@@ronniepineda6254 I made already some videos about the Nürburgring. You can see them here: ua-cam.com/video/5Tub0XGA5uI/v-deo.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.
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
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.
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).
@@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 !
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.
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!
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 :)
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.
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 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...
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!
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.
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.
1970 saw c.160mph laps by both F-1 cars and Sports Cars for the 1000Km. endurance race. 1980s saw even faster laps by Steffan Bellof in the Porsche 962 that he would die in. A light but deadly collision with Jackie Ickx near Eau Rouge. Pretty much the old circuit, even then J.C.
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.
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
...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...!
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 :)
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.
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
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 UA-cam channel. Check this playlist for my Nivelles videos: ua-cam.com/video/qrcQxgnj0gU/v-deo.html Greetings from the Netherlands
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.
Hey Herman, Well done on a great video yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you along the start of it as well. There are some examples that I like to point out of the 1947-1971 configuration, when there were 2 fatalities and 2 injuries in the 1960 Belgian grand prix, 1 where Mike Taylor crashes while practising for the race which ended his career. and the other 2 where Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow lost their lives during the race, Can't remember which corners these guys had their accidents but know the names having done some research about it. Stirling moss had also an heavy accident as well, which was almost career ending, but came out alive and was able to participate at the next race in Portugal having missed 2 races due to breaking both legs. The 1966 race also involved a serious accident, when Future 3 time world champion Jackie Stewart (A man who would campaign for Safety measures at race tracks) had a serious shunt of his own when he was smothered with fuel and succumb to injuries to his collarbone and ribs, His teammates Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant, stopped by to help save the delirious Scotsman by borrowing tools from a spectator to remove the steering wheel, break up the chassis and eject him from the vehicle and was later taken to hospital to make a recovery after that. And the Grand Prix Movie which I can also put it in summary when Jean-Pierre Sarti's car suspension broke off from his Ferrari, lost control and went straight into the shed and into the 2 young male spectators killing them instantly. The father of the 2 boys was shocked to see that they're dead and as he came into the garage while the US national anthem is playing in the background, he went over and leaped on top of Jean-Pierre, grabbing onto his shirt and cursing at him by expressing his disgust for what he'd done and the mechanics grabbed on to his arms and moved him away after that as he was still cursing in French.
Bristow was killed at Burneville after a collision with Wily Mairesse. Story is he was decapitated by a barb wire fence. I have seen two conflicting accounts on Stacey. One says he also died at Burneville when he was hit in the face by a bird. Another says this occurred on the Masta Straight.
@@williamford9564 They didn't even stop the race despite two drivers killed and Chris Bristow's headless body being thrown back onto the track. Jim Clark saw Chris's body and always hated Spa after that, it didn't stop him winning 4 consecutive Belgian Grands Prix though ( 1962-65).
@@andyelliott8027 Yeah that is pretty gross but things were different back then.”The race goes on”. I am amazed at films of cars going full blast past Roger Williamson’s burning wreck at Zandvoort in the mid 70s.
@@williamford9564 It was crazy, the Dutch marshals were wearing ordinary clothes ffs ! They should be wearing Nomex gear like the drivers of course, why did nobody think of that? They could have saved Roger.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
@@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 :)
@Cuore Sportivo I'm not only a UA-camr, 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.
Oh yes the old spa. I raced this circuit many times on sim racing. It's was truly much longer and in deed faster than spa is today. But when I'm racing at the old spa it feels like I'm racing at the nurburgring. Maybe it was called the Belgiumring lol. Maybe in the future you may want to fly a drone over spa? Great video I loved it thanks. See you next time😎
Well, a drone flight over Spa-Francorchamps would cause a lot of trouble I fear. First because there are extremely strict drone laws in Belgium. And old Spa is public road as you know, which is never allowed to fly over by drone. Filming on the current track would be an option if the press officer of Spa-Francorchamps would not be such an arrogant ***. I already mailed them twice. I did receive a read receipt... But an answer? No way! So I have to dissapoint you about a drone flight over Spa-Francorchamps. But there are much other cool videos to come!
MusicManMaurice he never said that? He just said he enjoys driving the track in a game, not that it’s the same as actually driving it in real life. In fact he’s as close as you can get to driving this layout nowadays. You might need to pull that elitist stick out of your elitist arse
MusicManMaurice when did the guy say it was the same as driving in real life? He literally just said he enjoys driving the track in the game, how can you take offence at that?
