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Published: July 27th 2009
Taking a break
We did a lot of walking at Spa!My last night in Europe was spent in a swanky suite in the Raddison Blu Hotel in Brussels, which Dom and I got for a steal with Europe's cheap Sunday night accommodation rates that allows us to live like Kings - even if it was just for a short time!
Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy much of it - we just slept, and slept, and slept. We had been at Spa for the past day and night, after all!
We took the journey to Belgium by car on Saturday morning for the Spa 24 Hours, taking the underwater EuroTunnel (the underwater Interislander, I like to think) and arriving at Spa Francorchamps just in time for the British Formula 3 race that preceded the main event itself in the late afternoon.
For those of you who've been to Spa, I don't need to tell you a thing, but
what an amazing place! They've literally taken a beautiful, green, hilly New Zealand forest with freshwater streams and wildlife at every turn, and stuck a
big race track in the middle of it.
It hasn't been done as simply and carelessly as I just mentioned either; in fact one of
Eau Rouge at Night
A beautiful sight. the things that really stood out to me was the level of safety in catch fencing, tyre barriers and quick-thinking marshals that complimented that fast, dangerous and exciting 7km that is Spa Francorchamps.
The elevation was incredible, especially at the famous Eau Rouge section, and Dom and I did the race in stints; first trekking around until sunset (spanning the circumference of the place by foot) and finding the best spots to
a) watch and
b) take photos, as well as weaselling our way into the teams paddock with our NZ race licences to take a closer look around!
We then went into the quiet town of Spa for a meal, had an hour or two's kip in the car, and did the same all over again, but this time in the dead of the night - the only sound the distinctive roars coming from the six-and-eight cylinder race machines blasting by us in flashes of light at outrageous speeds.
Spa is linked by gravel escape roads on the outside and inside of the track itself, and until daylight we tried to walk each one, passing drunk and bleary-eyed local fans and others zonked out in little
A foggy morning
Just like a ghost town... one-man tents; oblivious to the noise and activity around them after a hearty feed of beer and waffles.
The atmosphere was really exciting, and the entire night was an adventure. I felt like a kid again!
The race itself had its moments too, with big accidents and equally exciting battles between the leading Corvettes and Maseratis, while the new Nissan GTR, an abundance of Porsches and Ferraris, Audis, Ford GTs, Moslers, Saleens and BMWs made up the field that neared 40 cars.
We left with a few hours of the race remaining for Brussels, where we watched Lewis Hamilton shake up the F1 championship further still and caught up on a bit of sleep after close to 48 hours without it.
Tomorrow morning local time, I see my 'friends' at Lufthansa for a trip to Hong Kong, where a lengthy stopover means I can go exploring, before getting back to NZ in the morning on Wednesday.
It's been a life-changing trip for me; really. While I might have been vague on a few of the details, the chances of me now racing in Europe in 2010 is something I can be quite confident about if the people we are working with pull together to make it happen.
And to those who made this trip possible (namely Bill Penney, David Dovey, Blackwoods Paykels and as always my family), I can't thank you enough.
While it's
'back to reality' now, reality could mean something far different in a few months time...
Cheers for your support!
Jono
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