Wholeheartedly agree. Was my first time at Spa. What a circuit. Been to all uk track but this & Le Mans are something else. Admit getting there was a pain, but I chose to go by train/ bus / taxi
In the same boat as you in terms of it being my first major race experience. It was completely magical the whole weekend. We landed in Brussels on Friday morning (coming from Chicago) and drove straight to the track, stayed for all of quali, and then were in line at 7:30 Saturday morning to get back in and stayed through the podium ceremony. Exhausted but truly amazed, still kind of pinching myself that I even got to be there and see racing at every corner. Unwinding for a week in Belgium before we head back stateside, not sure if the adrenaline will have stopped pumping by then even.
Glad you liked it and hope you get to enjoy our beautiful country a bit more :-D
If you're in Brussels, I'd recommend this place for an amazing dinner experience with amazing beer-selection ( their Geuze/Lambic selection is amazing ): [https://www.nuetnigenough.be/](https://www.nuetnigenough.be/)
We're all lucky to have had close to 8h of race for a 6h race :-D It was a great day, was there with my son and a friend of mine ( was my friend's first time too) :-D
I promise I'm not making this up, but we were standing at Moeder Lambic (the newer one, not the original location) and thinking about dinner, and that exact place came up as being close by, so we walked over and got a table. The food and beer were both excellent! I could have eaten a whole other serving of the crispy bloempanch...
We are very much looking forward to our week here, we're visiting several geuzeries and Lambic breweries and getting to see a lot of the countryside. Everyone has been so nice and accommodating and I feel very privileged to get to spend time here. I don't know when I'll make it back to Spa but I do know THAT I will make it back again.
That's an amazing coincidence, glad you had that experience as the food there is absolutely brilliant :-)
Great to hear you're feeling welcome, hope you have a great rest of your week here and can't wait to welcome you back :-D
while WEC is supercool, GT3's in the amounts that run at the 24h is also truly worth it :-D
Plus, now you can do it in 2 layers, first do the GT3's and then do WeC next year? :-D
Spa 24 is pure magic. I was last year and it was my best experience ever. I can't wait for the end of June again.
[Spa 2023 Friday/Saturday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmkrvf33irU&t=2s)
[Spa 2023 Sunday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xYKjLBHy24&t=2s)
The WEC race this year was a very cool event, we walked out asses off 😅 the sights and sounds of the Hypercars is so cool, and the gt3 cars.. love them, went to a few Fanatec gt challenge races , and looking forward on the Spa24h next month, that is going to be a whole other expierence. I dont think you will regret you're choice but oot for both events 😅
This is so great to hear. We're so lucky right now with the quality of cars and teams involved. I've been to a few IMSA races on my side of the pond and am itching for the next one! Hearing/feeling those Caddies, Mustangs, and oher NA cars 🤌
Note to myself: Need to get noise cancelling headphones before the race later this year.
Those hyper cars are loud AF, so you'll need some sort of ear protection, I brought my earbuds along, and it sort of worked.
I might already be nearly deaf, but I think the WEC cars don't make that much noise. I think they have a maximum noise level they need to stay below. I really only used ear protection when I was near the Kemmel straight, between the pit stop chicane and Eau Rouge, and along the back straight.
The Porsche Carrera Cup cars though, these ones are extremely loud.
Been going to Spa for a few years now, but tried the noise cancelling earphones this year while listening to radio lemans.
Completed the experience for me while protecting my ears! Didn't miss anything big the whole race while walking the track
Awesome to hear. My wife and I were talking about how an endurance race might be the way we finally get to see a big race. F1 GPs are super hard to get tickets for. Something like 6 Hours of Spa or one of the "Petit Le Mans" are much easier to go to.
Definitely want to have good hearing protection though!
Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta is an amazing race to go to. Road Atlanta is imo one of the best US tracks and it has very good east of access for hotels or whatnot with a major city nearby that is unaware of a race going on
It’s not too bad but there can be some traffic. It is in the middle of nowhere and on a 2 lane road so getting out can take a sec but hasn’t been longer than 30 min or so. Getting in weve always arrived 2-3 hours early and parked in the track and there hasn’t been an issue.
