The Belgium Grand Prix

Belgium, home of beer, Herge (the creator of Tintin), and moules frites. Surely, you think there should be more, but as a colleague of mine who lived in Brussels for 4 years said, it is a hole, but I'm sure that was just a comment on Brussels, not Belugim on the whole.

Having always wanted to get to a Grand Prix at some stage, and knowing my friend Zac (the Zac) to be a huge F1 fan as well, we decided to travel somewhere to see a GP. For a variety of long forgotten reasons Belgium was chosen and Scott joined to make the team a trio for the trek to Spa-Francochamps.

We took the Eurostar across to Brussels - it is the way to go if it serves your destination rather than flying. Scott started how he meant to continue and had a kip on board. Friday night was the Belgium Beer Festival in the main square. We partook in a number of different beers, including a Chimay Brunne and a Tremens (supposedly the best beer in the world). However an early start was required the next morning so we turned in just after midnight.

Early start with a 7.30am bus to the track, Scott and Zac caught up on some sleep. We caught the tail end of the Porsche Super Cup, and then our first taste of the power and noise of the F1 cars for the final practice. The noise was incredible, so much so that my ears were still sore on the Monday after the Grand Prix, despite the ear plugs. Our seats were pretty good, we could see the exit from the first corner, all the way through some S-bends (taken flat out) and up the hill. The speed of the cars is amazing as in the distance of about 800m they go from near 50km/h to around 300 km/h. Just incredible.

In between F1 practice and qualifying, we went and looked around the F1 paddock, with heaps of merchandising and competitions going on. A lot of the teams had some of their last year's cars displayed which was nice to see. We then went for a walk through the middle of the track and ended up in the General Admission area. As it was mainly perched on the side of a hill, when the rain started we were glad to be in a covered stand. With some time up our sleeves we continued up the hill to walk all the way round the track. It was a long way but really interesting to see all the different groups of fans and nationalities (our stand was mainly Ferrari fans with some McLaren's). Saw a camping site and it looked like a pretty rough experience, but fun at the same time.

Got back in time for qualifying and then caught the bus back to town. Sat night in Brussels was pretty average, with not much going on.

Sunday

An even earlier start for the main event, so more sleeping on the bus. Weather was variable with rain in the air. Plenty of frites consumed as the temperature was cold.

The race itself was very exciting, with the wet track creating plenty of fun, and it bucketed down in the last 5 laps, causing carnage and controversy. Lewis Hamilton won on the day, but was later demoted due to a dodgy passing manevoure.

At the chequered flag, we rushed down onto the track and ran around the hairpin and up the home straight in time to see the victory ceremony and all the crashed cars being towed back from their resting places. Super atmosphere on pit straight.

The bus back to town was really slow, taking twice as long as the previous day! That night we went out and had a great tasting tray of beers. But atmosphere was lacking a little late on a Sunday night in Brussels.

Monday
With the morning and early afternoon free, we did a bit of sightseeing and eating of waffles. Then back on the Eurostar to London. Overall a great experience, but next time I think that another F1 track/country might be in order!