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Firstly I have to say that you are very lucky, Spa is my favourite circuit!
I had a seat in Gold 1 for the '07 GP - it was awesome to see the start and the dash to La Source, but the race itself was not so interesting, not too many things happen on the pit straight.
Last year I was in Gold 6 (pit entry chicane), that was a good seat, a few nice passes happened there (and Petrov's brakes giving up on the final lap).
It's always a compromise, I always thought it would be good to have a seat at La Source.
The Pit straight is a good seat for seeing some of the pre-amble and you get to see some drivers & celebs and the cars arriving for the start etc. Also you get to see some of the pit action, although the wall is quite high at the La Source end of the pit lane. My seat was directly opposite the Ferrari and Macca garages and seeing some of the interplay between the crews during the race was pretty cool.
At the end of the GP you can get onto the track around Gold 6, which is handy if you;re quick for getting the odd souvenir if there's a crash at the corner... but you do have to be quick as others have the same idea!
Have a great time at a great GP, I'm jealous as hell!
How much are the tickets for just a general admission? I was looking at flying out to Spa one year. Best race in the world plus best beer in the world, can't beat it!
Forgot to add where I stayed; http://www.bouchon-gourmand.be/
This place is abt 10km from the La Source entrance. I drove to the hotel and used my push bike to get to the circuit. There's a great big hill between the hotel and the track, but I guess it's the same all around that area!
In any case, I have no hesitation in recommending the hotel, it's basic, but Rudi is a fabulous host, the food is fantastic and Rudi even offered me a ride to the track on his motorbike.
For getting away after the race it was a master stroke; I chained my bike to a fence just outside the circuit and after about 200m I could ride back to the hotel and was far ahead of the crowds. 30min after leaving the circuit I was in my car (panting like hell!!) but almost clear roads apart from a few motorbikes that got away early. parking at the hotel was free too!!
Hope it helps.
I went to Spa for the first time last year. I opted for General Admission because, a) Grandstand seating was very expensive and, b) Spa is set in a forest and I wanted to experience it as such (i. e., climbing in the mud and slop and getting rained upon). I used the money I saved on seating to rent one of those portable circuit TVs--in my opinion, those are a MUST even if you can see a big screen. Here are some photos I took from various spots along the circuit--perhaps you will find them useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/electrical ... 461624931/
Redstar wrote:I went to Spa for the first time last year. I opted for General Admission because, a) Grandstand seating was very expensive and, b) Spa is set in a forest and I wanted to experience it as such (i. e., climbing in the mud and slop and getting rained upon). I used the money I saved on seating to rent one of those portable circuit TVs--in my opinion, those are a MUST even if you can see a big screen. Here are some photos I took from various spots along the circuit--perhaps you will find them useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/electrical ... 461624931/
very nice pictures!
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.
I've never been there during a F1 GP weekend, but I've been there on other occasions like demo's, F1 testing, FR3.5 and BossGP. I've always enjoyed sitting at the Kemmel straight, about 300m before the corner. You get a nice view of the speed of the cars, a chance of some overtaking action and you see glimps of the cars driving through Pouhon and Blanchimont. Another very cool part of it was (:)) the sound. You could hear the echo of the engines coming through. Bus-stop/La Source/Eau Rouge are also very nice spots, but again, I've never been there during a GP, so I've always been able to walk around pretty much everywhere.
I'm also going this year, and I'm buying a bronze ticket + 1 day camping. I don't like the idea of being restricted to a seat during the entire weekend and I've always enjoyed it to be able to go around the track during an event. And if the weathers nice at Spa, it's a lovely environment to camp/walk around.
If you're going for the weekend, you'll probably find some good spots during friday/saturday, and if you're early on sunday you can enjoy the race from a good spot in the bronze-area. The GP only has 44 laps, so during the race it's best if you stay in 1 place/zone.
"I race to win, and if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver." - Ayrton Senna
