
But when safety became an issue, the Malmedy Chicane was reused again in 1970 for certain race classes like the last Formula One Grand Prix at old Spa-Francorchamps.
The most feared corner of old Spa-Francorchamps was the Masta Kink. Actually it was a left-right combination, which was almost full throttle. Some drivers even claimed they didn’t lift for the Masta Kink.
Next to the Masta Kink is an old chicane, which was built for the 1975 edition of the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps. It should be a safer alternative for the fast kinks.
However, after some test drives they came to the conclusion that the new chicane was even more dangerous than the original corners. So the Masta Chicane was never used for its purpose. Today it is a parking along the public road.
In 1947 this new banked was built to replace the old Stavelot Corner, to make old Spa-Francorchamps even faster.
The Stavelot Corner was named after the nearby city of Stavelot. Today you find here in the Abbey the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit Museum, with a great collection of classic racing cars and motorcycles that raced at old Spa-Francorchamps.
A little more about the history of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The First time the old Spa-Francorchamps street circuit was used was in 1922. The 8.75 Miles long circuit through the Belgian Ardennes was very fast. And that was exactely what the circuit bosses want.
To make it even faster they built two artificial corners in the street circuit, the Raidillon (1939) and the banked Stavelot Corner (1947).
The old Spa-Francorchamps Circuit hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix 18 times in the periode from 1950 to 1970.
But as people started to think more about safety, the fast street circuit became increasingly criticized. After the 1970 Grand Prix, Formula One shunned old Spa-Francorchamps and moved to Zolder and Nivelles.
Check also my viseos from the abandoned Nivelles Circuit: • Circuit Nivelles-Baule...
In 1979 the new Spa-Francorchamps circuit opened. It contained a part of the old circuit, and a new connection.
More about the history of old Spa-Francorchamps on the website:
www.circuitsofthepast.com/spa... (English)
www.circuitsofthepast.nl/circ... (Nederlands)
Special thanks to Simon Smith for the voiceover. Check also his channel: / higherplaingames
Thanks for watching this video.
Don't miss our new videos and subscribe to my channel. czcams.com/users/Circuitso... Thanks for the subscribe :) - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Check also my new Monza video where I explore the old Monza Oval and Pirelli Track: czcams.com/video/cesly3xRVq0/video.html
F1 iItaly
The old nurburgring please
@@ronniepineda6254 I made already some videos about the Nürburgring. You can see them here: czcams.com/video/5Tub0XGA5uI/video.html
However, if you're expecting an onboard at the Nordschleife I have to dissapoint you. The press officer of the Nürburgring is very unsympathetic and don't want to coöperate on filming an onboard. When I asked if they don't have an onboard I can use for my videos they stopped answering...
That's a pity because I had some interesting documantaries about the Nürburgring in mind.
okl
The run-off areas of the old Spa-Francorchamps circuit were someone's house, a cliff, or a tree.
Sounds very safe and fun :)
I remember watching a TV program about car crashes, that showed a VERY Expensive Ferrari in a street race in Italy, losing control on a slight downhill right hand kink, the driver realizes he is not going to make the turn because he is going too fast, slams on the brakes, He almost came to a stop in time. But he ended up sliding off the road over the sidewalk and ended up going down over the wall and into the house's courtyard where people were sitting having dinner watching the race! Fortunately no one was injured, except the Driver's ego and the Ferrari's ego! LOL I would hate to see the Towing bill for that! LOL
One of the corner apex is literally a driveway
Don’t forget the barbed wire and ditches
You can see the old Spa circuit in the Frankenheimer movie Grand Prix including that house run off.
@@paulcajkasr9600 now i have to rewatch that movie again
a modern version of that old Spa recreated like La Sarthe in assetto corsa would be awesome..
There is a 1966 version of Spa for Assetto Corsa.
There's actually an older version of Spa with the old eau rouge and several chicanes from pre-1966 for AC as well.
There is a complete one on project cars 2 aswell. From the early 70s I think👍👍
You mean old layout with current infrastructures, right..??
@@ArnoldTriyudho in project cars its the old infrastructure if you are racing in an old tract
I absolutely love how there are still some bits of history here and there... and even entire sections of the old circuit.
So.. I always wanted to drive the Mulsanne Straight in a normal "weekday".. I guess Belgium just got a little bit closer, too..
Absolute Mad lads going through raidillon full throttle with bikes on wet conditions🤯
Not full throttle tho but yea, they are insane
That's motorcycle racing for you.. When F1 cancells for a drizzle, a MotoGP rider wins it by not pitting to get wet tires.
