F1 at Spa - anyone been?

[dezzy]

I ain't been to Spa, but it's been highly recommended to me by a couple of colleagues who have been.

I did my first F1 last year and went to Silverstone. Absolutely loved it. You'll love the sound and the atmospher Greg. It's amazing! I can't speak for Spa, but I think you've already been told this above anyway: definitely get a seat for the Sunday. We wandered around the whole track on the Fri/Sat at Sliverstone, but on the Sunday, I was so glad we didn't have to fight for a space on the embankments.

Don't know if Spa has this, but at Silverstone, the radio station was useful. They blast it through some tannoys (when you can hear them over the engine noise! ) and we listened to it on a wee radio to keep up with what was going on elsewhere.

Let me know when you start to make plans as I may be interested in tagging along, with a friend in tow, if you don't mind? Would depend on costs, etc.

You'll definitely not regret going . . . even if it's just for the noise alone!

[douglasgdmw]

Greg,

Speking to the missus and we are thinking of popping across to Spa this year in the Elise, probably a Superfast ferry just for the convenience. May also be going with a good friend of ours as well (for a mini elise convoy)

My wife has done a fair bit of investigation on getting tickets and prices so I will get the info from here and pass it across to you (currently away on business so do not have it to hand).

We did the Hockenheim Grand Prix last year and really enjoyed it (apart from the German's obsession with sausages).

I think the prices between the site are pretty much even but we will be going with the same firm we went with last year, just for piece of mind.

If you can blag a paddock pass then go for it, however these passes cost couple of grand though hospitality firms. Paddock is definitely a must if you can a) afford it b) blag it. We have done the paddock passes in the World SuperBikes series and well worth it (however they only change an extra 60 on top of the price).

Will keep you up to date on what my wife has found.

Cheers
DMW

[GregR]

Douglas, that'd be great! Waiting to hear from Alix re. what job she'll have in Sept, so that's the only complicating factor

[MacK]

If you can blag a paddock pass then go for it,

That reminds me about a bunch of guys who were staying in our hotel on the Sat night.

We arrived back from Luxemburg to find a fully stickered up BMW 3 series coupe parked up outside, and inside 3 or 4 guys with full BMW team shirts etc. We got talking to them and it turns out that they get there car liveried up to look like a team/sponsors car and get all the team shirts etc, then just drive up to the gate and flash 'id' badges and usually get waved into the paddock! They then spend the day either trying to mingle into the paddock club, or head out round the track and watch the race beside the marshalls or press photographers under the pretence of observing their teams cars

Not sure how much was absolute bullsh!t and how much was true, but they bought us some beers so we weren't to bothered

[Dominic]

If you can blag a paddock pass then go for it,

That reminds me about a bunch of guys who were staying in our hotel on the Sat night.

We arrived back from Luxemburg to find a fully stickered up BMW 3 series coupe parked up outside, and inside 3 or 4 guys with full BMW team shirts etc. We got talking to them and it turns out that they get there car liveried up to look like a team/sponsors car and get all the team shirts etc, then just drive up to the gate and flash 'id' badges and usually get waved into the paddock! They then spend the day either trying to mingle into the paddock club, or head out round the track and watch the race beside the marshalls or press photographers under the pretence of observing their teams cars

Not sure how much was absolute bullsh!t and how much was true, but they bought us some beers so we weren't to bothered

Top scam! I would love to think it was all true.... and get away with it!

When working as a Chauffeur, I managed to blag my way into many events, while driving clients in a suitable flash car.

[douglasgdmw]

Greg,

Must apologise as I realised I did not send you the info on the ticket websites.

We did a quick search last night and finally got around to booking the tickets. The website we went to was
http://www.spagrandprix.com/

There is a discount (12.5%) if you purchase your tickets before the end of this month. This worked out about £25 cheaper than BookF1.com for ticket prices.

All we need to do is get the ferry/hotel sorted out so will keep you up to date in case you are still interested in going.

Cheers
DMW

[douglasgdmw]

Greg,

Got the ferry booked last night. The web site for Superfast is completely bonkers as it shows nothing but super luxerious cabins being available.

As there are going to be 5 people & 2 or 3 cars we decided to phone up the reservation line.

Find out that they have a special on at the moment in which the cars are free and you only pay for the accomodation. In the end we were around £660 which is pretty damn reasonable and that includes cabins.

Only issue we are having is trying to locate a hotel so if anyone has info on any good hotels in SPA I would appreciate it.

