Old Spa Francorchamps Full Lap with Abandoned Sections

Old Spa Francorchamps Full Lap with Abandoned Sections

In this Circuits of the past video Herman shows you a lap at old Spa-Francorchamps, with some abandoned and forgotten sections.

We start on the original Start/Finish straight. Because this one was too steep, they moved the Start/Finish for the returned Formula 1 Grand Prix to the straight before La Source in 1983.

Before 1939 they turned left after the start, to the ‘l Ancienne Douane Hairpin. The name of this left-hander may sound familiar, this is the Eau Rouge, named after the brook that flows here underneath the track.

The old loop was actually a detour on the public road to make the slope less steep. Untill 2000 it was still in use as public road. But since Spa-Francorchamps became a permanent circuit, it is an abandoned section of the original layout of the track.

In 1939 this section was cut off by a new artificial corner, to make the circuit even faster. Because the new corner was very steep they called it the Raidillon. Raidillon comes from “raide”, which is the French word for steep. Raidillon actually means steep path of steep road.

Today most people call the Raidillon incorrectly Eau Rouge, which is actually the old pre 1939 left-hander. More about this name confusion in the video "Eau Rouge or Raidillon?": https://youtu.be/r6MuKmX_A5o

After the Raidillon follows the Kemmel section. Today we know Kemmel as a straight, but original this was a series of fast kinks. It was straightened in 1979 with the contruction of the new circuit.

At Les Combes we leave the current circuit and follow the public road. This is the original Les Combes section. Not a chicane, but a fast left-hander at the highest point of the track.

a little further we pass the remains of the old Malmedy Chicane.

The Malmedy Chicane was mainly used in the pre-war version of the track. First from 1921 to 1929. Than from 1934 to 1939. After World War Two the chicane was initially not used anymore, because of the trend to make the circuit faster.

But when safety became an issue, the Malmedy Chicane was reused again in 1970 for certain race classes like the last Formula One Grand Prix at old Spa-Francorchamps.

The most feared corner of old Spa-Francorchamps was the Masta Kink. Actually it was a left-right combination, which was almost full throttle. Some drivers even claimed they didn’t lift for the Masta Kink.

Next to the Masta Kink is an old chicane, which was built for the 1975 edition of the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps. It should be a safer alternative for the fast kinks.

However, after some test drives they came to the conclusion that the new chicane was even more dangerous than the original corners. So the Masta Chicane was never used for its purpose. Today it is a parking along the public road.

In 1947 this new banked was built to replace the old Stavelot Corner, to make old Spa-Francorchamps even faster.

The Stavelot Corner was named after the nearby city of Stavelot. Today you find here in the Abbey the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit Museum, with a great collection of classic racing cars and motorcycles that raced at old Spa-Francorchamps.

A little more about the history of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The First time the old Spa-Francorchamps street circuit was used was in 1922. The 8.75 Miles long circuit through the Belgian Ardennes was very fast. And that was exactely what the circuit bosses want.

To make it even faster they built two artificial corners in the street circuit, the Raidillon (1939) and the banked Stavelot Corner (1947).

The old Spa-Francorchamps Circuit hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix 18 times in the periode from 1950 to 1970.

But as people started to think more about safety, the fast street circuit became increasingly criticized. After the 1970 Grand Prix, Formula One shunned old Spa-Francorchamps and moved to Zolder and Nivelles.

Check also my viseos from the abandoned Nivelles Circuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmTLMRJ1dQ&list=PL2AB8E62D0DD6CA0C

In 1979 the new Spa-Francorchamps circuit opened. It contained a part of the old circuit, and a new connection.

More about the history of old Spa-Francorchamps on the website:
https://www.circuitsofthepast.com/spa-francorchamps-circuit/ (English)
https://www.circuitsofthepast.nl/circuit-spa-francorchamps-geschiedenis/ (Nederlands)

Special thanks to Simon Smith for the voiceover. Check also his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/HigherPlainGames

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Видео Old Spa Francorchamps Full Lap with Abandoned Sections канала Circuits of the past