Archived entries to our liveblog from our trip to Spa-Francorchamps with Gran Turismo Events can be found here, posted chronologically oldest first.
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Sunday: 1945h, Hotel de La Source
So our first day on Spa has drawn to a close and, bar a few splatters of molten rubber up its flanks, the little Elise has come out tip-top. I still don't know what caused that little hiccup but it happened once again and under exactly the same circumstances; trailing the brakes with my left foot and picking up the throttle with my right through Pouhon. No idea why this would cause a mental breakdown in the Lotus's ECU but coasting into the run-off and turning it off and on again cured it. And I packed in my attempts at pretentious pedal work and got on with driving normally.
It's just a lovely little package the Lotus. Fast enough to be fun, massively transparent when you approach the limit and with stability control that's more helping hand than wagged finger. Out of the tight chicane and La Source too you could rotate it nicely on the throttle in second gear. Not skids or anything uncouth, just a bit of power to neutralise the understeer out of these slow corners. And with the soft springing you could get very greedy with the unloaded wheels over the kerbs too. 110mph out of Eau Rouge and 120mph on the exit of Pouhon aren't speeds to be sniffed at either and having kept an eye on the tyre pressures the Yokohama AD07s look fine after a day of abuse. Such is the beauty of a light car - our GT-R owning friend did a set of brake discs and last time Danny was here in the Megane 265 (lapping at a similar pace to the Lotus in around three and a bit minutes) his tyres were done after the morning session. Only the pitiful fuel tank was a pain - having experienced fuel starvation half way down Fuchsrore at the 'ring in an Exige I know it can be an issue but with a 43.5-litre tank you're forever topping it up. Spa's on-site filling station did well out of us.
Lordy there were some fast cars out though. The Ferrari Challenge cars, R8 LMS and Gallardo Trofeo were all mighty and if you saw a big wing in your mirrors it was time to duck out of the way. But it was great to see F12s, 599 GTOs and others all being used in anger too. Best noise of the day? For me the buzz-saw madness of a GT3 RS 4.0. Chris, you shouldn't have sold it... I was gutted too when later in the day a 4C went out on track. I caught up with him at Blanchimont and was ready for a duel but he pulled off into the pits and that was all I saw of him. Pity.
We were the last ones on track though, seeing out the day in the Lotus until they told us to stop. And now a shift change. The high rollers are packing up and all around Francorchamps Renaultsports are arriving. We'll be joining them tomorrow and giving the Lotus a well-earned rest.
Thanks to the guys at GranTurismo Events for having us!
So the morning session has finished and the Lotus has only (nearly) conked out on us once. I was braking into Pouhon and when I picked up on the power there was none and a wee spanner symbol appeared on the dash. Yes, I know the acronym... We limped round the rest of the lap, eventually at a rather scary 20mph trundle. Once back in the pits tried the old IT solution of turning it off and back on again and it's been fine ever since. Phew!
Other than that the little Elise has been brill. Any thoughts of chasing down supercars has been abandoned - Spa's one of the few tracks where a properly fast car can go properly fast - but the Lotus is a heap of fun. Linear is the word, the steering effort, damping, throttle and brakes all beautifully harmonised. Someone from Alfa Romeo needs to have a go with one of these before any more 4C's are signed off from the line... Only the new 1.8 Toyota engine's meaner top-end really spoils the fun; the old high-rev effervescence of the 2ZZ-GE in the previous Elise SC and supercharged Exiges had another 2,000rpm of pull and the three shift-up warning lights appear rather sooner than you'd hope. The trade off is that it pulls harder from high gears, short shifting into Stavelot one area where this pays off.
And what of our high roller track companions? The Gumpert did a few thunderous laps before being loaded back onto its truck. And though we signed up to the usual overtake on the left, by consent, track day rules it seems this doesn't apply if your car has a roll cage and air jacks. There are a few Porsche Cup cars, Ferrari Challenge 458s, a Lamborghini Trofeo racer and an R8 LMS out on track too and they're not in the mood to back off. If it's got a big wing get out of the way, basically. Great to see F12s being let off the leash too, blimey those things go.
What's that? It's just started raining? Ah...
Sunday: 0730h, Hotel de La Source
God, I'd forgotten how tedious the drive across Belgium is. There was a spell when I was doing this three or four times a year but it's been a while and I haven't missed that seemingly endless stretch of bumpy, noisy concrete that runs from Calais to the turn-off for Verviers, Spa and then the 'ring. Still, the destination is worthwhile!
