Spa 24 Hours 2018

[bentley speed 8]

Got to agree about that. Race was a mess during the first hours.

[Mountain Man]

I think it was a good race, although without the grandstand finish of the last couple of years.

I somewhat disagree on the rules bit although they need to sort the FCY then Safety car thing out. I think it's good competitive racing and hasn't had the result pre determined with BoP / EoT like WEC

In terms of attending, my overwhelming memory is of the heat, it was insane on Friday. Having done both Le Mans and Spa this year, I can't help but feel the latter is the more fan friendly event, and has a nicer vibe if you aren't simply going to get drunk. The pit walk when it was dark on Thursday was a particular highlight

[Anyopenroad]

My impression of the Sat crowd was more groups of drunk young blokes than last year. Might just be a long day in the sun drinking - 1630 is too late to start the race IMO.

My other little peev is people parking seats in front of the photography fence cutouts, sitting well below the cutout level, then grumping at all the cameras clicking over their heads!

But around the further parts of the track there was an older, calmer, much more relaxed crowd and vibe. Late at night and early on Sun morning it is just wonderful. The noise and spectacle of 60-odd GT cars is just incredible. Spa is an unmatched venue for spectating, as long as you can handle walking up hills, in the pitch dark, on rubble!

My feet hurt, my legs ache, I walked 16 miles in two days, I never want to see another frite, but I have 7,000 photos to sort and another year of great memories. What an event!

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

1630 is too late to start the race IMO.

My other little peev is people parking seats in front of the photography fence cutouts, sitting well below the cutout level, then grumping at all the cameras clicking over their heads!

But around the further parts of the track there was an older, calmer, much more relaxed crowd and vibe.

I agree on all 3.

I'm not a great fan of the late start, I understand they want all the support races, but it becomes a seriously long day, to the point this year I deliberately skipped the first couple of races and didn't arrive until almost 12

I tend to try and do photography earlier in the week. About the only time you can be confident to get a window at Eau Rouge is at the Bronze test on Tuesday, or about 7am on Sunday.

I think the biggest factor in that is this year they banned camping and BBQs at Bruxelles. Presumably because it was so dry and was a fire risk. But it did make it more chilled at that end of the circuit and hopefully that will continue. I think having the temporary grandstands helped too, it spread people out a bit.

I do think they need to do thinking about improving Les Cooombes, it's really busy up there and it seems awkward in terms of layout. Maybe pushing the entrance back and having more space would help, even a small grandstand.

The other place they could something is Fagnes. They could do way more with it than just a car park

[Akrapovic]

I thought it was just me getting old, but the worst bit of attending Le Mans for me was the drunk people. Fridays are stupid. But fortunately, the Friday madness tended to get the annoying people too hungover to really cause issues during the race.

I prefer the calmer, more civilised events. I need to do Spa, and find out what the calmest way to do the Ring is.

[Anyopenroad]

There is stuff which Spa could do to improve the experience without damaging the old-school appeal. Some of the paths are very treacherous. The F1 grandstand is terrifyingly steep. There aren’t enough toilets. No water points. No variety in the food. Parking is chaotic.

The extra open grandstands were indeed very welcome, some great vantage points and respite from the sun. There was another at the far end of the circuit - Campus I think it’s called. But of course it was accessed through an unlit tunnel and up a steep slope of loose rocks!

Also noticed that on Sun morning no-one was checking passes at the entrance to the paddocks, nor the first two blocks of open grandstand opposite pit out, which on Sat were restricted to VIPs.

[kevin993]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

My other little peev is people parking seats in front of the photography fence cutouts, sitting well below the cutout level, then grumping at all the cameras clicking over their heads!

I wonder if this is unique to Spa but seems that way to me. We were there for the F1 race last year and encountered the same thing, but have never had anything like the degree of blockage at any other tracks. Too bad.

[tux]

Outstanding performance from Krognes this weekend, hes always been fast but this was a stand out performance in his career.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by tux

Outstanding performance from Krognes this weekend, hes always been fast but this was a stand out performance in his career.