I watched the Spa24 of 72,3,4 from the inside of the old Les Combes. Bizarre memories of staying awake for nearly 36 hours and hardly anybody else spectating at that part. I saw Massimo Larini follow his headlights instead of taking the corner. He possibly thought he was still going through one of the fast sweeps before Combes. At about the same time across the valley, Joisten had his crash. Marshals looking for Larini's car in the field whilst blue lights and rescue vehicles got in the way of cars that did not slow down one bit. All that Williamson killed at Zandvoort a week later. Very strange, tragic yet fascinating times. Watching from the entrance to Masta was awesome, till being told to leave by the local gendarmerie.
Rode once there on motorcycle, and stayed in the hotel seen on the left hand side at 3:19 One evening as I was riding back and forth the old sections, there was a Porsche Supercup car doing some shakedown runs between Stavelot and entrance to Blanchimont. That evening the track was closed for the day, and staff was doing some maintenance so I guess the team just decided to use dead end part of the road (sort of) to run their race car. To me this is one of the best and legendary tracks, used to drive it all the time on Grand Prix Legends (PC game).
I have been there many times in the 90's. A few hours after the F1 race was finished they opened the track for public, because it was a semi street circuit. So in the evening I drove some laps on the old circuit. Also a few times the current circuit, but it was actually illegal to enter the new section. Great times :)
Great video and great timing. The F1 race wasn’t the greatest but qualifying was excellent and the support races great fun. The narration was top notch!!
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!
1 month ago, for the 100th anniversary of Spa Francorchamps, they put 4 old F1 (Thierry Boutsen was on the wheel in one of his old F1) and they drove by in a section of the old track (from Masta to Stavelot's corner)
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!
Motorsport magazine's Denis Jenkinson used to go and stand at the Masta Kink and listen to each driver's engine note through there. If memory serves me right, Clark would take it flat, as did Jackie Stewart. Few others did so consistently, though. One year, I think probably 1970, Chris Amon spent the whole race psyching himself up to take it flat, which he eventually did. However, he still couldn't catch Pedro !
I wonder if you know about Longford, Tasmania, which hosted two Australian GPs (non-world championship). Drivers who raced there include: Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. Some of the features were a right-turn at the local pub (!), passing under a railway viaduct, two rickety wooden bridges and a railway level-crossing.
Thank you for this well done and informative video. I had watched your earlier old-Spa video and found myself wondering about the location of Seaman's accident. A quote in Chris Nixon's bio of Seaman had it as the "Club Corner." Your description starting at 11:40 cover the old fast version of Clubhouse corner, which was later the Bus Stop and now a still tighter chicane. Many thanks. (Edited as I tried to get the history right. I hope this doesn't come across as morbid, that's not my intent.)
Thanks. Yes that's right, the fast corner where Seaman crashed was near the clubhouse. Because I'm not sure if it was there those days I didn't use the name Clubhouse Corner. When the Busstop Chicane was there the original corner was also there. They just put a chicane in front. Not it's completely changed, with the original corner gone.
I drove old spa yesterday as I was there for the first time ever and also to see the 2024 Spa Classic. Driving the old (public) roads made me very happy and also wanting to speed , but the respect I had made me go slow and contemplate. Sadly In comparison to here, Stavelot banking and la carriere are in pretty bad Condition... Anyways, Spa is now definitely a Spot which I will visit way more often and ill always drive the old course as and Hommage when ill be there. Thanks a lot for the Video !
You're welcome. I'm wondered to read Stavelot banking an La Carrière are in bad condition. Last year this part was closed for road construction works. See also this video: ua-cam.com/video/5VIxWUWLRdg/v-deo.html
@Circuitsofthepast well , the entry to the banking is now a T junction , the Asphalt was pretty roughed up with quite some potholes. La carriere is on a stretch of about 200-300m full of potholes. They will certainly better it out but it really wasn't a pleasure driving over it with sport suspension.
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.
Check also my new Monza video where I explore the old Monza Oval and Pirelli Track: ua-cam.com/video/cesly3xRVq0/v-deo.html
F1 iItaly
The old nurburgring please
@@ronniepineda6254 I made already some videos about the Nürburgring. You can see them here: ua-cam.com/video/5Tub0XGA5uI/v-deo.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..