I especially like the last run into Francorchamps itself, the town's link with its motorsport history deeply embedded and the overhead gantries and signs counting down the distance to the circuit to the last 500m all helping the excitement build.
As I write over breakfast I'm absorbing our first meeting with our fellow Gran Turismo Events attendees. And their cars. When we parked up on arrival there were two F12s parked, bizarrely, next to a Nissan Micra. I asked organiser Peter what a typical car here is. "I'd say 458. It's pretty much the most common car!" Not Elises then? Seems not. But I knew that from the off. As for the drivers it's a pretty international crowd, with lots of Swedes, Dutch and Russians but only one other Brit - our PHer Paul with his GT-R. He loves the events though, treating himself to one a year and says they're the best organised of any such that he's done while laughing that his GT-R is probably one of the cheapest cars here.
Meanwhile Danny has found the grateful recipient of his Radical tyres so the Clio can be unloaded and we're breakfasting counting the number of gentlemen in race suits. Quite a few it turns out, mainly Ferrari ones.
Time to pack up, fuel up and get out there. Keep an eye on @PistonHeads on Twitter and the Facebook page for regular pics with updates to the blog here when we get opportunity/signal.
Motoring Hack Code Of Conduct, section five, appendix VII states as follows: "No motoring journalist undertaking a continental roadtrip of any description may go beyond the port of arrival before distributing an image via the online medium of his/her choosing of his/her vehicle a) in the queue to join Eurotunnel b) loaded onboard the train or c) at the petrol station in Calais with the big 'Bonjour' sign prominent in the background."
Well, just to be on the safe side here's a), b) and c) ticked.
Having abandoned a family gathering (cooking the lunch didn't score anywhere near enough Brownie points to justify legging it while it was on the table) and 'made progress' to Eurotunnel to rendezvous with Danny in the Clio I made it to the train after his and we've met up at aforementioned Bonjour station.
I'd say he's travelling in more comfort than I am but a complicated chain of events involving the Polish importer of Radical also attending the Gran Turismo Events day means he's got seven tyres and an exhaust system in the back of the Renault. And the acrid taste of rubber in his lungs all the way to Spa. Yum.
I, meanwhile, have a set of seats seemingly modelled on those plastic stacking chairs usually found in church halls. Painted the same lurid Daytona Blue as the outside of the Elise. They're actually a lot more comfy than they look - which isn't too much of an achievement, it has to be said. The absurdity of me bouncing along in these while Matt wafts across Europe ahead of me on finest Bentley leather, toes curling into pile carpet as the massage function does its thing is highly amusing. Each of those seats probably weighs as much as the Elise does in total.
Stocked up on fuel, Haribo and Radical tyres it's time to hit the road, head for Spa and join the Gran Turismo guys for dinner. Having had a nervous walk around the car park first to see what the Lotus will be up against on track tomorrow.
So while Matt’s swanning off to
Monza in a Bentley
I’m off to another celebrated European race track in a Lotus. PH – living the dream! Accompanying me will be Danny, custodian of the PH Fleet
Clio Renaultsport 200
which will also be making the trip to Spa.
Both the Elise S Club Racer and the Clio are going to have their work cut out too, if for different reasons. The Lotus will be our ride for Sunday’s track action at Spa, joining the big boys from Gran Turismo Events in their supercars. Knife to a gun fight? Possibly. We’ll see. I’m sure the Lotus will be fun, even if it is outpaced by more glamorous metal. Secretly I’m hoping I’ll get to snap at some heels, though I think PHer Paul Williamson who’s attending in a GT-R will probably leave me for dead on Spa’s fast and flowing layout.
The Elise certainly looks the part though, sitting out there on my driveway in the sunshine. Something about that Daytona Blue paint doesn’t come across in digital photos but it’s a lot more vibrant in real life and looks fab. There’s plenty of it in the interior too. Shy and retiring it ain’t.
Come Monday and the Clio will be on track, also at Spa but this time as part of a Renaultsport track day for owners. Danny and I have attended these before, myself with my old 197 Cup long termer and Danny in the Megane 265 more recently. These two had little to prove but the new Clio 200 faces an uphill struggle steeper than Eau Rouge. Its reception from PHers following Danny’s first report hasn’t exactly been rapturous. Can it win some hearts at Spa? Danny and I are both former Renaultsport Clio owners and fans of the brand so we’ll be hoping so.
And the nice link here, tying our two cars together? The last time Lotus won a Grand Prix at Spa was with Ayrton Senna in 1985. His car? A Lotus-Renault, as depicted in the lead photo.
For archived previous instalments to the liveblog click here.
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