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An overlay of the old fearsome Spa circuit (courtesy of: www.speedhunters.com/2012/08/spa-francorchamps-temple-speed/). The Red line strip shows the route that is more commonly used now. The chicane as Malmedy didn't survive, and Stavelot was eventually bypassed by the addition of a banked curve at the end of the Holowell Straight. Sportscars ruled the roost around Spa once the F1 cars stopped going there: Jacky Ickx lapped the 14km track in his Ferrari 312PB in a time 3 minutes 12.7 seconds for the 1973 Spa 1000km, a round of the World Sportscar Championship. That meant an average speed of around 165mph – all the more frightening when you consider that the quality of road surface was nowhere as good as today. Remember -- it also rains a lot at Spa, oftentimes only on parts of the circuit.
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In 2016 I treated myself to a copy of Brian Redman’s excellent memoir of a dangerous decade (1965 – 1975) – ‘Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks’.
He had some fascinating things to say about his experiences driving the old Spa circuit.
I highly recommend this book.
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Brian Redman: Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks.
A racer's memoir of a dangerous decade
1965-1975.
A lap of Spa-Francorchamps.
"Allow me to take you back to 1970 and share a lap of the original 8.7-mile track - what historians now like to call 'l'ancien circuit' - in my Porsche 917K.
I'll begin at La Source, the final hairpin corner where I progressively squeezed the accelerator until my car was nearly straight, and then mashed the pedal to the floor to begin the downhill dive. As I hurtled past the pits and start/finish line, I slipped from second gear into third as my speed built to about 160mph. A tap on the brakes at the bottom allowed me to swivel through the Eau Rouge S-bend, charge uphill at about 140mph and tiptoe through the right/left Raidillon sequence.
Snatching fourth gear (top in a 917K), I blasted up the gradually rising Kemmel straight with speed continuing to increase. In every gear, I revved to a maximum of 8,000rpm; one missed shift and delicate valves would have confronted flailing pistons, resulting in a thoroughly broken engine.
As the sweeping Les Combes left-hander rushed into view at 170mph, I braked hard, grabbed third gear and, using every inch of the road, opened the throttle to surge down another steep hill towards the flat-out right called Burnenville. Still in top gear, I hammered through the connecting shute into Malmedy and onto the Masta straight, that narrow 1½-mile country road where I pushed the car to it's top speed - 214mph. I tried not to think about this as I neared the Masta kink, possibly the most intimidating turn in all of motor racing. At that velocity, I couldn't indulge even the briefest of unnecessary lifts without losing precious seconds (and my drive). Left/right through there at 180mph and onto the Hollowell straight, flat out again at top speed for another 1½ miles.
Stavelot, a long right-hander, was taken in top gear at about 170mph and followed by a fast left that promptly shifted to a 160mph right with it's apex at the corner of a stone building. Straight uphill now towards the blind, flat-out Les Carrières, still gaining speed into an equally blind 170mph left called Blanchimont, where a narrow patch of grass was all that separated the track from the a steel barrier. A final uphill straight returned me to La Source, the first-gear corner where this lap began.
Ploughing around this slow turn allowed a few seconds to breath, flex and relax before it was time to repeat the exercise - 14 more times."
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The original course was an 8.7-mile triangle of rustic byways anchored at each corner by the villages of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.
The circuit had been conceived in the 1920's for cars with as little as 50bhp capable of less than 100mph, and continued as a magnificent folly onto which we threw 620bhp machines at over 200mph with ill-advised eagerness. By the time of my debut, Spa had already earned a reputation for being an unforgiving circuit, even in an era when safety concerned few drivers and absolutely no team managers.
Apart from a single hairpin corner, the original Spa was a ribbon of long straights punctuated by blazingly fast curves, all to be negotiated as aggressively as cross-ply tyres would allow. If, at full throttle, a driver exited the Malmedy corner 3mph faster than his competitors, he carried that additional speed down the full 1½-mile length of the Masta straight, and did so again on the equally long Hollowell straight.