He drove very well as did Eng and Blomqvist. Thanks to the GT Report I've been made well aware of Krogne's performances in VLN so very happy for him. Despite such a strong lineup I had my doubts over Walkenhorst to be a contender as I've seen the team go from hero to zero before. Happy to be proven wrong. Well deserved win.

I did cringe when Dakota was interviewing Sims after he got out of the car at race end. By the look on his face telling him that 2nd out of 63 cars was good was not gonna cut it. Second been a fine effort in that field but you could tell he was very disappointed not to win.

Any updates on Meyrick and Krebs after their monumental coming together during the night?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by rich07

Any updates on Meyrick and Krebs after their monumental coming together during the night?

Both under observation but without life-threatening injuries, there was an SRO press release around lunch on Sunday. Meyrick was even answering well-wishers on Twitter last night (presumably from the hospital bed).

[rubberduck]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I prefer the calmer, more civilised events. I need to do Spa, and find out what the calmest way to do the Ring is.

We had our maiden Spa 24 this year. Civilised describes it very well. Super relaxed, very accessible and being able to walk around the track is simply great. Generally you profit from this track being a "proper" track with a degree of infrastructure.

We arrived Friday afternoon and had no problems finding a huge spot in the woods above the old pitlane. Try that at the Ring even on Wednesday...
There were like a couple dozen squads camping. We turned out to be the loudest by a margin, just by having a power unit running. People went sleeping at 22 Friday evening.

N24 is just a different beast. We bailed from this event more then five years ago, it's basically Beerfest.

Generally, both events are totally different imo. Ring is wildwest with car noise in the background. The praised vibe of the event is what alcohol and no infrastructure drives people to (with decreasing importance of motorsport-affiliation in the attendance). Having the camps directly trackside AND basically no ability to move around obviously is hampering with the race-interested people behind the fence.
Spa is more institutionalised. There are facilitites to begin with and generally you have a stronger separation between track, racing, event and camping. Who is trackside two hours after the start is interested in the race after all and even if you don't like your neigbours you simply walk to another corner or into paddock or both...it's smaller and more diverse at the same time.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I prefer the calmer, more civilised events.

WEC Spa 6 hours is great. Lots of families and genuine enthusiasts.

[Akrapovic]

That sounds much more pleasant. Last time I did Silverstone was for the ILMC event and it was lovely. Le Mans, on the other hand, has been a bit wild at times, which isn't much fun.

I'd love to do the N24 for the cars, but I'd rather not feel like I'm at a festival. I want to see some cars. I guess I'm in the minority there. For Spa I think my first event there will be WEC rather than 24 just for the civility.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by kevin993

I wonder if this is unique to Spa but seems that way to me. We were there for the F1 race last year and encountered the same thing, but have never had anything like the degree of blockage at any other tracks. Too bad.

I would add, that despite the window issue. Spa is a great place for photography. The Kemmel, Bruxelles and the way down the hill are just some of the places you can simply photograph without fence obstruction. And as annoying as the people are sat at the windows on race day, at least the circuit has them, and furthermore they don't have stupid extra rails on the spectator side, so you can get up to the fence, which in many places has been stretched by someone so if you look you can actually find a lot of holes to stick a camera lens through

[Mountain Man]

One thing does make me sad. There used to be a fries stand on the roundabout at La Source entrance, they were excellent fries and open late, he's not been there the last couple of years.

[airbusA346]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Both under observation but without life-threatening injuries, there was an SRO press release around lunch on Sunday. Meyrick was even answering well-wishers on Twitter last night (presumably from the hospital bed).

Seb Morris also put a photo on Twitter from when he visited Andy in hospital.

[GregUK]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

I somewhat disagree on the rules bit although they need to sort the FCY then Safety car thing out.

The drivers seem to like it - they get a chance to put heat into the tyres before the race goes green.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by GregUK

The drivers seem to like it - they get a chance to put heat into the tyres before the race goes green.

