Spa-Francorchamps : Dan Gurney and Paul Frère

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. One of the most famous, historical and scenic race circuit in the world, it was orginially longer and faster than it is now. Sometimes called "The Temple of speed".

It was a place where pilots skills and cars were challenged and where champions could express their art. Two famous drivers, the Belgian Paul Frère (1917-2008 - Winner of the 24H of Le Mans in 1960) and the American Dan Gurney, were reunited in Spa-Francorchamps in May 2002 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Dan Gurney's victory in Spa with his Eagle Weslake.

I was attending the event and could picture Dan Gurney in his Eagle starting for a lap of the circuit after being officialy announced and presented to the public . He also was welcomed and congratulated by the famous Belgian pilot and journalist Paul Frère as seen on the second picture.

The Circuit was impressive, starting on the downslope going into the high speed uphill Eau Rouge before winding it's way through the mountains to Les Combes, where it took a left hand sweep downhill towards the high speed Burneville and Malmedy right handers leading onto the long Masta straight, interrupted only by the masta kink chicane. After the long straight the Sweeping High Speed Stavelot curve that led onto a high speed section that swept it's way uphill through the lightning-quick Carriere and Blanchimont curves leading to "La Source" a hairpin at the top of the hill and end of the lap before plunging back downhill to start another 14 kilometer adventure through the pine forests.

It is after his crash in Spa in 1966 that Jackie Stewart started his action to improve Circuits security.

We are able to travel back in time thanks to the magic images of the 1966 film "Grand Prix" from John Frankenheimer.

The race was filmed for the motion picture Grand Prix. The eight minute segment of the 1966 film uses a combination of live footage and mocked up racing scenes. The live footage shows, Surtees, Bonnier, Bandini, Ligier, Clark & Gurney in action. Surtees doubles in the scene for the fictional Sarti while Bandini doubles for the fictional Barlini. The film is careful not to pick up Jackie Stewart in action as he doubles for the fictional character Stoddard, who at this point in the film is recovering from a near fatal crash earlier in the season. James Garner's white Yamura (Honda) no 24 did not appear in the actual race and scenes showing it are part of the staged race filming.Now, you are ready to experience the old track