Consider the arithmetic: at 214mph a Porsche 917 covered the length of a football pitch (105 yards) in a single second and did so for about 26 long seconds on each of those 2 straights. If the speeds of the two competitive cars were exactly the same at all other parts of the track, the driver who was 3mph faster on the Hollowell and Masta straights would pull out an advantage of 141½ car lengths each and every lap of his 15-lap stint, and would be nearly 1,150 yards ahead when his co-driver took over- total domination.
Conversely, a driver's tiniest miscue through the Masta kink - a quick left/right in the middle of the Masta straight - or the slightest lift at the Burnenville, Stavelot or Blanchimont corners increased his lap time not by just a few tenths of a second but by two or even three full seconds, costing as much as 1¼ miles during his turn at the wheel. Such a performance was unthinkable and would have led swiftly to unemployment.
More sobering was the harsh punishment for even the smallest mistake or slightest error in judgement.
A racing car with sticky tyres spinning on grainy asphalt will scrub off speed, but the tyres of one that departs the circuit onto the slippery grass sacrifice most of their grip and the car loses little momentum. Unimpeded, it could travel a great distance at a disturbingly rapid rate.
At Spa however, no car could slide very far before encountering a house, a tree, a telegraph pole, a wall, an embankment, a ditch or a wire fence garrotte. These hazards were compounded by the provincial state of the countryside and the region's unpredictable weather. One part of the track might bask in sunshine while another was awash in rain. Without radios, drivers had no warning about deteriorating conditions and often would rush into a veil of water that hadn't been there on the previous lap. It was accepted that crashes on the original Spa circuit often meant serious injury, or worse.
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The incipient pro - 1967.
Once again I was invited to join Peter Sutcliffe in his GT40 for the 1,000Kms of 1967.
Even after a full year of driving, the circuit's pace was no less disquieting but time and practice were moulding me into a true professional. I had learned the trick of burying reason under layers of confidence and pretense.
Spa is in the lush forests of the Ardennes, where in May - the driest month - it rains more days than not.
Denny Hulme, New Zealand's only Formula 1 World Champion and a racer known for his unflinching bravery, shared this advice of the original circuit.
'Spa? In the rain? Shit. Park it.'
Kiwi wisdom.
Liam Doran on the exit of Chessons in the Prodrive MINI Countryman WRC rallycross test mule, Round 1 of the British Rallycross Championship, as held at Lydden Hill Circuit, Kent, March 2013.
Featured photo, Speedhunters "iamthespeedhunter" British Rallycross article, 9th April 2013:
www.speedhunters.com/2013/04/iamthespeedhunter-british-rx...
www.justin.tv/driftstream#r=-rid-&s=em
Photos courtesy of Driftfotos.com and SpeedHunters.com
HRE-Equipped Monster Energy Falken Mustang Finishes 2nd at Irwindale, Securing Gittin's 2010 Championship as well as Driver of the Year Title
BALTIMORE, Md. (October 11, 2010) – Vaughn Gittin Jr. came out to Round 7 of the Formula Drift Professional Championship with high hopes of putting himself on the podium one last time to finish off his successful season. Not only did Vaughn accomplish that goal when he took 2nd place at Irwindale Speedway – his sixth podium out of seven rounds – but he secured himself as the official 2010 Formula Drift Champion and as the “Driver of the Year” in the HRE-equipped Monster Energy Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang.
Over the weekend, a sold-out crowd filled the paddock and the grandstands at Irwindale Speedway, otherwise known as “The House of Drift”. In addition to the Formula Drift TV show that airs on the VERSUS channel, this was the first drifting event to be filmed in 3D by DirecTV with an air-date to be announced. Round 7 was also featured live online via the DriftStream to a world-wide audience which reached over one-million unique views overall this year.
Vaughn has had much success at Irwindale Speedway in the past, and he is always welcomed as a crowd-favorite. In 2005 he made history when he won the D1GP USA vs. Japan, becoming the first American to win a D1 Grand Prix event. In 2007 at this southern California track, he brought America home the gold once more by winning the D1GP World Championship. He also won his first Formula Drift ever at Irwindale Speedway in 2008.
