Spa 6hrs
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FelixP

Original Poster:

324 posts

184 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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A couple of years ago (already?!) I went to the Spa 6 hours in my 924 Turbo, except the head gasket blew the day before and the transport ended up being my Dad's diesel Megane. Well, that was unfinished business so this year we went again in something less economical...

My itinerary was quite tight, I wanted to revisit the roads in Luxembourg before heading to Spa for the weekend, then drop into Gent on the way home. Starting from Cardiff, it's the drive to Dover that's always the worst. Luckily we managed to navigate the M4 & M25 without too much trouble and soon we were driving off the ferry in France. It was easy going until we got further south towards Luxembourg when the weather got a bit crappy and it started to get dark. With 500nm torque low down, the Corvette isn't most suited to wet mountain roads, especially when you've already driven 400 miles...

We made it to the hotel alright and I had some beers in the only hipster bar in Vianden. Not much fresher the next day we visited the castle, which I'd missed out last time I was passing through. After this it was time to head to Spa to collect our passes. Being close to Germany we managed 165mph on the sat-nav on the way. The car was very planted and felt like it sill had more to give, which surprised me! Having collected the passes we couldn't resist driving down to the circuit and having a quick look at what was to come over the weekend.

On Saturday the weather was so good I had to buy the cheapest hat (with feather) to stop getting sunburned! It looked like it might rain later in the day but miraculously the cloud passed over. This made the 6hrs extra enjoyable, as I could walk the paddock and a lot of the track to soak up the atmosphere rather than my clothes! All weekend we parked in the classic area by the new start/finish. There was some interesting metal there and best of all, a Land Rover Land Train. This was a free shuttle to the paddock going around all day. I bumped into a friend from home and met up with another who I used to work on a journal with which was cool. Oh and I ate my own body weight in frites & mayo.

Heading home we hit rush hour outside Brussels and then the car wouldn't start at the service station. It seemed like a heat soaked starter motor, as we had a slightly longer coffee break and it cranked nicely. This was the only foible in over 1000 miles of motoring at speed and a respectable 19mpg. Dover & back we got 24mpg at a steady motorway speed. The Corvette really impressed, it was very comfortable. At the ripe old age of 26 and with 6 ferry crossings in the last 4 years on cars/bicycles this was a big bonus! Likewise LHD and switchable imperial/metric instruments. I can't wait to do it again next year!


Luxembourg


Vianden






Arriving at Spa




































Classic parking area


Loved this Capri




Cool 924!


396 Camaro




Ex Le-Mans Peerless




A pair of 964RS'


Poverty spec C4


924 not a lux!


Check out that rear hatch...


Lynx Eventer


I wasn't the only thing from Wales


Travelling in style!












Liked this Bastos liveried Camaro


Typical MG










Almost as intense as our last splash 'n' dash before the ferry!






Liked this Camaro more!






Don't worry, it's KPH


Sigh of relief!

v8250

2,747 posts

240 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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Felix, you have some truly splendid shots there. I like your eyes approach to framing the shot.

duka

431 posts

249 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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v8250 said:
Felix, you have some truly splendid shots there. I like your eyes approach to framing the shot.
Agreed, looks like a great trip & great photos!

Renn Sport

2,761 posts

238 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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Awesome... I went a few years ago now in my friends early 911. Next year I'll be taking my sons in the our 911 or 55 Chevy.

Thanks for posting!

oilybits

4 posts

141 months

Friday 23rd September 2016
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Great pics, you've really captured the atmosphere! Been over to Spa for the F1 a couple of times, but this looks like another level altogether. Just got to drop a V8 into the MGB and we're away, this is definitely one for the calendar. And the Ring is 1 hour from Spa ....