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
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.
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 !
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
You deserve more views. Amazing explanation.
Thanks!
@@Circuitsofthepast more subscribers too
I remember as a kid in the '80's we drove over the circuit when travelling to Luxemburg.
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!
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 :)
I didn’t know this channel existed and I am now mad that UA-cam didn’t recommend this to me sooner.
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.
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"
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 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...
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!
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.
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 :)
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!
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.
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!
1970 saw c.160mph laps by both F-1 cars and Sports Cars for the 1000Km. endurance race.
1980s saw even faster laps by Steffan Bellof in the Porsche 962 that he would die in.
A light but deadly collision with Jackie Ickx near Eau Rouge.
Pretty much the old circuit, even then
J.C.
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
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.
Fabulous, as always, Herman x
Thanks!
...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.
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.
Last driver to win in this old track was Pedro Rodríguez in a BRM
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
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 was there in 99 when 2/3 of the circuit was still public road including Raidillon, great experience.
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.
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 UA-cam channel. Check this playlist for my Nivelles videos: ua-cam.com/video/qrcQxgnj0gU/v-deo.html
Greetings from the Netherlands
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.
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! Thanks! Hugs from Brazil!
Obrigado!
I'm a big F1 fan, past and present, and having been to Spa this was an excellent video. Subbed!
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!
Hey Herman, Well done on a great video yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you along the start of it as well.
There are some examples that I like to point out of the 1947-1971 configuration, when there were 2 fatalities and 2 injuries in the 1960 Belgian grand prix, 1 where Mike Taylor crashes while practising for the race which ended his career. and the other 2 where Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow lost their lives during the race, Can't remember which corners these guys had their accidents but know the names having done some research about it. Stirling moss had also an heavy accident as well, which was almost career ending, but came out alive and was able to participate at the next race in Portugal having missed 2 races due to breaking both legs.
The 1966 race also involved a serious accident, when Future 3 time world champion Jackie Stewart (A man who would campaign for Safety measures at race tracks) had a serious shunt of his own when he was smothered with fuel and succumb to injuries to his collarbone and ribs, His teammates Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant, stopped by to help save the delirious Scotsman by borrowing tools from a spectator to remove the steering wheel, break up the chassis and eject him from the vehicle and was later taken to hospital to make a recovery after that.
And the Grand Prix Movie which I can also put it in summary when Jean-Pierre Sarti's car suspension broke off from his Ferrari, lost control and went straight into the shed and into the 2 young male spectators killing them instantly. The father of the 2 boys was shocked to see that they're dead and as he came into the garage while the US national anthem is playing in the background, he went over and leaped on top of Jean-Pierre, grabbing onto his shirt and cursing at him by expressing his disgust for what he'd done and the mechanics grabbed on to his arms and moved him away after that as he was still cursing in French.
Bristow was killed at Burneville after a collision with Wily Mairesse. Story is he was decapitated by a barb wire fence. I have seen two conflicting accounts on Stacey. One says he also died at Burneville when he was hit in the face by a bird. Another says this occurred on the Masta Straight.
@MusicManMaurice I think that's exactly what I said, But nice of you to put additional info I didn't know about. :)
@@williamford9564 They didn't even stop the race despite two drivers killed and Chris Bristow's headless body being thrown back onto the track. Jim Clark saw Chris's body and always hated Spa after that, it didn't stop him winning 4 consecutive Belgian Grands Prix though ( 1962-65).
@@andyelliott8027 Yeah that is pretty gross but things were different back then.”The race goes on”. I am amazed at films of cars going full blast past Roger Williamson’s burning wreck at Zandvoort in the mid 70s.
@@williamford9564 It was crazy, the Dutch marshals were wearing ordinary clothes ffs ! They should be wearing Nomex gear like the drivers of course, why did nobody think of that? They could have saved Roger.
I find your voice very soothing, calming and relaxing.
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.
Awesome. Well explained and fun to watch. Thank you
Thanks!
the current Spa is on the post-Covid bucket list - thanks for the look back to the long course!!
Thank you for this wholesome content, mate.
I miss the glorious old days of racing.