Vaughn’s qualifying run put him in 6th place out of the 40-plus drivers in attendance, he was matched with Formula Drift rookie, Nikolay Konstantinov, in his top 32 battle. He led first and put his car in all the right places, while blazing through the course. Nikolay struggled to keep up with the powerful Monster Mustang. When it was Vaughn’s turn to give chase, Nicolay couldn’t properly initiate his drift. Vaughn tried to mimic his competitor, but passed him as Nicolay sunk down the bank. Vaughn finished out his run, leaving a thick trail of Falken Tire smoke in his path.
By winning his battle in round 32 and gaining a few critical points, Gittin officially secured the 2010 Formula Drift Championship. “This is just simply unbelievable,” says Vaughn. “Winning the Championship has been a dream of mine for the past seven years and everything we have been working towards fell into place this season. It is a true accomplishment for my team and a testament to their commitment to the sport and myself."
But the day wasn’t nearly over for the newly-announced Champion. Vaughn still had one last podium to shoot for. In the top 16, Vaughn was paired with “Rookie of the Year” Fredrick Aasbo, who was the only driver the entire year thus far besides Daijiro Yoshihara to win in a tandem battle against Vaughn. This would be the fourth time of the season that these two fierce competitors would meet on the track.
When it was his turn to give chase, Vaughn put intense pressure on Powers and didn’t let up once throughout the course. Vaughn took the well-deserved win, and would be moving on to the semi-finals! Vaughn would battle it out with Michihiro Takatori in the final four. Vaughn led first and immediately was able to pull a sizable gap on the bank after his initiation. He hit all the clips while Takatori was not able to catch up to the engine-screaming and tire-smoking Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang.
Vaughn gave chase next and was able to reel into Takatori immediately, keeping close to him throughout the course. He tapped the infield wall and maintained his drift, showing the crowd and the judges that he deserved to be in the finals. The judges agreed and sent him into the finals to face two-time Formula Drift Champion, Tanner Foust.
After two insanely incredibly close runs by Vaughn and Tanner, the judges (and the crowd) called for a repeat. During the OMT, Vaughn gave it everything he had, but the judges deemed Tanner an advantage and gave him the win. Vaughn would take the 2nd place spot atop the podium for Round 7 at Irwindale Speedway. With his 2nd place finish in Irwindale, Gittin has taken to the podium six times out of the seven rounds – a record number of podiums in one season by one driver in the history of Formula Drift.
This was just icing on the cake for the Falken Mustang driver, as his real victory was being crowned the 2010 Formula Drift Champion. Vaughn is the second driver in the history of Formula Drift to come from a strictly-drifting background — the first driver being his Drift Alliance teammate Chris Forsberg who won the Championship in 2009.
Sunday night, Formula Drift celebrated the season and had an awards ceremony at their annual end-of-the-season banquet. Not only was Vaughn deemed the 2010 Formula Drift Champion, but he was voted the “Driver of the Year” by his competitors, their teams, and industry affiliates.
“Wow, what a year of dreams coming true,” says Gittin. “I turned 30, launched the Mustang RTR, got engaged, and now I am the 2010 Formula Drift Champion. This dream of winning the Championship has been chased since the first Formula Drift in 2004. Our sport has grown a lot since then and I have grown as a driver, learning more and more every year. This year the hard work and dedication paid off huge."
"While I am the guy behind the wheel," Gittin continues, "there are a lot of people behind me that work extremely hard to make sure I have the tools to do my job and without them, there is no way I could have done it. Team Falken has believed in me since 2003 and it is an honor to bring them a Championship. Their commitment and dedication to drifting is unmatched, just like their commitment to having the best tires on the track and the street. I sincerely want to thank everyone that has been a part of this journey; I couldn't have done it without you. I'm not sure how I am going to top this epic year, but believe me, I plan to try! 2011, here we come!"
The entire HRE Wheels team is extremely proud of Gittin and the Monster Energy Falken Tire Mustang team. After a magical, incredible season, Gittin's talent behind the wheel combined with a meticulously prepped race car helped him take home two of the highest honors in professional drifting. We can't wait to see what he has in store for 2011.
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This isn't new but I completely forgot to share it here!
speedhunters.com/archive/2010/07/05/guest-blog-james-evin...