Spa weekend, PH style

PH gatecrashes a track day for high rollers to chase supercars in a Lotus

You'll know the drill. Sparrow's fart start, even with the luxury of a nearby Travelodge. The all-too familiar briefing in a draughty portacabin cradling grey, tasteless tea in a polystyrene cup and the aftertaste of a greasy, overpriced bacon roll. Skinned knuckles in the car park as you change your wheels over, eying up the inevitable Herberts in a caged eBay special you just know are going to be pulling that desperate dive into the braking zone before spinning off in front of you. Surely there has to be a better way?

Yeah, we'll be fine in the Elise...

There is but, as with everything, it comes at a cost. But when PH got an invitation to join high rolling Spa weekender we selflessly agreed to investigate life at the other end of the track day spectrum. Attendance would cost 2,400 euros. Or about 10 times the price of a typical British track day. A fair whack. But let's just run that past the man maths calculator for a moment.

It's an all-inclusive price, including two full days on track, three nights in an adjacent hotel, welcome and closing dinners, catering trackside and more. Still a fair sum but for quality over quantity investing your annual track day budget in one big one like this isn't totally daft.

In for a penny
Gran Turismo Events figurehead Peter Ternstrom has worked hard to foster this all-inclusive feel for the events, encouraging participants to arrive early on the Friday, mingle and bond over food and beers before hitting the track for two solid days of driving. And then having a big party at the end. A Swede, many of the folk attending are fellow Scandinavians with a fair mix of Russians, Poles, Germans, Dutch and other established regulars. English is inevitably the common language shared by most, if not all, but despite this Peter's not had many Brits along, something he's keen to change.

Gran Turismo's Peter - host with the most

Domestic obligations mean we don't arrive at Spa until the Saturday dinner is well under way. The hotel is a new build, taking its name from the La Source hairpin it's pretty much alongside. The walk through the car park is interesting, the Lotus Elise S Club Racer we've brought along most definitely at the modest end of the spectrum. We see two F12s parked alongside - bizarrely - a Nissan Micra (probably not on the event, we speculate) and outside are a number of GT3 variants, a Gumpert Apollo, Peter's CLK63 Black Series safety car and more Ferraris. In reception there's at least another Lotus to calm nerves. OK, so it's a V6 Exige but at this stage we're just glad to see there's something vaguely real world.

Target audience
We ask Peter what a typical car on a Gran Turismo track day might be. Wrists are checked to assess the quality of our timepieces - a reflex action in these parts - and he mulls it over for a second. "I'd say a 458 is pretty much standard," he replies. Not Prius-engined fibreglass cars built in Norfolk then? Oh well. Pre-event bravado about showing those supercar owners some British underdog spirit begins to look a little shaky. Then we meet Paul, a PHer and only Brit regular.

Lotus boys huddle together for support

He's glad to meet some fellow countrymen but quick to underline how friendly and accommodating the crowd are here. What's he driving? "I've got a GT-R ... it's probably one of the cheapest cars here!" A Gran Turismo event is Paul's annual treat to himself, hooked after previous attendance of the Polish event at Poznan.

The quantity of vodka Red Bulls being ordered at the bar suggests our fellow attendees are some way ahead of us in terms of accrued track time and celebratory drinks to toast it. Figuring an early start will give us time to get up to speed as others enjoy a lie-in we call it a night early and are off to the track as others are just emerging for breakfast, Ferrari owners seemingly favouring the team race overalls tied at the waist look even over coffee and croissants. Bless.

PH makes hay while others nurse hangovers

Off the leash
There aren't many tracks where a proper supercar can be let off the leash but Spa is one of them. And as the momentum gained through the downhill run into Eau Rouge tails off through Raidillon to an exit speed of around 110mph the Elise feels precariously slow along Kemmel. Especially when the 458 Challenge cars and Audi R8 LMS drop off their air jacks and start thundering past. Nipping at the heels of a hungover supercar driver is probably just within the Lotus's reach. But for slick-shod racing cars it's eyes on the mirrors and ready with the indicator. Not that the overtaking rules in the briefing notes seem to count for much. Memory stretches back to a previous Spa track day briefing when a confused official responded to a polite British voice asking what the overtaking rules were. "The faster car ... he overtakes!" was the shrugged response.

Give it large
With tyres and reflexes up to temperature the Lotus may not be claiming many scalps but is at least holding its own, especially once the gradient heads back downhill from Les Combes. Regular top-ups from the on-site filling station are required to avoid fuel starvation through fast corners like Pouhon and Blanchimont but apart from keeping an eye on the tyre pressures it just keeps going. A different story for Paul's GT-R sadly, the transmission oil cooler fitted by SVM (they of the GT-R Qashqai) allowing him more laps to move previous overheating problems along to the brakes. Warped discs and a philosophical shrug are the end result.

PHer Paul's GT-R in Godzilla livery

Given how quiet it is on track there's a suspicion partying is as big a part of the deal as driving for many but abstinence at the bar is our gain on the track. And when an F12 or Gumpert does thunder past it's simply a pleasure to see fast cars in an environment where they can really stretch their legs, Spa big enough to accommodate considerable speed differentials. And without the usual squabbling over braking zones everyone's free to give each other time and space. Serious but civilised, basically.

Like the sound of it? Gran Turismo is taking over the Nurburgring May 7-10 and it's currently last call for the remaining places with further events in Poland and Estonia to follow, concluding with a road-based event around Lake Como in September.

Further reading:
PH goes to Spa liveblog
Lapping historic Spa

A lap of Spa in the Lotus