Thought some of you guys might enjoy this, Wrote this trip report for another forum following my Spa track day back in October last year Was out from the 7th-11th. This is copied from elsewhere so apologies if some of it seems out of context
For once i actually remembered to get some photos so i could do a report when i got back, When i say "I", I mean Willie took them while i drove LOL!
Mix of DSLR and rubbish phone pictures so i apologise for the quality of some
Anyway, The trip for me began just before 10pm on Monday night.
FB_IMG_13811789222361805 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Willie had been staying down at Sherwood Forest Centre Parcs with his missus and her family so we worked out it would be best to pick up him somewhere down south instead of coming all the way back up to come back down, Picked him up just before 3am at a Travelodge at Pontefract services, quick fuel stop just South on the A1(M) and we got cracking for the remaining 4 hours down to Dover
IMAG0266 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
M25 is boring
IMAG0267 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1086 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1088 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Getting closer to Dover
DSC_1090 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Arrived in Dover just past 6.30am and parked up for an hours sleep while waiting on Nick and Andy to meet them at BP, Was a lovely morning
IMAG0268 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Headed over to the Docks for the 10am Ferry and thats when it felt like the trip was really beginning
FB_IMG_13812211444265958 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Bon Voyage!
IMAG0270 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Had a very entertaining Ferry journey thanks to Big Al, What a character:thumb:
Then the journey that side begun
IMAG0273 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1093 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1097 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1100 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1103 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1104 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1105 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1109 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1113 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1118 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Stopped for lunch halfway just before Brussels
DSC_1119 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1121 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Didn't see much in the way of interesting traffic for once, THink this was as exotic as it got LOL!
DSC_1125 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1129 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1137 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Moody A3 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Audi's by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Andy's S4 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Getting closer to Spa, First Signs
DSC_1139 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1140 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Almost there
DSC_1144 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1145 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
You might of heard Me and Nick coming through the town.....
DSC_1146 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1147 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Made it to the Radisson and parked up, The Focus isn't with us btw.
DSC_1152 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Nick's A3 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1155 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1154 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
View of our cars from our room
FB_IMG_13812465915884184 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
We then headed over to the track for a look round and to see where to go in the morning
IMAG0278 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
That corner
IMAG0280 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0281 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Good old phone Panorama
IMAG0282 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
We then headed back to Spa for some dinner, Pizza in the place next to Le Titti Twister was in order, Back to the Hotel where Willie and Al retired to the rooms and Myself, Nick, Andy and Emily headed to the bar for a beer before bed as it had been a looonng day, For me and Willie anyway.
Alarms set for 6.15am to be up in plenty time for showers, Breakfast, last minute prep and some fuel then over to the circuit for Sign on/briefing
IMAG0283 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Signed on, Wristbands on and stickers on the car and it was time for the briefing, Top work Darren and amazing hair:thumb:
Weather was looking good on the sighting laps and i managed to get in a few dry laps and was loving how much speed you could carry through some corners, Pouhon especially was well over 100mph in the dry:shock:
Willie then headed off to grab some photos while i abused the baguette and rinsed through 3 full tanks of fuel
GTR by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
997 Turbo by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
RS250 Pitlane by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
RS250 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1192 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1187 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1179 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1181 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1174 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Stupid Lamborghini racecar that was there, but you all probably know about the issues and problems it was causing.....
DSC_1176 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1162 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1161 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
was just getting into a groove and getting comfortable with the car at those speeds at Spa in the dry then the rain came, Started off as just a shower which made the track very slippy then it eased off and looked like it was going to dry again, Unfortunately it wasn't to be.
DSC_1195 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1198 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1207 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0284 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
I spent most of the day on track, Only to leave to get fuel, Probably was on track more than the majority of cars there, Wet conditions meant everything was staying cool and i was doing 35-45minutes minimum at a time on track, Was really struggling for grip in places, especially Bruxelles which was annoying but i still had LOADS of fun, Actually really enjoyed it in the wet as there is a lot of grip even on non cheating race wets (Cough Floyd) and it is nice to say i have done Spa and in the pissing wet.
Visibilty was laughable at times, One of the best moments for me was chasing Ian in the Turbo Mincer along Kemmel with wipers on full and not being able to see more than 2 metres in front :lol: But the rush from doing so was immense, would love to be able to do it in a full on race car with aero! Had a lot of fun trailbraking the car and getting it to rotate, Ian caught an excellent slide on video!
