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Circuit National de Francorchamps | Address: | Route du Circuit, 55
B-4970 Francochamps
Belgium | | | | Telephone: | (+32) 87 27 51 38 | | | | Fax: | (+32) 87 27 52 96 | | | | Country: | Belgium  |
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| History: | | 1920 - | Early in 1920, nothing, it seemed, was to disturb the usual quietness in the peaceful village of Francorchamps, perched on a hill very close to the Moors. While enjoying an ideal spot in these green Ardennes, the track stretched in a hilly landscape but was also made of numerous straight portions, particularly suitable to achieve high speeds. Moreover, being close to Spa, already famous on the international scale for its hydrotherapy, and where some car races had been popular for a few years, this track seemed to have a lot of assets to be successful. Therefore, a race was already scheduled for the following year. Nothing, except that, on a beautiful summer day, while settled at the Htel des Bruyres, two people well-know in the car racing world, the one being Jules de Thier, Manager of the newspaper `La Meuse`, and the other, Henri Langlois Van Ophem, Chairman of the Sports Commission at the RACB (Royal Automobile Club Belgium), had the idea of taking advantage of the triangle drawn by the roads connecting Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps to make a racing track of it. | | 1921 - | Prepared for August 1921, that race for cars could unfortunately not take place, due to a lack of representation. Indeed, although everything was ready, only one competitor was registered on the entry form. | | 1922 - | Eventually, the track was inaugurated by the motorcyclists, while the motorists started in 1922. | | 1924 - | The first organisation of the famous 24 Hours of Francorchamps. | | 1925 - | The first real big international race for single-seaters, the European Grand Prix, was run in 1925. Seven cars took part in this event which saw the victory of the famous Alfa Romeo driver, Antonio Ascari. | | 1939 - | But something new occurred in 1939 : Francorchamps was getting an artificial curve, unique in its kind : the " raidillon " or steep rise. That obstacle, intended to be passed at a very high speed, was a forerunner of the orientation its manager wanted to give to the track : to make it one the fastest tracks in Europe, contrasting sharply that way with its German neighbour of The Eifel, which was very spectacular too but much more tortuous and therefore one of the slowest. | | 1940 - | World War II was going to interrupt the life of the track for seven long years during which that part of the Ardennes was little spared. | | 1947 - | 1947 saw the sports activities resume in the area around L`Eau Rouge. Once again, the prestigious races were in the spotlight : Motorcycles and Cars Grand Prix, to which were occasionally added the 24 Hours of the Racb, before they resumed annually from 1964. Later on, other organisations completed that programme. So, in the late fifties, the RAC from Spa organized its Grand Prix of Spa, then, in the early sewenties, the junior RAC, its 24 Hours motorcycles. | | 1970 - | If everything seemed to develop properly, that situation would, however, only last until until 1970, when, for the last time, the Formula I Grand Prix took place along the fourteen-kilometre-long track. Due to the claims formulated through the sixties, a certain amount of Grand Prix drivers did not want to run in Francorchamps any longer for security reasons, which were quite difficult to solve for the Intercommunale Managers. The tune was however given. Because, even if the other races usually scheduled still took place, it was getting obvious that along its fourteen kilometres, the track had become very dangerous considering the increased performance of the cars and the few possibilities left to adapt the surroundings as it was the case when new tracks were built. | | 1979 - | The end of the big Francorchamps was close. They were bound to react if they wanted to preserve the track and create one which took better into account the safety measures claimed by the Grand Prix drivers. More technical, winding and equipped with clearance areas, the new track kept the major part of the element which made it famous while combining improved safety for the pilots and new appeal for the spectators. So, after different plans aimed at preserving the main characteristics of the track while eliminating some high risk areas (essentially the part included between Les Combes and Blanchimont), a track was eventually chosen and the works could start. The seven-kilometre-long track was inaugurated in 1979. | | 1983 - | Thanks to the new track, the Belgian Formula I Grand Prix would quickly come back to Francorchamps. That race was a major event which would pave the way for many others, with less media coverage, but which contributed to make Francorchamps more dynamics, to diversify its kind of activities and to put it at the forefront of the international stage. |
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Le Circuit national de Francorchamps, or as it's more commonly known, Spa-Francorchamps, is one of the worlds most famous, historical, and scenic race tracks ever built. In the early 1920's tourist developers in the Spa region were looking for a new way to promote their region, they decided to make a race track by linking the public roads between Spa, Stavelot, Francorchamps, and Malmedy to creat a 15 kilometer triangular shaped race track that wound it's way through the the foothills of the Ardenne mountains. The first race, scheduled for 1921 only drew one entrant. The organizers would not be disappointed so they pushed and a motorcycle race was organized and run the following year, to be followed by an automobile race later in the year.