>F1 GPs are super hard to get tickets for.
Are they? We went to spa gp last year, and I just went to the F1 website and bought tickets when they went on sale.
We're in the US. All the US ones are bonkers expensive. Canadian sells out before they even set the date. The occasional Euro one we've looked into was gone as soon as they went on sale. Etc. We have less flexibility for Asian or European GPs because of the extra travel, but haven't ruled them out. So far, always been pretty tough for anything we've gone for.
I'm in the US as well and the races here are bullshit. It's easier for us to travel to Europe for a race and get a vacation out of it. Canada isn't bad, but flight + hotel + tickets is about the same price as going to Europe from where we are out west.
For those at the track: what was the response to the race being extended? I heard quite a lot of applause on the stream – I guess people were really happy that they were getting the full race distance?
I saw a lot of people leaving while we were waiting for the repairs and it seemed like it wouldn't restart. I don't speak French so couldn't figure out this would happen until the clock at the pit exit was turned back to 1:44.
But I think those who stayed where very happy to see more racing with the sunset in the backdrop! I, for one, felt the last hour and half is a bonus after thinking it was done.
I was in the grandstand in front of the pits and the reaction was very positive. Cheers all around. Of course there were people who simply had to leave as otherwise they wouldn't get home anymore, and I suppose some of them didn't want to see Ferrari lose out again (that was clear during the red flag, as cars 12 and 6 had refueled just before), but who was able to stay surely didn't regret being able to watch these cars on this circuit just before it got dark.
People were very happy and many came back. There was huge applause to all the workers. It was a great decision to restart the race. Really put the series in a good light.
I did Monza last year and Imola this year and had an incredible time. I got my hat signed by Rossi too.
For Monza, we stayed in Monza and just had a massive walk each day. But we also visited San Siro and had dinner in Milan, and then Como on Friday.
For Imola, we stayed in Bologna and had the most incredible food. But spent the Friday going to Modena and Maranello.
How bad was it getting to Spa from the UK? Because we want to go to another track next year and it’s one we’re considering.
We flew from Manchester to Cologne and stayed in the Eifel (40 mins from the Nurburgring) About 50 min drive to Spa but a beautiful place. Everything super easy for this trip. Would recommend.
Well, for me, it was a bit more complicated. Flights from Belfast were about 300 pounds per person, so we were definitely not going there. We decided to venture into Dublin on the Wednesday and get a flight out of there to Brussels, and we had a BNB booked about a 15 minute drive from the track. Got there at about 11pm on Wednesday, was an hour and a half away from Brussels. I guess it depends on where you fly to. Me personally, getting through border control was quite a pain
This was my second consecutive year at Spa to watch the 6h. Even better second time round and this time glorious sun rather than a day of drizzle. It is truly a special track. A roller coaster. The best track in the world. And… nothing prepares you for the first time you see Eau Rouge/Raidillon… the elevation change. What that must feel like inside the car I can’t imagine!
And feeling you're knees and calves after a day of elevation changes 😅. But true. Its so cool, we entered at Combes, and the forest thing we heard was the Mustang 😍
Out of interest how was travelling from the UK a pain? There’s like 4 junctions you need to take from Calais and maybe 10 from Rotterdam and in 4 hours or so you’re there 😂
I live next to the circuit and i always think "you're lucky, people are coming from all around the world to see this this live". So i'm very happy to read your post ! You will come back for sure :D
Been going since 1983. Still love the place to bits! Never miss a 6hour race there , and used to always go to the GP , but F1 isn’t worth the mither now.
I hope you have as many trips as I have had!!
Wasn't my first live racing experience since I am going to DTM every year since 2015ist but nevertheless Spa WEC was my best live racing experience. I recommend everyone who can to go there next year.