Almost binned it at Blanchimont when the Lambo racecar shat its coolant round 3/4's of the track on the racing line, First noticed it was slippy when the back end came out at Les Combes avoiding a 996 which was facing me but though there was enough grip later on, Massive slide and tankslapper but held it then decided to come off and let the track clear up before going back out.
Had a couple smaller slides and spun it on one of the last laps before the track was flagged at the end of the day but had so much fun, 100% changed the way i view wet trackdays now!
Got loads of videos i need to get uploaded eventually, Including a rear view from my car with Al Clark in his 964 behind me:wave:
Finished the day off with purchasing the photos that Nick@ Xtreme had taken including the all important Eau Rouge one
XS2_0075 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0535 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
I had noticed the photographer on the inside of La Source and said to my passenger that i was going to get closer every lap, Which i think i succeeded in doing!
XS2_0295 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0109 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0254 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0177 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Packed up and headed back to the hotel for some beer and over to the Chinese on the Recommendation from Ian, Thanks for that it was awesome mate!
Ended up back in Nick and King Prawns room with some cheap beers watching some footage from the day and generally just having some epic banter!
Up and down for breakfast at 9am on Thursday as none of use were on track so we were just heading over to spectate and grab some passenger laps. A group of guys from the SXOC that me and Willie know had came over for the Thursday trackday so it was good to catch up with them and i managed to get some passenger laps in an MX5 which was so much fun even though it had no power LOL!
The track looked as if it was going to dry up before lunch time and i was seriously tempted to try and blag an afternoon session off Darren but decided not to when the rain started again just before lunch and we had planned to head over to Nurburg for the afternoon for a look as Willie hadn't been and i wanted a couple of cheeky TF laps. Plus Belgium is s**t and i needed to get out of it for a few hours to a proper country
Was pretty wet when we arrived which put a downer on it for me as i had hoped for some dry TF laps as the weather had been nice all day LOL!
IMAG0286 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0288 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0290 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Had a few hours to kill before the track opened at 5pm so we went to the rip off Ringwerk just to pass the time, As much as i oppose the place it does have some pretty cool stuff in it.
IMAG0297 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0299 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0302 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0305 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Luckily the sun came out and the track was drying but was still damp in places, Still done 5 laps though as it was eerily quiet, I passed 10 cars the whole time and that was it. Was really strange but thoroughly enjoyable even if they were pretty slow relaxed laps due to the damp patches
IMAG0308 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Went to dinner at the place next to the BMW test centre for one of their amazing Calzones
FB_IMG_13814255732743120 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Then headed back to Spa managing to find about 15miles on derestricted Autobahns
Nick and Al had went home that afternoon so we just ended up back in the room looking back through some photos and videos of the days.
Up at 9am again and down to meet Andy and Emily for breakfast before packing up and heading for Dunkirk
FB_IMG_13814784276103468 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Bye bye Belgium, See you next year!
FB_IMG_13814825389348847 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Must be closer to the UK now
FB_IMG_13814902016861181 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Ended up on the same ferry as a couple of the SXOC boys by coincidence so that was nice, bar the fact it was a ROUGH crossing then it was back up the M20/M25/A1M then the M6 for Willies at Kilmarnock. Once the nice AA man brought me some more fuel though:shame:
Got back to Willies at 2am and decided to sleep there as its still 2 hours to my house from there and i didn't fancy binning it that close from home after doing so many miles in Europe:nono:
Watched the F1 Quali then headed home at lunch time, Lovely weather up in Scotland, Shame we didn't have it in Spa
DSC_1234 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
2078 miles later and 447 litres of fuel, Fin.
DSC_1237 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1238 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1240 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1243 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1242 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Filthy.
That's it then, Can't wait for the next one, DN and a Spa day or two for sure next year!
Got loads of videos from Spa that i will get uploaded and have more photos on my flickr and on my youtube page www.youtube.com/zsjamie if you want to have a look, there may be some of you!
Massive thanks to all who organised the trackday and the Marshalls at Spa are brilliant! Met some amazing people the last few days and made some great new friends, Apologies if i spoke to you but didn't realise who you were.