(Look it up.. Brad Binder in Austria. At some point, he was more an ice-skater than a rider/pilot).
@@sirsancti5504but spa is too dangerous 😮
@@Karincl7Indeed that's why MotoGP doesn't go to Spa.
7:04 My boss, a former racing driver, told me that he didn't lifted here (not f1) and that on the exit of the right mast turn he went very close to the house on that left side of the road. He literally drove underneath people watching the race at that balcony.
Great inside information. Thanks for sharing it!
Some F1 drivers claimed it to be the most dangerous corner
You deserve more views. Amazing explanation.
Thanks!
@@Circuitsofthepast more subscribers too
This is great, I visited Spa for a 6hr race while on a business trip, love the history.
Thanks!
Me to, in 2018.
@@Circuitsofthepast In the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix in torrential rain Jim Clark started 8th on the grid. Before the end of the first lap he was leading and by the end of the race he'd lapped everyone except Bruce McLaren who finished 2nd. Bruce was 4 minutes 54 seconds behind him. The 3rd and 4th place drivers were 1 lap behind and the 5th and 6th place drivers two laps behind. On an 8.7 mile ( 14.1 km) lap !
Dick Seaman, the best name in F1. RIP.
Unfortunately a bit of a Nazi
ペナルティ？自分
"Dick Seaman takes the Masta Kink!"
Dick Seaman never actually raced in F1. Still a very regrettable loss
@@CheapskateMotorsports "...As Dick Seaman enters the Lesmos"
I still remember my dad reading me bits of Denis Jenkinson's 1963 race report and showing me the pictures (I was 5) and I fell in love with Spa. Jim Clark spent most of practice in the pits gloomily watching the mechanics fiddle with the internals of his gearbox. However, Clark stormed into the lead by Raidillon (then the first corner) from row 3 on the grid and he and Graham Hill steaadily pulled away from the field. By lap 16 the track was nearly dry and Clark lapped in 3 minutes 58.1 seconds, but then the rain came down so badly that on lap 29 his lap time was 6 minutes 40 seconds. With cars scattered all over the forest, fields and villages of the Ardennes, either with deranged gear linkages (including Hill's), or having aquaplaned into the scenery, mercifuly without serious injury, Clark won by over 5 minutes, holding the car in top gear in the torrential rain. He hated Spa; having blood spatters on his car early in his career made sure of that, but his effortless, smooth style and quiet courage bought him four consecutive F1 GP victories (1962-1965). Despite his premonitions about the speed and trees at Spa, it was at the old Hockenheim in 1968 that the speed and the trees bought an end to the life of the man who conquered his own fears and vanquished the Spa you so evocatively showed us here. Thank you.
Great comment! Jimmy Clark was an incredible/ meticulous driver in his own stratosphere. Like Jimmy, Jackie Stewart hated Spa esp. the Masta kink where he went off in 1966 to sit broken, helpless and soaking in a tub filling up with petrol. Graham Hill saved him. A helicopter overhead ended up being for the MGM film 'Grand Prix' and it took ages for an ambulance. Jackie wanted Spa banned as unsuitable and unsafe for modern f1 cars.
Great footage of the old circuits in the MGM film! Graham Hill describes in his book 'Life At The Limit' (1969) pp. 180 -181
Also, Jackie Stewart's 'Faster: A Racer's Diary' (1972) pp. 54 - 57.
Clark, up there with Senna and Fangio. No other drives come close to this trio imho.
stop the cap
I remember as a kid in the '80's we drove over the circuit when travelling to Luxemburg.
Most beautiful circuit in existance!! Very fond memories....
Yeah it's a beautifull circuit. Only a little bit of a pity it is no longer a semi street circuit. It was realy cool to drive in the evening after the GP on the track where you saw your heroes driving that day :)
The old circuit is used for the parade of the 24 hours of Spa, it's the only time race cars are on the old spa.
Thanks for the information. I didn;t know that.
like whole track or just some section?
@@kolumbijcan it's the whole old track.
I went to Spa for the first time this summer and passing through Masta kink and Stavelot to get there was perhaps almost as cool as driving the track itself!
I was born 10 miles from the old track, between the towns of Spa and Liège! I saw my first race car race there at age 6 (tourism cars). I later left to pursue my American dream in New York at age 24. I'm have now long been an American. Proud of both my region of origin and my country of adoption. Between age 6 and 55, I probably witnessed on circuit at least 25 races on the old track and another 20+ on the new circuit, including every F1 GP of the 1990s as a VIP. Now I watch every F1 on the calendar race on F1 TV. Got the virus at age 6...