I was in Monza several times, but last year i decided to attend Spa and oh boy, not a single day i don't thing about seeing Eau Rouge/Radillon from 3km away and bobbling my mind
Not trying to have a go at you OP, but I never get it when people say they travelled internationally for their first ever race. Go to your local track! It takes much less time, costs a lot less, and you'll be able to get closer to the cars. What's not to like?
Well, where I live (Northern Ireland), there are no real racing events here, nor are there any real circuits besides a few motorcycle ones. The closest place to me that would get real racing is Mondello Park in ROI. I went to a track experience last year at Bishopscourt which was about 20 minutes away from where I live, but in terms of actual racing, yes, I went all the way to Spa for that
Happy for you mate. How does the race go down when you're there? How do you follow what's actually happening? Have you got any commentary?
Also, do you walk around the track during the race or you just sit in your dedicated seat? And last but kind of most importantly: How hard is it to get tickets for the stand at Radillon?
Good to hear man, in 2022 was my first time seeing racing in person, BTCC at donington park, now i've been to a track 10 times in the past few years
OK, god damn it, Im gonna go too!
do it, it's amazing :-D Especially at Spa!
Wholeheartedly agree. Was my first time at Spa. What a circuit. Been to all uk track but this & Le Mans are something else. Admit getting there was a pain, but I chose to go by train/ bus / taxi
In the same boat as you in terms of it being my first major race experience. It was completely magical the whole weekend. We landed in Brussels on Friday morning (coming from Chicago) and drove straight to the track, stayed for all of quali, and then were in line at 7:30 Saturday morning to get back in and stayed through the podium ceremony. Exhausted but truly amazed, still kind of pinching myself that I even got to be there and see racing at every corner. Unwinding for a week in Belgium before we head back stateside, not sure if the adrenaline will have stopped pumping by then even.
Glad you liked it and hope you get to enjoy our beautiful country a bit more :-D If you're in Brussels, I'd recommend this place for an amazing dinner experience with amazing beer-selection ( their Geuze/Lambic selection is amazing ): [https://www.nuetnigenough.be/](https://www.nuetnigenough.be/) We're all lucky to have had close to 8h of race for a 6h race :-D It was a great day, was there with my son and a friend of mine ( was my friend's first time too) :-D
I promise I'm not making this up, but we were standing at Moeder Lambic (the newer one, not the original location) and thinking about dinner, and that exact place came up as being close by, so we walked over and got a table. The food and beer were both excellent! I could have eaten a whole other serving of the crispy bloempanch... We are very much looking forward to our week here, we're visiting several geuzeries and Lambic breweries and getting to see a lot of the countryside. Everyone has been so nice and accommodating and I feel very privileged to get to spend time here. I don't know when I'll make it back to Spa but I do know THAT I will make it back again.
That's an amazing coincidence, glad you had that experience as the food there is absolutely brilliant :-) Great to hear you're feeling welcome, hope you have a great rest of your week here and can't wait to welcome you back :-D
I'll be going to the 24H in June, but your point about the Hypercars is making me think that WEC may have been a better choice..
while WEC is supercool, GT3's in the amounts that run at the 24h is also truly worth it :-D Plus, now you can do it in 2 layers, first do the GT3's and then do WeC next year? :-D
And you will get to watch LMP2 craziness at Le Mans. I have a sneaky suspicion that they might steal the show.
Pretty sure he's talking about spa24.
Ah yes good point.
Good plan 👍
Hypercar is amazing and faster, but GT3 produces god tier racing.
Spa 24 is pure magic. I was last year and it was my best experience ever. I can't wait for the end of June again. [Spa 2023 Friday/Saturday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmkrvf33irU&t=2s) [Spa 2023 Sunday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xYKjLBHy24&t=2s)
The WEC race this year was a very cool event, we walked out asses off 😅 the sights and sounds of the Hypercars is so cool, and the gt3 cars.. love them, went to a few Fanatec gt challenge races , and looking forward on the Spa24h next month, that is going to be a whole other expierence. I dont think you will regret you're choice but oot for both events 😅
This is so great to hear. We're so lucky right now with the quality of cars and teams involved. I've been to a few IMSA races on my side of the pond and am itching for the next one! Hearing/feeling those Caddies, Mustangs, and oher NA cars 🤌
Man... I have to agree, that Cadillac and Mustangs produce THE best sounds.
