Spa-Francochamps Circuit

What is your favorite track in

Europe? Spa-Francorchamps.

I'll say that.

Okay, who was guiding and was the biggest influence in your racing career before you moved to the U.S.?

Spa-Francorchamps, the last weekend of July 1995.

Something tall and white comes over the crest of Radeon with an inside wheel hanging in the air, and the grandstand starts to applaud.

Down its flank runs the rails for a sliding door.

If you ever sat in the back of a people carrier on a family holiday, the roof was a long way above your head.

And on a motorway slip road, taken a bit too quick, the whole car leaned over and stays there for a while.

That was the shape Kronos was sending to Spa-Francorchamps.

A circuit full of fast, long, loaded corners for 24 hours against the factory teams.

The entry went in under the name Peugeot Talbot Belgique, race number 86.

motorsport heaven on

earth, Spa-Francorchamps.

Francais Mathieu Vesuvier took second win of the season ahead of winner in Monte Carlo, Jasmin Joffer.

English driver Dean Stoneman was third.

As Bruce Giovanni mentioned, it's the second pole of the year, so Imola and now Barcelona.

They did take a win at Spa-Francorchamps, but interestingly, it just shows you how valuable qualifying is, or rather not, because they came from 15th on the grid last year.

on that occasion, to win the six hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

It's the six hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar tomorrow.

And with a race that's going to be a real leveller because of the conditions we're expecting, I mean, it might be the pole car that wins PMAT, but equally it could be somebody from 15th, 16th or lower to take the victory.

What makes a good track? What are the elements that stand out, the great tracks from the average tracks and the boring tracks? And one of the critical things is elevation.

If you think of Spa-Francorchamps, why is it so great? Think of Suzuka, think of Austin.

All of these tracks have big elevation, which changes things.

And there is no shortage of elevation at the new Rwanda track.

In fact...

It's going to break the record in F1, almost twice as much elevation in terms of how much you rise over a lap compared to Spa-Francorchamps.

Yeah, it certainly seems to be a promising event and a lot of work to be done, but I don't think there's any doubt that they're serious about it and it will happen.

There's a lot going on in Rwanda that shows they can pull off this kind of thing.

They're looking at a track that is going to have an elevation change of 200 meters.

Compare that to the magnificence of Spa-Francorchamps, which only has an elevation of around 100 meters.

It promises so much.

Let's hope it delivers.

So it's 260 kilometres or 160 miles in Monaco.

If the Grand Prix distance is met in half a lap... for example, a Spa-Francorchamps, very long circuit, seven kilometers, then they tend to round up.

So they would round up to the greater number of laps.

So the lap distance in Spa is 44.

Sam?

Um, Spa-Francorchamps.

Spa-Francorchamps is a correct answer.

Uh, 152.5 points there.

[laughs] Of course.