Try driving this track on GPL with no assists...its hella scary when you reach the end of the straight
Imagine how it would have been in real :o
where can I find Grand Prix Legends to download and play?
@@vitor.guitarra There's a fan game called Grand Prix Legends 2020 that has a compilation of some popular mods for free. Check it out.
At Project Cars 2 is also a historic version of the old circuit!
very fast and fun to drive.
Original 1998 GPL is still available on Disc. This and the Nordschleife were the real deal in GPL. VROC forever!
Last driver to win in this old track was Pedro Rodríguez in a BRM
Fun legend: the reason how the Bus Stop chicane got its name, is because the circuit management wanted to put a chicane there. However, they wouldn't get any funding for it from the Walloon government. To circumvent this, they asked the local government if they could get funding to construct a bus stop would get its own , which was approved by the overarching Walloon government. Then they used the funding to construct the new chicane, which was then named 'Bus Stop'.
Typically Belgian way of dealing with things xD
Thanks. I heard this story before but was not sure it was true or an urban legend. They also told it was used to store road salt.
I still miss the old Bus Stop.
I didn’t know this channel existed and I am now mad that CZcams didn’t recommend this to me sooner.
Beautiful area, i went there for work last week and still will go next week, everyday there's is someone racing around the track and u can watch race cars from some spots for free. Amazing, and the old circuit is very very fast and scary. U get there full throttle with a normal car i just can imagine how thrilling it might have been in a powerful machine.
I find your voice very soothing, calming and relaxing.
Amazing!
I will never forget the first time I've seen the old circuit. I only realized that I saw smth familiar from GPL when we approached Stavelot. Then it became clear that the houses behind which reminded me of smth were actually the houses after Masta. Which saw me going off again and again trying to take the corner faster than 245 km/h.
Haha, I can relate to that last part! What blew my mind most about this video is how much of a corner Masta actually is. So much so that they have a speed limit of 70 there, apparently. To think that they did it with 250 and more in those old, flimsy cars with no aerodynamics, crazy!
Fantastic background info about an legendary track. I remembered my dad and I drove on the public roads of Spa.
Thanks. Yeah those good old days when it was a semi street circuit :)
Old track layouts like Spa need to be in current racing games. I would love to race this on a current gen console! The German Autobahn is cool but that track has been in games for like forever!
I wish it was on current sims too :) I had the chance to try it in Project Cars 2.
Grand Prix Legends - an old game from the late 90s, but still very well worthwhile playing. People have made modules to fix the graphics too and make it run on modern computer systems. A very enjoyable game.
its in project cars 2
Its also in automobilista 2
There's a free high quality mod for Assetto Corsa that contains both the 1930s as well as the 1960s version. That's how I first learned about the old Stavelot corner and the Burnenville chicane, actually. I'd only known the 1967 layout until then, thanks to Grand Prix Legends.
Brilliant video. It seems mad to think that anyone would have willingly driven that layout given the number of deaths, but the adrenaline rush on.the straights must have been unbelievable.
Thanks!
in 50s it was like a norm, normal track :) i mean the drivers still feared it but
Fabulous, as always, Herman x
Thanks!
I still can remember that the late famous and legendary BBC F1 commentator Murray Walker started his commentary of a F1 GP in Spa- Francorchamps with the words:
" Welcome to the most exhilarating and the most beautiful F1 circuit on earth, Welcome to Spa- Francorchamps"....Well that says it all.
Murray obviously never knew the Nordschleife as a F1 track, or at all. "going full-time for the 1978 season", he was simply at least two years too late. And apparently he also skipped the 1981, '84 and '85 German GPs
Brilliant video. Absolutely love the history of the older tracks. Certainly nice to get some ideas for my own fictional circuit designs. Top banter as well lads! Modern GP tracks definitely need some innuendo in their names.
Thanks!
Thank you for this wholesome content, mate.
I miss the glorious old days of racing.
You're welcome, mate.
Amazing video! Spa is the greatest track on earth and I love learning about its history. Thank you!
You're welcome!
another great historic circuit video herman and simon, i find old spa fascinating!
Thanks!
Awesome presentation -- Thank you!!
I was there in 99 when 2/3 of the circuit was still public road including Raidillon, great experience.
...this famous track - especially the long, older circuit - went right through an area where the Battle of the Bulge was fought during WWII, including Malmedy and Stavelot! My father was in the U.S. Army infantry, and was actually at those locations, as part of where he fought in that battle. I remember telling this to Dan Gurney at the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis (I was working for Car and Driver / Road & Track at that time) - shortly after Road & Track had done a feature on him and his 1967 Eagle returning to Spa (25th Anniversary) - where the Eagle G.P. car won for the first time - and Dan promptly pulled out his camera & started showing me pics he took at the WWII museum - I believe it was in Malmedy! Dan was a regular and good guy, with a great laugh - and I sure hope there are many more races at Spa in F1's future...!