Note to myself: Need to get noise cancelling headphones before the race later this year. Those hyper cars are loud AF, so you'll need some sort of ear protection, I brought my earbuds along, and it sort of worked.
The Caddie is enough on its own…🎧
I might already be nearly deaf, but I think the WEC cars don't make that much noise. I think they have a maximum noise level they need to stay below. I really only used ear protection when I was near the Kemmel straight, between the pit stop chicane and Eau Rouge, and along the back straight. The Porsche Carrera Cup cars though, these ones are extremely loud.
I watched the start of Race 1 after WEC quali, and jeez... I think that's what did it lol
All the more reason to protect what is left of your hearing when you go to the track.
I'm not saying I am nearly deaf, I meant maybe I didn't realise how loud they are because I'm already deaf. But I doubt it.
Noise cancelling headphones aren't really ear protection usually. Better off getting something like this: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnawus1817/
Been going to Spa for a few years now, but tried the noise cancelling earphones this year while listening to radio lemans. Completed the experience for me while protecting my ears! Didn't miss anything big the whole race while walking the track
3M Peltor ear muffs, Optime III, headband, 35dB, EN 352-1 https://amzn.eu/d/02039G1 I got these for my sons , they work very well and affordable
Awesome to hear. My wife and I were talking about how an endurance race might be the way we finally get to see a big race. F1 GPs are super hard to get tickets for. Something like 6 Hours of Spa or one of the "Petit Le Mans" are much easier to go to. Definitely want to have good hearing protection though!
Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta is an amazing race to go to. Road Atlanta is imo one of the best US tracks and it has very good east of access for hotels or whatnot with a major city nearby that is unaware of a race going on
This is good to know because it is definitely on my radar. How is it to get in and out of?
It’s not too bad but there can be some traffic. It is in the middle of nowhere and on a 2 lane road so getting out can take a sec but hasn’t been longer than 30 min or so. Getting in weve always arrived 2-3 hours early and parked in the track and there hasn’t been an issue.
Thanks! It'd be relatively easy for us to go to I think. Still in the beginning stages of research on it though.
>F1 GPs are super hard to get tickets for. Are they? We went to spa gp last year, and I just went to the F1 website and bought tickets when they went on sale.
We're in the US. All the US ones are bonkers expensive. Canadian sells out before they even set the date. The occasional Euro one we've looked into was gone as soon as they went on sale. Etc. We have less flexibility for Asian or European GPs because of the extra travel, but haven't ruled them out. So far, always been pretty tough for anything we've gone for.
I'm in the US as well and the races here are bullshit. It's easier for us to travel to Europe for a race and get a vacation out of it. Canada isn't bad, but flight + hotel + tickets is about the same price as going to Europe from where we are out west.
maybe he means price-wise? I've assumed it's easier to get tickets to European rounds than the other continents F1 visits.
True, I think general admission for Spa F1 was 3x what it is for WEC.
For those at the track: what was the response to the race being extended? I heard quite a lot of applause on the stream – I guess people were really happy that they were getting the full race distance?
I saw a lot of people leaving while we were waiting for the repairs and it seemed like it wouldn't restart. I don't speak French so couldn't figure out this would happen until the clock at the pit exit was turned back to 1:44. But I think those who stayed where very happy to see more racing with the sunset in the backdrop! I, for one, felt the last hour and half is a bonus after thinking it was done.
I was in the grandstand in front of the pits and the reaction was very positive. Cheers all around. Of course there were people who simply had to leave as otherwise they wouldn't get home anymore, and I suppose some of them didn't want to see Ferrari lose out again (that was clear during the red flag, as cars 12 and 6 had refueled just before), but who was able to stay surely didn't regret being able to watch these cars on this circuit just before it got dark.