You're welcome, mate.
another great historic circuit video herman and simon, i find old spa fascinating!
Thanks!
Amazing video! Spa is the greatest track on earth and I love learning about its history. Thank you!
You're welcome!
I'm so glad I've found this channel. Super cool.
Thanks!
Ty for all your hard work and content contributions.
Thanks! :)
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
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
Bravo, Hermann and Simon!
Thanks!
Not so bravo Hermann Tilke.
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.
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.
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.
Love this! It was cool to see the whole circuit of the past.
Thanks!
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.
Great video. My favorite circuit. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Merci pour cet excellent reportage... bravo à vous !
Thank you for this excellent report... well done to you!
Merci beaucoup!
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: ua-cam.com/video/5VIxWUWLRdg/v-deo.html
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 UA-camr, 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!
Oh yes the old spa. I raced this circuit many times on sim racing. It's was truly much longer and in deed faster than spa is today. But when I'm racing at the old spa it feels like I'm racing at the nurburgring. Maybe it was called the Belgiumring lol. Maybe in the future you may want to fly a drone over spa? Great video I loved it thanks. See you next time😎
Well, a drone flight over Spa-Francorchamps would cause a lot of trouble I fear. First because there are extremely strict drone laws in Belgium. And old Spa is public road as you know, which is never allowed to fly over by drone. Filming on the current track would be an option if the press officer of Spa-Francorchamps would not be such an arrogant ***. I already mailed them twice. I did receive a read receipt... But an answer? No way! So I have to dissapoint you about a drone flight over Spa-Francorchamps. But there are much other cool videos to come!
MusicManMaurice no one has for the past 50 years
MusicManMaurice what’s his claim? That he enjoys driving around it in a videogame?
MusicManMaurice he never said that? He just said he enjoys driving the track in a game, not that it’s the same as actually driving it in real life. In fact he’s as close as you can get to driving this layout nowadays.
You might need to pull that elitist stick out of your elitist arse
MusicManMaurice when did the guy say it was the same as driving in real life? He literally just said he enjoys driving the track in the game, how can you take offence at that?
Awesome video! Truly phenomenal.
Thanks!
I watched the Spa24 of 72,3,4 from the inside of the old Les Combes. Bizarre memories of staying awake for nearly 36 hours and hardly anybody else spectating at that part. I saw Massimo Larini follow his headlights instead of taking the corner. He possibly thought he was still going through one of the fast sweeps before Combes. At about the same time across the valley, Joisten had his crash. Marshals looking for Larini's car in the field whilst blue lights and rescue vehicles got in the way of cars that did not slow down one bit. All that Williamson killed at Zandvoort a week later. Very strange, tragic yet fascinating times.
Watching from the entrance to Masta was awesome, till being told to leave by the local gendarmerie.
Thanks for sharing your memories to old Spa-Francorchamps!
Nice footage, well done sir and like your humor to ! Grtz Kevin from Belgium
You can imagine this track was so amazing. Maybe not like Nurburgring but great track and of course scary!
The old Nürburgring wanted to be a technical track, while old Spa wanted to be the fastest.
@@Circuitsofthepast I see !
nurburg was built as a test track really
@@kolumbijcan The Nürburgring was actually built for both racing and testing. With the Steilstrecke section only built for testing.
Is that a lovely Mazda MX-3 I keep seeing? Wonderful little car!
Yes, that's my Mazda MX-3 V6.
@@Circuitsofthepast Is that your MX-3 sister at 11:09? :)
@@mrflojd Looks like hahaha I didn't saw it when filming.
Great video, I live only a few kilometers away from the circuit and I didn't even knew they were still kerbs from the old circuit etc...
Great I learned you something about your living environment :)
@@Circuitsofthepast the worst is that I pass every day trough masta and I never noticed those kerbs or knew the parking was an old chicane 😬
Rode once there on motorcycle, and stayed in the hotel seen on the left hand side at 3:19 One evening as I was riding back and forth the old sections, there was a Porsche Supercup car doing some shakedown runs between Stavelot and entrance to Blanchimont. That evening the track was closed for the day, and staff was doing some maintenance so I guess the team just decided to use dead end part of the road (sort of) to run their race car. To me this is one of the best and legendary tracks, used to drive it all the time on Grand Prix Legends (PC game).