Interesting story, thanks for sharing! On my next visit I will look for the WWII museum in Malmedy.
Dude, thank you so much for supplying this video... it literally gave me chills. I had no idea how the existing circuit morphed from the 1967 circuit. Keep up the good work, you've got a new subscriber!
Thanks!
I love you videos. I remeber the old Spa in Grand Prix legends. Some of the houses remains, it's amazing. Thanks for this tour.
You're welcome!
I'm so glad I've found this channel. Super cool.
Thanks!
Love this! It was cool to see the whole circuit of the past.
Thanks!
Awesome. Well explained and fun to watch. Thank you
Thanks!
I've been waiting for this one
Absolutely amazing! Well done.
Thanks.
Thanks for doing this video - love it!
You're welcome!
Great video. My favorite circuit. Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm a big F1 fan, past and present, and having been to Spa this was an excellent video. Subbed!
Thanks!
This is great, I've read about the old track. But now Hermann and yourself have given me the visual sense of it.
God what a awesome track, one day it and Nürburgring I will visit and drive on.
Thanks. It's actually Herman with one n, but I forgive you ;) I'm Herman and Simon does the voiceovers.
Ty for all your hard work and content contributions.
Thanks! :)
Really a wonderful ride to see one of the most emblematic circuits of international motorsport and personally the one that has always captivated me the most since it is the most loved by most of the racers.
Thanks for the video.
You're welcome.
I like how you adressed the tourists dramatically slower than the speed limit xD that really brightened up my day hahaha
Thanks! Than you will enjoy also this video: czcams.com/video/5VIxWUWLRdg/video.html
the current Spa is on the post-Covid bucket list - thanks for the look back to the long course!!
Awesome video! Truly phenomenal.
Thanks!
Great video! Thanks! Hugs from Brazil!
Obrigado!
Interesting and informative. I learned several new factoids. So thanks for creating and uploading this vid.
You're welcome. Great you like the video and learned something :)
Absolutely great video. Your work is awesome! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks :)
Great video loved it - nice to know the history of the circuit I love and have been to, plus I fell into the Eau Rouge Brook at an F1 race trying to move around the track to get a better view!
Fantastic to see this!
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this, thank you.
You're welcome
I have rode my mountain bike many times on the old circuit and I thought I knew it pretty well. However I never knew that the pullout on drivers right at Masta was actually a proposed chicane. Great info. Man I wished I could get back over there
This made me think of the 90s, driving to Germany for a weekend at the Nordschleife, passing by Spa and lapping the old circuit, then coming back at La Source, up the Kemmel Straight, and slip between the tyres at Les Combes to blast around the "new" Spa track... Miss those days :)
I did the same in the 90's. The good old days :)
Me too, visiting as tourist in 1997. Around 2001 the whole modern track was already closed to the public as the new bypass road had been built. In 2003 I've won the 1400cc class of a minor race event there.
Herman you did a fantastic job of showing us Formula 1 fans what the old Spa circuit what's really like thank you for showing us this .
You're welcome.
5:46 oops.
Great video, thank you very much!
You're welcome!
Great tour... thanks
You're welcome
Thanx for the video, lad... cheers!
You're welcome!
nice, thank you for this little spark of history...
You're welcome.
Parabéns não sabia que Spa tinha um desenho antigo 👏👏👏
Not really a design. It was public roads they connected. Only the two artificial corners were designed.
Jim Clark was often untouchable at Spa but he famously hated the circuit due to the insane speeds and the dangers this created. Funny how many site the Nordschleife as the most dangerous track of the era, yet Jimmy felt Spa was the scarier of the two.
I think because old Spa-Francorchamps was more high speed than the Nordschleife.
yet another great video, it's a shame that we can't follow the pre-2000 route. maybe one day if the channel picks up, they'll allow it :)
I contact them twice. They did read my e-mail but never reacted... some press officers :(
@@Circuitsofthepast youtubers are not considered as proper journalists you know. doug demuro complained about the same thing at the new ford gt launch as well. damn boomers :)
Tomorrow race in 44 laps !
@Cuore Sportivo I'm not only a CZcamsr, I also have a website about old circuits since 2003, which is quite popular in Belgium. However, at least they can give a reaction. There is much difference how circuits react. Some give me the golden threathment, others don't even answer.
@@Circuitsofthepast Love your work!
Really interesting. Thank you.
