After the summer break normal service is to be resumed, there would have been a third Top Gear video during the interval but there was a small matter of a show to do in the meantime - it's fortunate there wasn't a race last weekend or the reports would have been rather sporadic and delayed. But all that has been concluded and another exciting instalment of this year's championship is ready to be played out just across the channel - and then up and east a bit.
And what a racetrack we are returning to - the epic, the wondrous and the magnificent Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. The greatest of all the tracks on the current racing calender - and quite probably on the surface of the calender, there is the Nordschleife and the Mt Panorama tracks but Spa is very special indeed. An event which has been littered with mayhem and excitement of the course of it's existence from multi-car pile ups, and fighting in the pit lane - torrential downpours and a Jordan 1-2. And that was just in 1998. Spa has been the scene for many legendary moments - Hakkinen passing Schumacher while lapping Riccardo Zonta on the Kemmel Straight, the BAR's being destroyed in qualifying in Eau Rouge. Oh yes Spa its the biggy.
 |
| Credit to the FIA for the circuit graphic |
The Track
Where do I begin, a layout with corners that strike equal amounts of fear and excitement into the minds of anyone who encounters them. Flowing seamlessly through the Ardennes like a snaking meandering river of asphalt greatness, between the hills and walls of trees. Bends that just compel a driver to throw more speed at them and others which make you want to lift off to make sure you emerge out the other side with all four wheels on the car. All in all, Spa has everything you could ever want from a race track - if Spa was a woman then she'd... well anyway I can't be biassed or there would a whole lot of bonus points going somewhere, and the championship would be rather compromised.
Anyway... back to the race track. It has one of the highest average lap speeds of the season, spending 70% of the layout at full throttle through some of the most intense corners of the year. It would be impossible to discuss the Belgian track without drawing the attention to the ominous corner that is Eau Rouge - towering over the support paddock and the GT pit-straight. Rising like a monolithic tsunami out of the ground - a looming wall of tarmac, the prominent feature of the track. The drivers all strive to make the epic corner flat out, current downforce levels make that so much easier but for the smaller less well equipped teams it is a lot more of a challenge.
With Eau Rouge almost straight lined by technological advancement, along with Blanchimont towards the end of the lap the real challenge moves to Pouhon - a double apexed left hander which drops away downhill throughout the corner. Not quite flat in the current cars, although Red Bull are probably getting close - as the demonstrated in Turkey's Turn 8. The mid-speed flowing corners around the Les Combes and Les Fanges sections are equally as enjoyable, as the car hugs the curbs and washes from one corner to the other with effortless synchronized moment.
But of course, Spa the greatest track in the world has too fallen victim to the cruel and destructive hand of track modification. In some respects it was necessary - to bring the pit complex up to standard allowing more room in the lane and garage space. But to tamper with the actual layout itself is close to sacrilege or something. Agreed adding run-off and replacing gravel-traps with tarmac may have been a good idea considering the size of the accidents seen at Spa Burti and Zonta are prime examples. However re-shaping the bus-stop chicane never quite settled so well - the new interpretation is a shadow of it's former self, slow and cumbersome. Aimed at making overtaking easier, and that has worked, but bring back the pre-2003 version thank you very much.
Now it is time to introduce the video to support the review, filmed not exactly on location but from my living room. Out of all the laps to drive for these features this was easily the most entertaining, it may only be a virtual representation but still it's very pleasurable to hurtle a car through Eau Rouge and round the lap... anyway slight moment there little lost in an earlier thought, bonus points were involved. But that little digression aside here is the video to support the Belgian GP.
It may not have been the fastest of all laps at 1:55 but it was rather enjoyable.
What to Expect
This weekend could see the most dramatic alteration to the form-book since the beginning of the European season. The teams have had a long time to make adjustments and developments to their cars, sure there was an enforced cool down period during that time where no work was to be undertaken but there will still have been a lot of updates and parts to bring to the cars. Add to that data, that this circuit is one of two rather uniquely high speed venues on the calender which plays to the strengths of certain engine suppliers and car downforce configurations. I don't think we'll see a repeat of 2009 where Force India were the quickest team in the low downforce races with Fisichella taking pole and only lost to a KERs pass by Raikkonen. But some mid-field runners may be a little closer to the front.
In division one, the ration of power should remain fairly stable - Ferrari and McLaren have the edge in outright power and straight line speed but Red Bull will have the advantage over the flowing middle sector, making the lap times rather equal. Mercedes could join division one this weekend, given that their car does have a straight line speed advantage over the other cars with one of the most effective DRS systems in the paddock. Down at Renault Squadron leader change is afoot - Squadron Leader Heidfeld has been pushed aside, hardly fair after they nearly set fire to him in Hungary. To take over the seat is Bruno Senna - escapee from HRT last year in their revolving door driver scheme. The motive behind the move is rather questionable as Heidfeld has the highest points score in the team and is more experienced then the improving Wing Commander Petrov.
In the mid-field the competition is very tight, all of the central grid teams will be close to entering the top ten with Renault Squadrons reformed ranks not secure in the final session. The likes of Force India and Williams could go well here, in a group which may be lead by Torro Rosso - all to the detriment of Sauber who could be looking at a challenging weekend. It is this part of the grid along with the newer teams who will be looking to benefit from Spa's infamous weather. The local micro-climate is prone to anything from light drizzle to a monsoon, it is very likely that there will be rain at some point during the three days of running. According to Lotus' twitter page the track has already seen rain today. And that won't be the last shower.
KERs and DRS
Both of these devices will see their maximum effectiveness at a track like this with so much full power running. KERs reached an important milestone here in 2009 where it was the first win directly related to having the system installed, when Kimi passed Giancarlo on the exit of Radillon on KERs power. But with all the cars barring the three bottom teams having the system there won't be that advantage, and with 70% of the lap at full power the allocation could become spread rather thin across the lap. On the other had this long lap could allow for strategic deployment of the KERs power with an array of possible zones to attack in.
Then there is the DRS, in qualifying it will be a major advantage given the amount of time it can be open for on the lap. There has been a ban of the system's use in Eau Rouge for obvious reasons - should the system come open in that corner the size of the resulting accident would be immense. The ban is for safety reasons on the most dangerous corner on the track. However it seems that in the qaulifying sessions the DRS will be available from the exit of Stavelot up to the 'bus-stop'. This contains the rather quick Blanchimont corner - easy under normal conditions but would they want to go through there with the wing open. If it is possible then clearly downforce levels have gone too far.
As for the race itself there is to be one single DRS zone, starting on the exit of the final part of Eau Rouge, radillon corner and will end at the end of the Kemmel straight leading into Les Combes. One of the more active overtaking places on the circuit, which will be aided by the addition of the DRS.
The Belgian GP is one of the most anticipated races of the season, it may not have the ceremony of Monaco or the theatre of Monza but as a race track and as an event Spa-Francorchamps is without equal the atmosphere between the trees in the mountains is unbeatable. Even from my chair - or an outside broadcast sofa the power and expectation of the place leeches through the television. Sure a flowing track can provide processional racing but Spa is very different - with the unpredictability of the weather, the chance of utter carnage and the finest element of danger.
Of all the races in the season the Belgian GP is something very special indeed and there is no better way to bring the summer break to a close... so sit back and revel in the unfolding greatness that is Spa Francorchamps for the 2011 Belgian GP.
No comments:
Post a Comment