The final main day of our holiday, and what a way to finish – with a full on day of racing, culminating in Tom’s first ever Grand Prix!

Another early start was needed, this time with the first alarm sounding at a very dark 5:30am.  Needless to say, we ignored it for half an hour, before rising, rushing round and being out of the door by 6:45.

Today the organisers were out in force and we were directed to a car park that we hadn’t used before.  The good news was the “laissez-passer” card that the cottage owners had provided us with (normally just an access pass for locals) seemed to let us park for free too!  The bad news was that the car park was nearly a mile from our entrance, the time was marching on and the queues were growing!  Unable to keep up with Tom’s long strides, I eventually encouraged him to forge ahead, in order to grab us a spot in the line.  When I caught him up, there were already nearly 500 people waiting.  The gates opened shortly afterwards, and Tom again headed off with his faster legs to grab our favoured spot.  The bank was already heaving, but he managed to find us a place with fantastic views, if on a bit of slope (he was very gentlemanly and let me have the slightly flatter bit for my chair though!).  Evidently you need to be in the queue by about 6am to get the most comfortable positions, but we were quite pleased with our little area and luckily everyone in front of us was sitting on the ground (rather than chairs), so it was probably better in lots of ways.  We could also see the next corner much better, where most of the over-taking took place.

The fog this morning was thick and low and, when we’d first parked up, we’d even wondered if we’d be able to see the track!  However, it lifted quickly and, surprisingly (considering the horrendous forecast and violent thunderstorms last night), stayed dry; we even had some moments of blue sky and sunshine!

After the customary jam sandwiches, I settled down for my customary nap!  We didn’t have long to wait until the first race today though – GP3.  As we mentioned yesterday, this provided some exciting and close racing, as the cars are identical.

Next was another thrilling GP2 race, followed by the Porsche Supercup.  More tight action!  English drivers won both the GP2 and GP3 races, to the delight of the heavily British populated crowd.  The flags for the top three in the Porsche race also made us smile, as they were for three different countries but all red and white!

In between races, we amused ourselves with more people watching.  The “healthy living” couple from yesterday were back, with their bags of salad and incessant “us” photos!  Next to us were a group of Spanish, dreadlocked men, who were busy perving on the scantily clad women in the crowd, either by ogling, taking numerous photos or peering through binoculars.  One of them also had a weird (and very cool) caterpillar thing crawl on it’s hand, which also kept us entertained for a while.  To our left was an English family, the mother of which spent virtually the entire Grand Prix sitting down with her eyes tightly shut and her fingers in her ears!

In addition, there was much comedy provided by the patch of grass across the track from us.  There is evidently a route up through the forest to this point, which about 50 people had discovered and decided took them to a good place to view the race from.  Security, however, thought differently, and a man on a quad bike arrived several times to move them on (to a mix of cheers and boos from our crowd).  Some of the spectators opposite had set up whole camps with shelters and flags tied to the fence, so it took them quite some time to pack up.  At one point, the security bloke was hanging around to check no-one came back; what he didn’t know was that one bloke was lurking just in the trees a little further up the straight, drinking beer and enjoying the track action – the crowd were in stitches!  After moving people on several times, he seemed to give up and, unsurprisingly, about 12 of them re-appeared about 10 minutes before the Grand Prix was due to begin (bowing to the cheers and applause from the crowd).  He never came back and they settled down happily to enjoy the race!

I also managed to provide some entertainment of my own for the crowd – once by sliding right onto my backside on my way back to my seat, and once by exploding my alcohol free beer by pouring it into my water bottle and gently shaking it to try and make it a bit less fizzy – woops.  There was one comment about the champagne moment coming a little too early!  Those who know me well will be able to imagine quite how red I went!

Thankfully (after an impressive Drivers’ Parade, with each one in a classic car, rather than the traditional flat bed lorry), the Grand Prix soon started to detract from my idiocy, and what a Grand Prix it was!  Although Vettel soon took the lead and kept a good gap to second for the entire race, there was plenty of action, overtaking and excitement further down the field (especially for me, as a Jenson Button fan, as he went up and down and up and down the places all through the 90 minutes).  Picking a DRS zone was a good move, as lots of the passing happened right in front of our eyes (although it’s a bit depressing that the best photo I have of Button from the weekend is of him being passed by Webber!).  We were also glad that we had a screen.  It’s completely amazing watching the live action in front of your eyes, but it’s also good knowing what’s happening during the rest of the lap.  The hour and a half passed really quickly and the race was soon over.  Wanting to avoid the traffic (and knowing that the interviews would be impossible and frustrating to listen to with the ridiculously unreliable tannoy system), we packed up straight after and headed back to our cottage.