You're welcome
cheers for u mate, u did a astronomus work explaining it for us.
greatings from brazil.
Obrigado!
Incredible! I wish F1 would return to this vintage circuit, so the character of the F1 at Spa could be somewhat restored. Those were the days! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Crazy talk though... reliving the horror stories of death and carnage is not what we want to see - this was never the spirit of Formula 1, just an outcome from an era when we didn't know any better.
Bravo, Hermann and Simon!
Thanks!
Not so bravo Hermann Tilke.
Really good, thank you kindly
You're welcome
I often go to Nivelles as my father did some break-in racing laps with his Ducatis and Yamaha TZ bikes that he was preparing for racing teams. He had a bike shop and was multi-brand official dealer in the center of Brussels.
Greetings from Belgium.
Thanks for sharing your memories to Nivelles. It is also special for me. Because of my 1998 visit to the abandoned Nivelles circuit I came to the idea for the Circuits of the past website and CZcams channel. Check this playlist for my Nivelles videos: czcams.com/video/qrcQxgnj0gU/video.html
Greetings from the Netherlands
Wow, what a find! Thanks.
You're welcome! I have much more cool videos from old circuits on my channel ;)
My grandparents lived in Verviers, not far from Spa. And we used to spend a lot of time in the Ardennen. I remember the days that the circuit was part of the public road and that we drove on it. As shown on 11.38. Nice video, good information.
Thanks. In the 90's I drove the full lap many times. In the evening after the F1 Grand Prix I drove back to the circuit from the camping in Coo. Then I drove some laps on the old track and also a few on the current track. The permanent was actually closed for public but easy to enter.
Fantastic video! Congrats
Thanks!
sweet! thank you.
Love the old lay out on Rfactor , thanks for a glimpse of the real thing!
You're welcome
Thanks for this 👍
You're welcome
Nice work! thx man!
You're welcome!
Lovely video. I’m hooked 😊👍
Thanks for this video, man. I have been there last week and thanks to your guide I was able to drive 80% of the old Spa track. Masta kink was renovated, new layer of asphalt is layed. But the part of the chicane that you mentioned to be build and never used - it was digged out and barricaded. I do not know what is the intention, but looked way better than on your video.
You're welcome. I hope they don't remove the kerbstones at the chicane.
Good video, I enjoyed it!
Thanks!
I love the fact that you can still drive on the very same roads that once were part of spa
Before 2000 it was even better, when you could drive the full lap. I always drove a few laps on the old layout after a visit to the Belgian Grand Prix.
Merci pour cet excellent reportage... bravo à vous !
Thank you for this excellent report... well done to you!
Merci beaucoup!
This was my fav F1 race and track of all
The circuit is well worth a visit for any race-fan. There is so much to see and the elevation is incredible. So very different to somewhere like Donnington or Silverstone. Top vid!
Thanks!
That was excellent! I subscribed.
Thanks
Amazing!
Thanks!
Buenísimo. ..El video y el circuito..leyenda. ..!!
Gracias.
My dad told me the other day that he often drove over part of the old circuit with his truck right past the pit- boxes. So now I tell everyone my dad drove at Spa. ;) LJ
Thank you very much, I subscribed....
amazing circuit...
best track in the world !!! have visit the the older sections when i was staying at ster (stavelot) really loved it!!
I drove on the public road part of the new circuit in the late 90s as a passenger on my dad's car, you could take the Raidillon when driving the same direction as the race track - though you had to keep to the right of the road at Eau Rouge obviously - and it was mind boggling how steep it was even in a road car! When driving in the other direction you had to go through the Ancienne Douane hairpin, probably because it was too steep to have road cars drive down that way, it was worse than a mountain road, and also blind.
Yes I remember those days :) What you describe is the situation after 1994. Before the public road used the l'Ancienne Douane in both directions. But to inrease the run off from the Raidillon for the 1995 GP they demolished a part of the public road.
Right after the GP it was also before possible to take the Raidillon, as I did many times. It is so steep that even full throttle you drop about 30 km in speed with a normal road car.
That would be a really cool experience crazy how normal it was. I'd drive that route daily if I could
Awesome video, thanks. To be honest I find the new Spa far more exciting and interesting- the old one is mostly pedal to the metal up to the Masta kink, where you could get killed for a few tenths of a second.
I've been there a few month ago, order a truit , a cocktail and see the amazing landscape around you, the belgian ardennes are so gorgeous
I could fall asleep to this, so relaxing
Is that positive or negative?
Circuits of the past positive when it’s 3am
Love it.
Nice recommendation. Interesting video
Thanks
Nice footage, well done sir and like your humor to ! Grtz Kevin from Belgium