Memories of Spa-Francorchamps

Cars

Allow us to indulge ourselves here for a moment. A few years ago we were lucky enough to drive round Spa Francorchamps in a Ferrari 430 Spider.

You can read the full story in our digital edition number 3.

But it’s when the world tips into autumn that the experience edges most strongly into the memory, especially the sweeping, grippy corners of Pouhon and Stavelot.

There are the huge rises and falls that fail to come across on the telly, especially of course, the adrenalin infused madness of Eau Rouge. The annoying thing was that there were bollards in the well at the bottom of the hill the day we turned up at the circuit – so we had to pootle through the crux and boot it up the hill.

It’s a ridiculously steep climb in the flesh – and we can only image what if feels like at 190 MPH.

The car was pretty special – but it was the context that made those rain-sodden hours at the wheel truly memorable.

Nice Ferrari-produced video with Alonso and John Surtees sketches out the myth in romance in greater detail.

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