Cheers
DMW

[The Hoff]

Greg, I never saw this thread when it was first posted, so resurrecting it now

I went to Spa for the GP 4 (ish) years ago, and am considering it again this year.

4 of us went over, we flew to Amsterdam and hired a car and drove to Spa. We stayed in a small family run hotel quite near the circuit and were DB+B and it was very reasonable.

We had tickets for the Fri, Sat and Sun, but just general admins, no seats. We went on the Fri morning and had a good wander round the complete circuit and got very close to the cars at some of the bends out in the forest are, i.e. sitting on the bank literally a few feet away from and above the track.
On the Saturday it was very wet and we decided to give the qualifying a miss and went to Luxemburg for the day (about and hour away down the Mway)
Sunday was drier and we managed to get a space to sit on the embankment at the top of Eau Rouge~Raidillon. We couldn't see a big screen and just saw the cars cresting the hill and whizzing past on the straight. The whole place was absolutely jammed with people and I'm sure there are people that go that barely see any action of the cars during the race.
If I go back again I would definitely get a grandstand seat for the race.

On the plus side we got to walk down Eau Rouge~Raidillon on the track after the race had finished, that is a steep hill!

We drove back to Amsterdam and flew home on the Monday morning.

If you want more details of where we stayed etc let me know. [/quote]

Used to live about an hour away from there and went there on several occasions. Well worth the experience!!
..must have been 2002, was it? That race effectively lasted 2 laps.. i.e. Schumi buggered off and was never seen again.. I was sitting in the exact same place as you were ,together with about 12 other Scots..
good vantage point.. and if an engine is going to... there is more chance of it happening there.. If my memory serves me correctly, Raikonen's and Fiscichella's went bang! and somebody elses a bit further on from where we were sitting, but still almost in full view.

A must! at least once in your life.

Cowan

!

[MacK]

Only issue we are having is trying to locate a hotel so if anyone has info on any good hotels in SPA I would appreciate it.

Cheers
DMW

This is the place we stayed at when I was over a few years ago.

http://www.spa-info.be/beausite/

Small family run place, we stayed on a Dinner B&B rate. The food was home cooking rather than fine dining, and the place is nothing fancy, but I would go back again.

[MacK]

Just recieved this in an email about the British Grand Prix, if anyone is interested.

have had a cancellation become available for the 2007 British Grand Prix, being held at Silverstone on Sun 8th July. The Executive suite is for a maximum of fifty people, we can also offer an option for thirty or a dining table of ten.

The day starts off with a champagne reception on arrival, followed by breakfast. It's a fully stocked complimentary bar for the whole day, prior to the race there will be a five course silver service luncheon, and afterwards an evening meal will be served.

All the tickets provided are category one and grouped together, the guest celebrity speaker is earmarked to be Damon Hill, we also include corporate gifts, cigarettes and cigars for those that smoke, and car parking for those who are driving.

The executive suite for fifty people normally retails at £47,450 we can now offer it at a price of £39,950 for the fifty people, £23,970 for thirty people, or a dining table for ten people is £7,990. You can find further details on our website

[douglasgdmw]

Only issue we are having is trying to locate a hotel so if anyone has info on any good hotels in SPA I would appreciate it.

Cheers
DMW

This is the place we stayed at when I was over a few years ago.

http://www.spa-info.be/beausite/

Small family run place, we stayed on a Dinner B&B rate. The food was home cooking rather than fine dining, and the place is nothing fancy, but I would go back again.

MacK,

Thanks for the info they are already fully booked. For future reference and anyone trying to look for accomodation @ Spa I would try the following web links:

Hotels:
http://www.booking.com

Cottages/Apartments
http://www.novasol.co.uk/
http://www.holidaylets.net

Currently got a couple of options as to where we can go, with a bit of luck something will turn up trumps soon.

Cheers
DMW

[MacK]

Douglas, maybe you know, or they mentioned it, but that hotel also has a chalet and/or a house available to rent, might be good if it's available and there are a few in your group?

[douglasgdmw]

Douglas, maybe you know, or they mentioned it, but that hotel also has a chalet and/or a house available to rent, might be good if it's available and there are a few in your group?

MacK,

Cheers for that, did give them an email and they said that they were fully booked, which I suspected they would be.

Anyway had a look through and we have booked the following:

http://www.holidaylets.net/prop_detail. ... 19395&ap=1

About 16 miles away from the circuit and I think the Elise will fit in quite nicey in the driveway

Cheers
DMW

Ps - Hopefully confirmation goes through as spent the last couple of days searching for accomodation.