Nathan Hughes

Spa-Francorchamps. The very pronunciation of the word is enough to send shivers down the spine of any motorsport enthusiast. A 4.3 miles blast through the Ardennes Mountains, corners such as Blanchimont, Pouhon and of course, Eau Rouge are part of motorsport folklore.

What makes Spa so special? Well to answer that question you must look at several factors. Firstly of course; the weather. The track is located deep in the mountains and weather forecasts do not apply, as it has its own micro-climate. Its sheer length also means that it is quite feasible that it can be raining in one area of the track and dry in an other, as last years race proved. Rarely does a Belgian Grand Prix weekend pass without a sprinkling of rain, and sometimes such as in 1998 it hoses it down for the entire weekend. The first practice session gone by was once again rain hit. The track is difficult enough without it being wet, and even if the rain holds off, temperatures are always traditionally very low, making grip hard to come by, Brawn for example are very concerned about the amount of heat they will be able to get into their tyres this weekend. Someone once said about Spa, if its dry, expect drama and if its wet, expect chaos.

I personally believe that what makes Spa such a great track is the sheer thrill of it. Spa is a drivers circuit, one of very few of them that are left these days. You simply cannot put it in the same category as the 'go kart' track we saw in Valencia last week. Spa is a circuit that all the drivers look forward to, the thrill of going flat out through Eau Rouge simply cannot be beaten. Sure, when things go wrong at Spa, they tend to go badly wrong. No-one will forget Luciano Burti's horrific 180mph smash at Blanchimont in 2001, or Jaques Villeneuve's at Eau Rouge in 1999 and of course, the 'daddy of them all' the mass start line crash in the deluge of 1998. However, the thought of those incidents of the past, only add to the thrill that the drivers feel when they exist La Source and begin another lap of the great track.

Finally, Spa is great for fans. It is easily accessible from most of Europe, by car, train or plane and most importantly is priced reasonably compared to some of the races (hang your head in shame Silverstone). The views offered are some of best of any track and the general atmosphere is always lively.

Financially, the track had had its problems in the past few years, but I'm sure I echo the views of all of Formula One by hoping it stays on the calendar as long as this great sport is in existence. We go to too many commercialised tracks nowadays which offer no sense of thrill to the driver. Spa does, and I love it!