I was feeling really quite emotional.  This holiday has been really quite unbelievable and the thought that it’s nearly over is very sad.  However, a nice cold beer in the garden (finished inside as the threatened rain finally arrived), followed by another lovely evening in by a raging fire, along with the thoughts that we’ll definitely be doing something like this again has soon perked me up. 🙂

We better get packed up really!  Tomorrow will involve a quick trip to the supermarket to buy any last minute wine that we think we might be able to squeeze in, a drive to Calais, a ferry, a drive to Canterbury and another lovely evening with Ju and Rich (who are very kindly putting us up again), so we’re not heading home quite yet.

And, when we do, what a lot of utterly amazing memories we’ll have!  🙂

TOM:- Well, what a day!  My first Grand Prix and I really enjoyed it!  Yes, it was a long day, but the excitement and atmosphere throughout was excellent.  The weather stayed good and the racing from all four marques was of a high calibre.  The GP3 and F1 will remain my favourite from the weekend, but the drivers parade was very special in the vintage cars also!  Much more special than them being carried around on a flat bed truck.  This holiday has been so memorable, that it’ll be with us for years to come.  The scenery, the roads, the food and the wine have all been above expectation by some margin.

We’ve still got a couple of updates to do to tie off the blog, but thank you to all those that have kept up with our travels, and we hope to do another one in the future! 🙂

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Another early start today, although maybe 15 minutes or so later than yesterday.  This was partly due to our sleepiness when the alarm went off at 6am, and partly due to having to turn back when I remembered that we’d forgotten the sun cream (not that we ended up needing it!).

After much deliberation last night, we’d decided to return to our first viewing spot from yesterday, between Eau Rouge and Les Combes.  We think this will be our place for tomorrow too, especially as the straight is a DRS zone (for non-F1 fans, this hopefully means that there will be lots of over-taking right in front of us!).  Unlike yesterday, the gates were already open when we arrived at around 7:25 and our bank was already beginning to fill up, but we grabbed a good place for our chairs and settled down.  Within about 10 minutes of tucking into our breakfast of jam butties, I was fast asleep – early mornings really don’t suit me!  When I woke up properly (nearly an hour later), I couldn’t believe how busy it was!  We were surrounded by fans from all over Europe and enjoyed listening to the different languages that were being chattered away in.

First was qualifying for this afternoon’s GP3 race.  We’ve been really quite impressed by the speed and the quality of driving in both this and the GP2 series, but the GP3 is particularly close because the cars are identical, so it’s just down to set up and driver skill.

Next came the final practice for the F1 cars.  The crowd were most enthusiastic, with plenty of huge flags being waved and lots of cheering (particularly for the Ferraris).  Although it was grey, the weather had stayed fine and the session was busy with cars pouring round the track.

Then lunch.  A grand prix is definitely a good place to go if you enjoy people watching, and this weekend has been no exception.  Formula 1 fans are a very mixed breed.  You have the over-prepared groups, with everything from huge cool boxes tied to long wooden poles or pulled on sack trolleys, to tarpaulins with string to create huge shelters from the rain.  Then you have the people in shorts and t-shirts who are sitting on bits of cardboard!  Near us today were a big groups of lads who had been drinking since dawn (I don’t understand getting drunk at such an exciting event – they won’t remember any of it!).

However, in front of us was a couple of health enthusiasts who only drank water and their lunch gave us a good half hour of entertainment.  They started with rice cakes.  Next, she took an avocado from their cool bag, which she proceeded to chop neatly (to the amusement of the possibly-German couple sitting next to them, who were munching on cured sausages!).  She then shared this between two large sandwich bags of salad (his slightly larger), before producing another sandwich bag that contained a jar of home-made salad dressing, which she added to her concoctions.  They finally sat and delicately ate their way through their lunch, using proper forks of course!  We ate our sandwiches quite happily!

Other amusing sights included a beer trolley being pulled that the wheels weren’t bolted on to but simply rested on the splines – this meant that every 5-10 yards, either one or both of the wheels fell off!  We also enjoyed watching several drunk people try to stagger their way up the steep bank below us to the path behind us – each successful assent caused a rapturous applause from the crowd.

Tom decided that this was a good time for a nap, but his sleep was rudely interrupted by howls of laughter from both me and the rest of the crowd.  The tannoy system has been unreliable all weekend, with it cutting out frequently and at the most inopportune moments, but this one was definitely the funniest: the commentator was heard to say, “If you’re having trouble hearing our commentary, you can tune your radios to 87 point –“  Helpful!

After the Porsche Supercup qualifying came the main event – F1 Quali!  Just as the 10 minute announcement was given, the heavens opened and the track was drenched – perfect timing; this was going to be an exciting session!  Umbrellas and waterproofs were quickly deployed, with the family in front of us wrapping themselves in their tarpaulin, but the shower didn’t last too long, so the times quickly tumbled and your time depended on what point you braved slick tyres (with most people waiting, until Webber was the first guinea pig).  There were a couple of surprises through to second quail, but the top runners were as expected.

The second session was dry and reasonably predictable, although a couple of big names gave us a fright by leaving it until the last minute!

