This track was part of Grand Prix Legends by Papyrus. The lap record of the old triangle-shaped track is held by the French driver Henri Pescarolo, at an average speed of 262 km/h (163 mph). Here, the new short Grand Prix track of 1979 joins the old layout.ġ8 Formula 1 World Championship Grands Prix were run on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit's original configuration, which was boycotted by F1 in 1968, before the revised circuit banished it to the history books in the late 70s. Another fast section of road in the forest leads to Blanchimont. Mass arrived there expecting to see bits of car all over the road but was appalled to discover it was in fact bits of a marshal.Īfter Masta, and at the end of the subsequent Holowell Straight, there used to be a sharp hairpin at the entrance to the town itself, which was later bypassed by a quicker, banked right hand corner. During one of his pitstops at night, Hans-Joachim Stuck shouted to his co-driver Jochen Mass over the noise that he should "look out for body parts at the Masta Kink". Jackie Stewart's crusade to improve safety in racing was set in motion by his crash there in 1966, when his BRM ended upsidedown in the cellar of the farmhouse on the outside of the corner, with fuel gushing out of the tank onto Stewart, who had broken ribs to add to his misery.Īnother particularly gruesome story comes from the 1972 24 hour touring car race during which three drivers were killed. That Masta was lost to F1 racing after the 1970 race was partly its own fault. After a long run from Malmedy, the cars would reach top speed before having to negotiate Masta, a high speed left-right chicane, and a good exit speed was vital as it is followed by another long straight run to Stavelot. The Masta Kink was one of the most fearsome sections on any race track in the world, requiring skill and bravery in equal measure to get it right. Near Malmedy, the Masta straight begins, which is only interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farm houses before arriving at the town of Stavelot. The old race track continued after Les Combes towards Burnenville, passing this village in a fast right hand sweep. At Eau Rouge, southbound traffic was allowed to use the famous uphill corner, while the opposite downhill traffic had to use the old road and U-turn behind the grand stands, rejoining the race track at the bottom of Eau Rouge. Until 2000, it was possible to travel over the race track when it was still a public road. The Belgian Grand Prix was held at Spa-Francorchamps for the first time in 1924.īack then, the Belgians took pride in having a very fast circuit, and to improve average speeds, the former slow uphill U-turn at the bottom of the Eau Rouge creek valley, called the Ancienne Douane, was cut short with a faster sweep straight up the hill, called the Raidillon. Designed by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the original 15 km (9.3 mile) triangle-shaped course used public roads between the Belgian towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.
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