By the end of the 1920's the circuit was gaining in fame as more and more international races were being held gaining in prestige. The track layout changed marginally throughout the 1930's, culminating in the development of the modern "Eau Rouge" corner for the 1939 belgian Grand Prix, a race that saw the tragic death of racer Dick Seaman, this was the last race held at Spa for eight years due to World War II before racing returned in 1947.
When the world drivers championship was inaugurated in 1950 Spa was a natural inclusion as the 14.5 Kilometer circuit graced the calendar in 1950, joining the Monaco, Bremgarten, Silverstone, Rheims, Indianapolis and Monza on the first Grand Prix calendar. The race was won by Fangio as Spa earned a right to be a permanent member of the World Championship.
The Circuit was impressive, starting on the downslope going into the high speed uphill Eau Rouge before winding it's way through the mountains to Les Combes, where it took a left hand sweep downhill towards the high speed Burneville and Malmedy right handers leading onto the long Masta straight, interrupted only by the masta kink chicane. After the long straight the Sweeping High Speed Stavelot curve that led onto a high speed section that swept it's way uphill through the lightning-quick Carriere and Blanchimont curves leading to "La Source" a hairpin at the top of the hill and end of the lap before plunging back downhill to start another 14 kilometer adventure through the pine forests. An ultimate drivers challenge, Spa and the Nurburgring tested early F1 stars mettle and their right to be called "World Champion"
By the late 60's F1 cars were reaching higher speeds and safety concerns arose. After Jim Clark's tragic death at Hockenheim in 1968 a new safety revolution began. One of the first on the chopping blocks was the high speed Spa-Francorchamps, which was excluded from the 1969 Calendar. It was reinstated for 1970 before the old circuit was finally axed for good. The Belgian GP moved to the uninspiring Nivelles and Zolder Circuits. It appeared that F1 at Spa was gone for good.
However a resurrection began. A new, modern circuit was built in the late 70's encompassing some of the most famous turns of the old circuit including "La Source", "Eau Rouge", and "Blanchimont". The weaving and winding circuit made it's way through the valley of the Ardennes, now being half the length of the old track. The old track was closed in 1978 and the first races at the new Spa were held in 1979. F1 started to take notice, and after Gilles Villeneuve's fatal crash at Zolder in 1982, it was announced that Spa would host the race in 1983, and Zolder again in 1984. The 1983 race was a success and after the race had moved back to Zolder in '84, the drivers realized that "once you go to Spa, you can never go back. The 1985 race was disastrous as it had to be postponed due to the pavement breaking up. ".
Despite the problems of the 1985 event, Spa-Francorchamps was given a permanent home on the Formula One calendar. The new track, although slightly slower than the old one, has become one of Formula One's classics. Very few changes to the layout have been made, except for a mickey-mouse temporary chicane at Eau-Rouge in 1994, Spa now has one of the most dramatic first corners with the very slow and tight "La Source" hairpin.
Despite the loss of the race in 2003 due to tobacco sponsorship issues, Spa has been returned, and if the drivers and fans have any say, it'll be on the calendar for as long as possible. Le Circuit National de Francorchamps, one of the World's great modern circuits, that replaced one of the world's great classic circuits.
Statistics
| Seasons: | 41 (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) | | |
Created by: system
last modification: Monday 14 of August, 2006 [19:33:00 UTC] by senor_soup
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