This was my fourth year running so i've got to know the place pretty well in that time and certainly have the hang of the circuit now. I was actually a bit worried as this was my first time there in the NA. Back in 2002 i took Yummy (180bhp SC), then in 2003, DJ (same engine as Yummy) then last year i was out in a caterham superlight (133bhp & 500kgs), so i did have my reservations that a 120bhp MR2 might struggle a bit given how fast Spa is. Well i needn't have worried, despite having the slowest car
(in a straightline) there and mixing it with radicals and full on race porker turbos and the like, my little NA really did very well for itself. I was on a mission to see if i could still take Eau Rouge at 110mph on the turn-in despite having skinny 185s running A539s (which aren't the grippiest tyre). Well the first couple of goes saw me run straight over on the top of Eau Rouge, ie running over the top left kerb, but with some perserverance and getting an idea as to how the car handled i progressively increased the speed until i was getting to the point where i was barely lifting right at the foot of Eau Rouge. You really have to push the car into Eau Rouge and hook up as close as you can to the kerbing for as long as possible as there is a slight camber into the corner right next to the white line which allows you to stay there longer than you'd ordinarily think. Even though once the corner starts to level off near the top, then the grip basically evaporates in an instant as the car loses the compression which pushes it into the tarmac. At the this point a quick flick of opposite lock is essential and then the car regains its composure and you have to flick it through the left right at the top at around 100mph in my car. Well i did get it, absolutely flat all the way from La Source right through Eau Rouge, it was definately more of a challenge on the skinnier tyres as the car was all over the place. Absolutely top fun though!
Pouhon is another one of those mega corners that makes Spa such an essential for anyone who likes driving their car, it really is a ballsy corner.
Being a very fast double left hander thats downhill and a bit off camber its a real test of bottle as though the entry is relatively slow (in my car 85mph), by the time you get halfway round, your speed creeps up to over 90 and because its so long, if your initial turn-in is out by a foot then by half way round you are out by three feet and well you can guess the rest!! The utterley brilliant thing about is that as you run the outside kerbing halfway round it the car really starts to accelerate toward the second (or really the only apex) apex of Pouhon, at this point the rear end is really starting to jiggle around and its a wonderful feeling when you are just balancing the car on the throttle and just not moving the steering yet the car is moving around it as you adjust your right foot.. simply amazing that corner. Even Blanchimont which is a fast left hander that seems to tighten on the exit, was only just flat out in the NA at 110mph.
It was of course the tyres again as i've done it at 115mph in the SC running stickier wider tyres, but it was just so much better with the stock rims and the lack of grip of the A539s, as it turned the corner into sheer drama as the the rear end would seriously start to wiggle just as you came out to the exit curb. Brilliant.Of course just about every other corner also has its challenges and Spa is one of those circuits where one corner very much flows to the next, so its a great place once you get a rythm going and you get into the ebb and flow of the track.
. Anyways, you've probably guessed, I rather enjoyed myself!
Any pics/videos