lost the old Spa

[jonny hurlock]

when watching Spa on the TV, expect from eau rouge to blanchimont, with the new improvements to the pit garages and the bus stop, it feels now spa to me feels like is last another circult is it?

[wedge]

Kinda felt that as well.

I know there used to be a gravel trap at La Source from the 1980s but liked it with the barriers on the exit, which gave Spa its raw essence.

Also at La Source I've noticed there was some favourable camber on entry and apex, slight off camber/bump after apex. I prefer the old hairpin when it was flat and it was much easier to lock the inside wheel and miss the apex.

[AndyRAC]

What have they done to the 'Bus Stop' chicane, they've ruined it? Just doesn't look right....

[Mark]

No point in calling it the cup stop now. There is nothing bus stoppy about it. The drop next to the pit lane looks scary too.

[BeansBeansBeans]

No point in calling it the cup stop now.

I don't think it was ever called the cup stop :p :

Perhaps they should call the pitlane entry The Bobsleigh Run.

[jens]

I feel okay with the new configuration. I didn't like the 2004-2005 bus stop version and the new tighter chicane, which also looks quite bumpy, is trickier.

[Daniel]

No point in calling it the cup stop now. There is nothing bus stoppy about it. The drop next to the pit lane looks scary too.
Someone's typing their posts on a phone with predictive text methinks :D

[Mark]

What maker wot saw vict? :p

[jso1985]

I really don't see much of the circuit changed :confused:

the bus stop is gone and replace with something not so bad anyway, although is quite stupid that the pit entry is blind, also the hairpin at the end of the main straight looks wider now, but apart from that what else has changed?

[RaikkonenRules]

How about the steep drop behind the pit entry. Let's hope Kubica dosen't repeat his Montreal crash there.

[Erki]

I didn't see any steep drops anywhere. What are you talking about? :confused:

[RaikkonenRules]

There was a bit of a slope behind the wall at the pit entrance.

[ShiftingGears]

I don't really like the mass amounts of tarmac runoff around the circuit, it makes Spa look like...any other circuit on the calendar. As I've said, I don't see the point of the tarmac runoff after the apex of La Source...I mean, come on.

[inimitablestoo]

If anybody saw the coverage of the F3 race there a couple of months ago, you'll know that it was even worse then! Everybody was running deliberately off course at the final corner and getting about three car widths away from the "edge" of the circuit. They've put some of the "grasscrete" in now, so the cars do seem to be following the layout properly. Ditto Eau Rouge, which frankly was way too easy for the F3 boys, even with their relative lack of power.

[ioan]

The bus stop was something not bad at all, and surely more difficult to negotiate than this new chicane.

[F1boat]

The track still is the best, but I miss the Bus Stop.

[ShiftingGears]

Hamilton showed why I'm not a big fan of tarmac runoff!
At the start he got pushed off yet he still got the drive from going off the circuit to be side by side with ALonso at Eau Rouge. While it was fantastic to watch, I don't like it how drivers lose virtually no time from going off the road. Likewise when Hamilton went off at Pouhon.

[velo]

All of the great old tracks are either being abandoned by F1 or modified in such a way that they're losing their identities (Ring, LeMans, even newer tracks like Hockenheim and Suzuka). Only Monza and to a lesser extent Spa have kept their character. Spa used to be a long insanely fast track on public roads before it got cut down for safety reasons; only La Source and the run to Les Combes are left. Of course Monza had that banked oval back in the sixties as well. But if you mean "old Spa" as in 2005 I don't see significant differences, just increased runoff.

[nigelred5]

There is no bus stop any longer which is a shame. It was probably the most famous and copied chicanes in all of motor racing. Putting all this work into the track, they could have restored the character of the bus stop chicane and improved the pit entrance. The "slope" behind the large white pit wall is probably 20 metres or so high from the pictures I've seen of the rear of the new pit complex. I would also think painting the wall with some stripes or something would have improved the visibility. LaSource has way too much runoff now in the exit of the turn. It looks like it's not quite as tight. I can see the room from a safety standpoint, but there needs to be more penalty running through the green. They made wide enough to almost run a wide line around the outside. It makes for a less eventful first turn, but after the first lap, all that room is kinda pointless as there are rarely enough cars running close enough for there to be much of a problem. Maybe after a few yearswe'll see some more passing in the hairpin. I was suprised they made the new Podium so small and back on the front straight. I guess If I was paying that kind of money for a s/f line ticket, I'd expect the podium as well. It seemed like a lot more fans got to enjoy the podium behind the pits.