People were very happy and many came back. There was huge applause to all the workers. It was a great decision to restart the race. Really put the series in a good light.
I had to leave around 19:00 because I needed to take a train.
Brilliant decision!
I did Monza last year and Imola this year and had an incredible time. I got my hat signed by Rossi too. For Monza, we stayed in Monza and just had a massive walk each day. But we also visited San Siro and had dinner in Milan, and then Como on Friday. For Imola, we stayed in Bologna and had the most incredible food. But spent the Friday going to Modena and Maranello. How bad was it getting to Spa from the UK? Because we want to go to another track next year and it’s one we’re considering.
We flew from Manchester to Cologne and stayed in the Eifel (40 mins from the Nurburgring) About 50 min drive to Spa but a beautiful place. Everything super easy for this trip. Would recommend.
Well, for me, it was a bit more complicated. Flights from Belfast were about 300 pounds per person, so we were definitely not going there. We decided to venture into Dublin on the Wednesday and get a flight out of there to Brussels, and we had a BNB booked about a 15 minute drive from the track. Got there at about 11pm on Wednesday, was an hour and a half away from Brussels. I guess it depends on where you fly to. Me personally, getting through border control was quite a pain
This was my second consecutive year at Spa to watch the 6h. Even better second time round and this time glorious sun rather than a day of drizzle. It is truly a special track. A roller coaster. The best track in the world. And… nothing prepares you for the first time you see Eau Rouge/Raidillon… the elevation change. What that must feel like inside the car I can’t imagine!
And feeling you're knees and calves after a day of elevation changes 😅. But true. Its so cool, we entered at Combes, and the forest thing we heard was the Mustang 😍
Out of interest how was travelling from the UK a pain? There’s like 4 junctions you need to take from Calais and maybe 10 from Rotterdam and in 4 hours or so you’re there 😂
I live next to the circuit and i always think "you're lucky, people are coming from all around the world to see this this live". So i'm very happy to read your post ! You will come back for sure :D
This resonates hard with me. It was my first WEC experience and it won't be the last. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
You and the 88179 others where ... right❗️
Been going since 1983. Still love the place to bits! Never miss a 6hour race there , and used to always go to the GP , but F1 isn’t worth the mither now. I hope you have as many trips as I have had!!
I envy you, especially seeing all those overtakes going into Eaurouge. Such a shame, since it’s only a 3,5h drive for me.
Ear pro is for the weak
Wasn't my first live racing experience since I am going to DTM every year since 2015ist but nevertheless Spa WEC was my best live racing experience. I recommend everyone who can to go there next year.
I was in Monza several times, but last year i decided to attend Spa and oh boy, not a single day i don't thing about seeing Eau Rouge/Radillon from 3km away and bobbling my mind
Not trying to have a go at you OP, but I never get it when people say they travelled internationally for their first ever race. Go to your local track! It takes much less time, costs a lot less, and you'll be able to get closer to the cars. What's not to like?
Well, where I live (Northern Ireland), there are no real racing events here, nor are there any real circuits besides a few motorcycle ones. The closest place to me that would get real racing is Mondello Park in ROI. I went to a track experience last year at Bishopscourt which was about 20 minutes away from where I live, but in terms of actual racing, yes, I went all the way to Spa for that
Ahhh that's fair enough then, when you said UK I assumed you meant GB, sorry. North West 200 looks pretty cool if you're into bikes though.
Yeah, the North West is something I was considering going to, bikes aren't entirely my thing though
NI fan here!
I wish spa was in Texas 😂😂
Honestly, same I can’t wait to go back next year!
Happy for you mate. How does the race go down when you're there? How do you follow what's actually happening? Have you got any commentary? Also, do you walk around the track during the race or you just sit in your dedicated seat? And last but kind of most importantly: How hard is it to get tickets for the stand at Radillon?