Spa-Francorchamps has always been my favourite race track in the world and my trip there last weekend for the World Endurance Championship only cemented that fact.
Like no other track I’ve been to, Spa offers rally-like views for the fans and the general admission at the WEC meant you could stand (or sit) just about anywhere you wanted around the 7 km track.
Eau Rouge is talked about more than any other corner in the world, but anyone who has stood at the bottom of it looking up to Raidillon will know that the hype around that corner is truly justified.
While I was there, I was lucky enough to experience the roller coaster of Eau Rouge myself when I was driven around the circuit by WEC driver Fred Mako in a Porsche 911 GT3 (it’s bloody quick) for an unforgettable ride.
We started the lap in the old pitlane, so it wasn’t until we reached the start-finish straight (after my stomach had already been tied in knots) that I got to experience just what a race driver sees when faced with the daunting up-hill climb ahead of them.
I did my best to stay quiet to film my experience but to no avail, the corner battered me like I could never have imagined and if that wasn’t enough we then headed down the Kemmel Straight reaching 240 kph before braking heavily into Les Combes.
So once we’d finished the lap, Fred went back to prepare for a qualifying session while I felt like I needed to go and have a lie down. I have no idea how racing drivers do it that for hours on end, I was broken in under five minutes.
Thanks to Porsche GB and Fred Mako for a truly unforgettable experience!