If they do it, they should bunch the whole field. Because they did for a short period, only half the period got behind the safety car

[Miguel]

I still have no words for what I saw last weekend. Walkenhorst winning the Spa 24 Hours and doing it with a perfect race. I checked, it really is the same team.

Not surprised by Christian Krognes' performance, though, he's been VLN's best-kept secret for years. This win wasn't a fluke.

Here are a couple of interviews with the winners. Christian will come later.

Eng: https://www.gt-report.com/2018/07/30...ith-a-pro-car/

Blomqvist: https://www.gt-report.com/2018/07/31...ught-we-would/

[Ad.]

First of all I would like to thank all who helped with my multiple questions on the event, especially Mountain Man and Anyopenroad. You guys were right, it was really intensive and took lots of physical strength to get around the track (compared to Bathurst, where I could drive to most parts of the track).

My fiancée and I stayed around the Paddock and Eau Rouge most of the time (The walk between the parking lot and the track alone already drew most of our energy lol and we had done that several times during the weekend) We found those places extremely chill and relaxing, and the slight of 60 GT3s flying pass is definitely something that will stay in our mind for a long time.

We made good use of the new temp. grandstand at the inside of Eau Rouge at both the start and finish of the 24 hours. The grandstand was never full and very well shielded from the sun, making it a great place for a prolonged stay.

The race itself was interesting, with every FCY followed by the SC (Why?) messing up the order every single time. I was actually rooting for the McLaren or Aston Martin to take a surprise win as the last Spa 24 hours of their 650S and V12 Vantage respectively, but BMW came out on top - the M6 seems to be very optimised for Spa.

Overall it was a pleasant experience, I just hoped we were able to see more of the different parts of the track!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Ad.

First of all I would like to thank all who helped with my multiple questions on the event, especially Mountain Man and Anyopenroad. You guys were right, it was really intensive and took lots of physical strength to get around the track (compared to Bathurst, where I could drive to most parts of the track).

My fiancée and I stayed around the Paddock and Eau Rouge most of the time (The walk between the parking lot and the track alone already drew most of our energy lol and we had done that several times during the weekend) We found those places extremely chill and relaxing, and the slight of 60 GT3s flying pass is definitely something that will stay in our mind for a long time.

We made good use of the new temp. grandstand at the inside of Eau Rouge at both the start and finish of the 24 hours. The grandstand was never full and very well shielded from the sun, making it a great place for a prolonged stay.

The race itself was interesting, with every FCY followed by the SC (Why?) messing up the order every single time. I was actually rooting for the McLaren or Aston Martin to take a surprise win as the last Spa 24 hours of their 650S and V12 Vantage respectively, but BMW came out on top - the M6 seems to be very optimised for Spa.

Overall it was a pleasant experience, I just hoped we were able to see more of the different parts of the track!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad to have helped.

I agree about that grandstand, in the heat it was a really good spot (and I noticed on the Sunday that the actual seats were behind the grandstand and hadn't been fitted yet!!!)

[MaskedRacer]

I can't have a Blancpain GT race without John Watson. Love the guy. Bob Varsha was a nice addition too.

[MaskedRacer]

Great race to watch. Sounds like the night was crazy though. Stabilized during the day. Had a feeling going as far back as 7 hours to go that one of the BMW M6s would take it. The car is very good Spa winner twice now. Won GTLM at Petit Le Mans last year too.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

The pit walk when it was dark on Thursday was a particular highlight

Agree on that, although...
* it was cut short. About 30 minutes instead of the planned 60.
* it was actually nice to have it in the dark instead of the planned moment
* all cars in park-fermé conditions removed a bit of fun. All were lined up in exactly the same way, and with the 'parc fermé' on their roofs.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

For Spa I think my first event there will be WEC rather than 24 just for the civility.

European Le Mans Series in september?
I think I will be going.

AFAIK it was free entrance last year. Not THAT important for me personally, but it becomes important if I take my brother and his two kids with me.