At 2:45, the commentators announced that rain was due at 3pm, about 30 seconds before the downpour began again!  Although it was again reasonably short lived, it made for another exciting 10 minutes!  Again, times tumbled as the 10 cars that were left created a dry line around the track, and we were amazed how soon they braved the slicks.  It seemed a foregone conclusion that Vettel would be on pole, but Hamilton clinched it in the dying seconds.  Whether wet (most likely) or dry, tomorrow’s race is going to be thrilling!

There were still GP2 and GP3 races to go, but many people disappeared after the F1 was finished, leaving us with even better views.  GP2 was eventful and amusing, mainly due to the terrible pit-stops (they’d be fired in F1!).  We had decided to leave after the start of the GP3 race, but the first 10 minutes were really eventful, with two periods of safety cars.  At one point one of the back wings flew off a damaged car on the straight right in front of us!  My heart stopped as it looked like it was going to be flung straight over the fence opposite, but it thankfully landed miles before and a marshal was quickly dispatched to rescue it (they’re a brave breed).  Knowing we needed both fuel and an early night, we headed off before the end of the race, with a quick detour to Stavelo for petrol on our way back to the cottage.

I began writing this blog entry in the garden, with a nice glass of Crémant d’Alsace.  As I began to type, the black clouds and rumbling thunder rolled in from all directions, and 15 minutes ago I had to beat a hasty retreat inside as the huge raindrops began to fall.  We’ve been watching an epic storm through the patio doors, which is still raging on.  Just another memorable experience to add to the ridiculous amount that we’ve had so far already this holiday.  We can’t wait for the race tomorrow, but also can’t believe this amazing experience is coming to an end.  I don’t think it’ll be long before we begin planning for the next one 🙂

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Utterly amazing as this holiday has been, it’s also been non-stop, so it’s been nice to have a couple of quieter mornings, with no check-out or breakfast deadlines to meet!  After another leisurely breakfast basking in the sun on the patio, we enjoyed looking through and editing yesterday’s photos.  I’d taken rather a lot (both of cars and flora and fauna), so it took me rather a while!  We then headed out to do a shop that will hopefully keep us going for most of the F1 weekend, as the days are going to be long.  This took rather more time than we’d expected.  The first supermarket we headed to (in Stavelot) was clearly too small, then the one we ended up in (in Malmedy) was ridiculously huge, with so much choice that you didn’t know where to start!  We didn’t get back to the cottage until 3pm, when we had hoped to be setting off for the circuit!  Ah well, we quickly unpacked the shopping,  wolfed down some lunch, checked directions for the entrance and were out of the house again before 3:30!

Along with our weekend F1 tickets was the promise of an opportunity to explore the pits on the Thursday.  We’d been rather excited when we’d discovered this, as the pits at a Grand Prix are normally a seriously no-go area for the general public (unless you’re seriously loaded!), but we weren’t really sure what to expect.

As we descended down the main street of Francorchamps , we were surprised by the hoards heading in the same direction!  Maybe this wasn’t going to be quite as exclusive as we had possibly imagined!  We spent a little too long trying to find a car park (due to me being rather indecisive), but eventually plumped for the circuit one.  This actually turned out to be a good choice, as it was free today (unlike the local ones, who were charging 10 Euros).  From there, it was only about a 10 or 15 minute walk to the La Source entrance, where we joined with a few thousand other fans queuing to enter!  It was a lively and eclectic group of people from all over Europe, with many English fans – I suppose it’s our next closest race after Silverstone – but all very civilised, and it moved enough for us not to become frustrated.

Within about 45 minutes, we were in.  First, we had to walk across the track at the first corner, which was very cool!  The pit lane, as you can imagine, was heaving with fans snapping away.  Due to the crowds, it was a bit difficult to get close to the garages or the drivers, but we did manage to capture Gutierrez, di Resta, Rosberg and Webber (either with Tom stretching up over the heads of others, or me clambering the fence!).  The atmosphere was exciting and seeing the pits, front wings, cars and drivers up close was a great experience!

Nearing the end of the pit lane, we saw Mark Webber flying past everyone on his (very expensive looking) bike, and, at one point, being chased by a slightly mad fan!  It appeared that he was off to cycle a lap of the track, so we decided to wait near the entrance to the pits to snap him on his return.  As we waited, many people seemed to be finishing jogging a lap – no mean feat, as it’s just under 5 miles and incredibly steep in parts!  Webber soon returned, with a big grin for his fans, and we managed to get much better photos than earlier.

We walked back up the hill to the car and headed back to the cottage.  SATNav took us down the route to the circuit that we had planned on walking tomorrow.  After seeing quite how far and how unbelievably steep it is just to get to the entrance (let alone the amount of walking we’ll do trying to find the best spot at the circuit), I suggested that maybe we should drive to the car park right by the gate instead.  I think Tom was a little bit more convinced as we descended the hilly road back to the cottage!

An early start awaits us in the morning, as we intend on being parked up and at the gate ready for the circuit opening at 7:30 am, so we better finish packing up our bags for the day and get some dinner on ready for an early night.  Live F1 tomorrow – woohoo!

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