Thanks for sharing this memory!
5:18 BUT HERE IT COMES SEBASTIAN VETTEL
ive raced this on a sim and the malmedy chicane is my favorite corner, just the breaking into a fast right-left is so fun to me
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
Absolutely amazing! Well done.
Thanks.
Love this circuit. Bern there 2009 and watched formula one
I have been there many times in the 90's. A few hours after the F1 race was finished they opened the track for public, because it was a semi street circuit. So in the evening I drove some laps on the old circuit. Also a few times the current circuit, but it was actually illegal to enter the new section. Great times :)
Absolutely great video. Your work is awesome! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks :)
I've been waiting for this one
Awesome presentation -- Thank you!!
cheers for u mate, u did a astronomus work explaining it for us.
greatings from brazil.
Obrigado!
Great video and great timing. The F1 race wasn’t the greatest but qualifying was excellent and the support races great fun. The narration was top notch!!
Thanks. This Friday a video about old Monza :)
It was better than this year's Belgian GP!
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 :)
nice, thank you for this little spark of history...
You're welcome.
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!
Great tour... thanks
You're welcome
Love the old lay out on Rfactor , thanks for a glimpse of the real thing!
You're welcome
1 month ago, for the 100th anniversary of Spa Francorchamps, they put 4 old F1 (Thierry Boutsen was on the wheel in one of his old F1) and they drove by in a section of the old track (from Masta to Stavelot's corner)
Fantastic video! Congrats
Thanks!
Very nice! Thanks for sharing! 8.75 Miles long! OMG
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!
Motorsport magazine's Denis Jenkinson used to go and stand at the Masta Kink and listen to each driver's engine note through there. If memory serves me right, Clark would take it flat, as did Jackie Stewart. Few others did so consistently, though. One year, I think probably 1970, Chris Amon spent the whole race psyching himself up to take it flat, which he eventually did. However, he still couldn't catch Pedro !
i d thnk rindt too
I could fall asleep to this, so relaxing
Is that positive or negative?
Circuits of the past positive when it’s 3am
best track in the world !!! have visit the the older sections when i was staying at ster (stavelot) really loved it!!
amazing circuit...
I wonder if you know about Longford, Tasmania, which hosted two Australian GPs (non-world championship). Drivers who raced there include: Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. Some of the features were a right-turn at the local pub (!), passing under a railway viaduct, two rickety wooden bridges and a railway level-crossing.
Sounds cool :D
Smooth soothing voice. Well educational video.
Thanks
Thank you for this well done and informative video. I had watched your earlier old-Spa video and found myself wondering about the location of Seaman's accident. A quote in Chris Nixon's bio of Seaman had it as the "Club Corner." Your description starting at 11:40 cover the old fast version of Clubhouse corner, which was later the Bus Stop and now a still tighter chicane. Many thanks. (Edited as I tried to get the history right. I hope this doesn't come across as morbid, that's not my intent.)
Thanks. Yes that's right, the fast corner where Seaman crashed was near the clubhouse. Because I'm not sure if it was there those days I didn't use the name Clubhouse Corner. When the Busstop Chicane was there the original corner was also there. They just put a chicane in front. Not it's completely changed, with the original corner gone.
I drove old spa yesterday as I was there for the first time ever and also to see the 2024 Spa Classic. Driving the old (public) roads made me very happy and also wanting to speed , but the respect I had made me go slow and contemplate. Sadly In comparison to here, Stavelot banking and la carriere are in pretty bad Condition...
Anyways, Spa is now definitely a Spot which I will visit way more often and ill always drive the old course as and Hommage when ill be there.
Thanks a lot for the Video !
You're welcome. I'm wondered to read Stavelot banking an La Carrière are in bad condition. Last year this part was closed for road construction works. See also this video: ua-cam.com/video/5VIxWUWLRdg/v-deo.html
@Circuitsofthepast well , the entry to the banking is now a T junction , the Asphalt was pretty roughed up with quite some potholes. La carriere is on a stretch of about 200-300m full of potholes. They will certainly better it out but it really wasn't a pleasure driving over it with sport suspension.
@@Jr55amg It was probably damaged by the heavy work traffic for the road works.
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.
This was my fav F1 race and track of all
Really enjoyed this, thank you.
You're welcome