EPIC!
For once i actually remembered to get some photos so i could do a report when i got back, When i say "I", I mean Willie took them while i drove LOL!
Mix of DSLR and rubbish phone pictures so i apologise for the quality of some
Anyway, The trip for me began just before 10pm on Monday night.
FB_IMG_13811789222361805 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Willie had been staying down at Sherwood Forest Centre Parcs with his missus and her family so we worked out it would be best to pick up him somewhere down south instead of coming all the way back up to come back down, Picked him up just before 3am at a Travelodge at Pontefract services, quick fuel stop just South on the A1(M) and we got cracking for the remaining 4 hours down to Dover
IMAG0266 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
M25 is boring
IMAG0267 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1086 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1088 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Getting closer to Dover
DSC_1090 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Arrived in Dover just past 6.30am and parked up for an hours sleep while waiting on Nick and Andy to meet them at BP, Was a lovely morning
IMAG0268 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Headed over to the Docks for the 10am Ferry and thats when it felt like the trip was really beginning
FB_IMG_13812211444265958 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Bon Voyage!
IMAG0270 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Had a very entertaining Ferry journey thanks to Big Al, What a character:thumb:
Then the journey that side begun
IMAG0273 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1093 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1097 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1100 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1103 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1104 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1105 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1109 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1113 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1118 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Stopped for lunch halfway just before Brussels
DSC_1119 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1121 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Didn't see much in the way of interesting traffic for once, THink this was as exotic as it got LOL!
DSC_1125 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1129 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1137 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Moody A3 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Audi's by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Andy's S4 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Getting closer to Spa, First Signs
DSC_1139 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1140 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Almost there
DSC_1144 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1145 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
You might of heard Me and Nick coming through the town.....
DSC_1146 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1147 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Made it to the Radisson and parked up, The Focus isn't with us btw.
DSC_1152 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Nick's A3 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1155 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1154 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
View of our cars from our room
FB_IMG_13812465915884184 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
We then headed over to the track for a look round and to see where to go in the morning
IMAG0278 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
That corner
IMAG0280 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0281 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Good old phone Panorama
IMAG0282 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
We then headed back to Spa for some dinner, Pizza in the place next to Le Titti Twister was in order, Back to the Hotel where Willie and Al retired to the rooms and Myself, Nick, Andy and Emily headed to the bar for a beer before bed as it had been a looonng day, For me and Willie anyway.
Alarms set for 6.15am to be up in plenty time for showers, Breakfast, last minute prep and some fuel then over to the circuit for Sign on/briefing
IMAG0283 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Signed on, Wristbands on and stickers on the car and it was time for the briefing, Top work Darren and amazing hair:thumb:
Weather was looking good on the sighting laps and i managed to get in a few dry laps and was loving how much speed you could carry through some corners, Pouhon especially was well over 100mph in the dry:shock:
Willie then headed off to grab some photos while i abused the baguette and rinsed through 3 full tanks of fuel
GTR by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
997 Turbo by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
RS250 Pitlane by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
RS250 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1192 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1187 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1179 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1181 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1174 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Stupid Lamborghini racecar that was there, but you all probably know about the issues and problems it was causing.....
DSC_1176 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1162 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1161 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
was just getting into a groove and getting comfortable with the car at those speeds at Spa in the dry then the rain came, Started off as just a shower which made the track very slippy then it eased off and looked like it was going to dry again, Unfortunately it wasn't to be.
DSC_1195 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1198 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1207 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0284 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
I spent most of the day on track, Only to leave to get fuel, Probably was on track more than the majority of cars there, Wet conditions meant everything was staying cool and i was doing 35-45minutes minimum at a time on track, Was really struggling for grip in places, especially Bruxelles which was annoying but i still had LOADS of fun, Actually really enjoyed it in the wet as there is a lot of grip even on non cheating race wets (Cough Floyd) and it is nice to say i have done Spa and in the pissing wet.
Visibilty was laughable at times, One of the best moments for me was chasing Ian in the Turbo Mincer along Kemmel with wipers on full and not being able to see more than 2 metres in front :lol: But the rush from doing so was immense, would love to be able to do it in a full on race car with aero! Had a lot of fun trailbraking the car and getting it to rotate, Ian caught an excellent slide on video!
