44th Belgium Grand
Prix
Ferrari should keep
the wolves from the door.
Spa - Francorchamps
August 24th 1997
"It’s a circuit
that the drivers love because it enables them to
demonstrate their abilities very effectively." Ken
Tyrrell, Tyrrell Racing Organisation
"There is no
other corner in the world like Eau Rouge ... no
matter how many times you drive it, you always get
that tingle of pleasure that is part of what motor
racing is all about." Ferrari driver,
Michael Schumacher
The circuit at Spa is
thought by many drivers to be the finest in the F1
calendar. ‘A drivers circuit’ they say, a
track to make you feel like a real racer. Consisting
partly of public road and purpose built track, it was
the inspiration of one Jules de Their who
mapped out the original 14.08Km course on the country
roads that run through the hills and thick woods of
the Ardennes in 1924.
Stewart Technical
director Alan Jenkins waxed lyrical about Spa
recently. "You could call Spa the fastest
street track in the world. Spa has an atmosphere, a
feel all of its own: It’s one of those great
motor racing places where the history is engraved on
the tarmac and in the whole surroundings. In a sense,
there would be even greater satisfaction to being
competitive at Spa than anywhere else, precisely
because of the stresses such a great circuit places
not only on the aerodynamics and engineering of the
car but on the skills of the driver."
Its History has been
incident filled and not without tragedy. Stefan
Bellof the World Sports car champion was killed
in 1984 at the Spa 1000 after bottoming out at Eau
Rouge, probably the most demanding piece of track
anywhere on the current F1 calendar. Serious injuries
for Stirling Moss and the deaths of two
Drivers in the same Grand prix sounded the death
knell for the old circuit and like the Nurburgring,
it fell out of favour. The last Grand Prix on the old
circuit was in 1970. Three further fatal casualties
during the 24 Hr endurance race in 1973, have added
to Spa’s awesome reputation as a circuit that
does not suffer fools gladly.
After short stints at
both Nivelles, near Brussels and Zolder,
racing recommenced there in 1983 after extensive
modernisation and the addition of a new section
bridging the old course at Malmedy and Stavelot,
drastically shortening the track to 6.96Km. Spa has
been the regular home to F1 since 1985.
The Ardennes area is
notorious for its fickle weather and as the clouds
sweep through the valleys of these verdant hills,
across the town of Spa to the north, the circuit can
change to a lake in the time it takes to do a lap.
The race last year saw
the championship gap narrow as Jacques Villeneuve took
second place to Michael Schumacher and, Damon
Hill driving the spar car, finish in 5th place
after bungled radio communications forced him to
abort his pit stop during a ‘yellow flag’
incident involving Jos Verstappen’s TWR
Arrows. Hill was forced to weave his way back out
onto the circuit through the bollards and pit a lap
later forcing him down to 13th position behind the
gaggle of cars following the pace car. Schumacher
scraped past Villeneuve as the Canadian was exiting
the pit-lane after his final stop and went on to take
the all important ten points from Villeneuve so
lessening the severity of Hill’s points deficit.
The McLarens did well
also with David Coulthard making one of his
usual quick getaways and briefly leading the race
during the pit stops. He went off 5 laps from the end
leaving his team mate Mika Hakinnen to take
third place.
Ferrari has the
best Belgium Grand Prix record, having won the
race nine times and in the heady days of 1961 when
more than two cars were permitted to compete, they
took a definitive 1, 2, 3, 4, Phil Hill
winning from pole position ahead of Wolfgang Von
Trips. In recent years with the ‘Schumacher
factor’, the statistics become even further
entwined. 1991 saw the German drive his first ever
Grand Prix, when Eddie Jordan called him in
desperation at his home in Karpen, Germany, only 75
miles to the South. Jordan’s regular driver, Bertrand
Gachot, had just been arrested for spraying mace
into the face of a London cabby that he had taken a
dislike to. The following year he took his first ever
GP win in a Benetton-Ford. Amid all the knee
jerk reactions and rulings that the FIA passed In
1994, the year that Ayrton Senna died,
Schumacher won the race again but was disqualified
for undue wear on the ‘plank’ that all cars
were forced to wear beneath the chassis to reduce
‘ground effect’. With the reliability and
turn of power that Ferrari have been exhibiting this
year, fortune could fall to the Scuderia yet
again.
After Hill’s
fantastic showing at the Hungaroring recently,
it will of necessity, be back to reality for the TWR
team. With down force at a minimum and speed and
perfect balance a priority, The underpowered Arrows
Yamaha will be totally out of its depth, but no
doubt the re-found experience of a podium finish and
the recently announced pregnancy of wife Georgie,
could spur Hill on to give us a great performance, if
not a winning one.
The Jordan
Peugeot’s always do well where there are
long periods of time spent at full throttle and high
engine speed. Current wunderkind Giancarlo
Fisichella having only raced in the ITC
championships at the circuit said. "I think
Spa is possibly the best circuit in the world. It
made a big impression on me when I raced for Peugeot
earlier this year. Eau Rouge and Raidillon must be
two of the most difficult corners made even harder by
the very long straight which follows them." Team
mate Ralf Schumacher said of Spa, "I
hope not to be disappointed when I race at Spa in
Formula 1, but I think I will feel more comfortable
than I did in the GTI AMG Mercedes last year, because
I will be driving levels of downforce and speed which
I am more used to." Lets hope so too for Eddie
Jordan’s sake.
If it rains - and
there is statistically a fifty percent chance - then
the race could be anybody’s. Jacques
Villeneuve is now knocking on the door of Schumacher’s
slender lead and bar any stupid pit errors, he could
give the Ferrari a close run battle. However,
with the second ‘light’ chassis prepared
for the current leader, Ferrari seem to have
the advantage. This is Schumacher’s
‘chosen’ circuit and ‘home’ race
after all. "We should be competitive in our
Ferraris." He said this week, "...
and my brother Ralf, will gain a special experience
on a great track."
There are more
overtaking places than other circuits, so the
bravehearts that take their bottle to the limit at Spa-Francorchamps,
will surely get the glory. There is never a dull race
at Spa but it is inevitable that with such a power
circuit, the wolves that run at the head of the pack
have the greatest chance of catching their prey.
Chris Richardson
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