Almost binned it at Blanchimont when the Lambo racecar shat its coolant round 3/4's of the track on the racing line, First noticed it was slippy when the back end came out at Les Combes avoiding a 996 which was facing me but though there was enough grip later on, Massive slide and tankslapper but held it then decided to come off and let the track clear up before going back out.
Had a couple smaller slides and spun it on one of the last laps before the track was flagged at the end of the day but had so much fun, 100% changed the way i view wet trackdays now!
Got loads of videos i need to get uploaded eventually, Including a rear view from my car with Al Clark in his 964 behind me:wave:
Finished the day off with purchasing the photos that Nick@ Xtreme had taken including the all important Eau Rouge one
XS2_0075 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0535 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
I had noticed the photographer on the inside of La Source and said to my passenger that i was going to get closer every lap, Which i think i succeeded in doing!
XS2_0295 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0109 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0254 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
XS2_0177 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Packed up and headed back to the hotel for some beer and over to the Chinese on the Recommendation from Ian, Thanks for that it was awesome mate!
Ended up back in Nick and King Prawns room with some cheap beers watching some footage from the day and generally just having some epic banter!
Up and down for breakfast at 9am on Thursday as none of use were on track so we were just heading over to spectate and grab some passenger laps. A group of guys from the SXOC that me and Willie know had came over for the Thursday trackday so it was good to catch up with them and i managed to get some passenger laps in an MX5 which was so much fun even though it had no power LOL!
The track looked as if it was going to dry up before lunch time and i was seriously tempted to try and blag an afternoon session off Darren but decided not to when the rain started again just before lunch and we had planned to head over to Nurburg for the afternoon for a look as Willie hadn't been and i wanted a couple of cheeky TF laps. Plus Belgium is s**t and i needed to get out of it for a few hours to a proper country
Was pretty wet when we arrived which put a downer on it for me as i had hoped for some dry TF laps as the weather had been nice all day LOL!
IMAG0286 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0288 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0290 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Had a few hours to kill before the track opened at 5pm so we went to the rip off Ringwerk just to pass the time, As much as i oppose the place it does have some pretty cool stuff in it.
IMAG0297 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0299 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0302 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
IMAG0305 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Luckily the sun came out and the track was drying but was still damp in places, Still done 5 laps though as it was eerily quiet, I passed 10 cars the whole time and that was it. Was really strange but thoroughly enjoyable even if they were pretty slow relaxed laps due to the damp patches
IMAG0308 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Went to dinner at the place next to the BMW test centre for one of their amazing Calzones
FB_IMG_13814255732743120 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Then headed back to Spa managing to find about 15miles on derestricted Autobahns
Nick and Al had went home that afternoon so we just ended up back in the room looking back through some photos and videos of the days.
Up at 9am again and down to meet Andy and Emily for breakfast before packing up and heading for Dunkirk
FB_IMG_13814784276103468 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Bye bye Belgium, See you next year!
FB_IMG_13814825389348847 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Must be closer to the UK now
FB_IMG_13814902016861181 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Ended up on the same ferry as a couple of the SXOC boys by coincidence so that was nice, bar the fact it was a ROUGH crossing then it was back up the M20/M25/A1M then the M6 for Willies at Kilmarnock. Once the nice AA man brought me some more fuel though:shame:
Got back to Willies at 2am and decided to sleep there as its still 2 hours to my house from there and i didn't fancy binning it that close from home after doing so many miles in Europe:nono:
Watched the F1 Quali then headed home at lunch time, Lovely weather up in Scotland, Shame we didn't have it in Spa
DSC_1234 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
2078 miles later and 447 litres of fuel, Fin.
DSC_1237 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1238 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1240 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1243 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
DSC_1242 by Jamie_Atkinson, on Flickr
Filthy.
That's it then, Can't wait for the next one, DN and a Spa day or two for sure next year!
Got loads of videos from Spa that i will get uploaded and have more photos on my flickr and on my youtube page www.youtube.com/zsjamie if you want to have a look, there may be some of you!
Massive thanks to all who organised the trackday and the Marshalls at Spa are brilliant! Met some amazing people the last few days and made some great new friends, Apologies if i spoke to you but didn't realise who you were.
EPIC!
Last edited by a moderator:
