Spa-Francorchamp

[Templar245]

Me and a friend have got a track day at Spa next weekend. Does anyone have any tips please? Will an Atom 3 go through Eau Rouge flat? Any help would be appreciated! 

[Monza]

of course you can enter Eau Rouge flat.
The only problem will be that you'll never find the exit ! 

There are several video of Spa in an Atom, like this one :
Ariel Atom Spa 2011 Tinseau track days

[Templar245]

Cheers mate I will check it out., I though I might be able to just wanted to check before hand. thanks for your help!

[speedmachine]

Havent driven the atom there yet but i think the atom misses some downforce in some fast pieces of the track. Which could make it even better to drive it there, but flat through eau rouge doesnt seem like a real option

[wasp]

You'd do well to send a PM to one of the guys who have just come back. Ian (Flying Trotter) has now been there as many times as most UK drivers, so has very relevant Atom 3 experience.

Spa is a total hoot in an Atom but its aero deficiencies naturally compromise it in the quicker stuff (and the Kemel Straight can get frustrating). That said, it more than makes up for it under braking and through the twistier corners.

If you have any intentions of going flat chat through Eau Rouge, please can you video it and tell us what it was like when you get back from hospital

As you've never been there before, get some tuition, it will be the the best £50 you've ever spent.

Cheers,
Stu

[FlyingTrotter]

thanks Karl - OP see the other thread with some footage and more coming up over the weekend

my own experience (fresh from just coming back and with all due disclaimers - it was bone dry, hot, good sticky tyres, no oil,car well maintained etc etc ) is I was able to turn in to Eau Rouge in 6th flat to the floor catching left wheels on the curbing, brake and change down and then power up in 5th tracking the edge of the right curb

there is a lot of compression in the well of the corner but personally with my limited talent I felt I was doing pretty well when being able to get on the power in 5th as quickly as I was - I do not believe I would have been able to get through flat and when I tried 6th with a sharp brake the result was a slower time than changing down when braking and powering up hill in 5th

all of this was the result of 3 sessions of tuition from Scotty Dog who was superb

each to their own I guess and have fun whatever you try but for goodness sake go steady and take it progressively as you build up your attack on the corner as a big off there is not going to be pretty - a guy went off in his white GT3 when we were there and it was a painful one - as I recall it was one of the few red light stoppages as they could not do a live recovery under whites

[FlyingTrotter]

and keep in mind Lee was in a Mugen and both Bill and I were in 3 300's on 2 of the hottest days you can ever expect to get at Spa which probably makes quite a difference to the assessment - flat through Eau Rouge in a 245 seems tough to me in the dry - in the wet at Spa it would near to complete madness as the left curb would be out of play and you would then be concentrating on threading a line thought the curbing on either side and almost certainly going very easy on the power as the car gets light - let us know how you go

[Templar245]

That's great FlyingTrotter, I will bear that in mind as it's looking like it may well be wet. As ever in the atom I will build gently. A friend is coming with me and he's got the loan of a hi def camera so I will post the vid for everyone. :-) I'm a qualified racing driver so I'm not too concerned about my ability but will certianly be careful!

[FlyingTrotter]

Whatever the weather you'll have a great time but reverting to the original question flat in 6th on A048s or 888's is very hard to imagine in the wet even with a perfect set up and Vettel in the drivers seat

Do please report back

[Templar245]

I'm on the A048's at the moment. And I will get back to you once I've returned.
Balls to Vettel, Simon's better than Newey ;-) but yeah if it's wet I might have to switch to the road tyres which would be a shame. Still never mind. Thanks again. :-)

[FlyingTrotter]

If by "road tyres" you mean those Toyo things my personal view would get rid of them and arm yourself with some proper wets - I have the Dunlop chappies (which I think are superb and were fantastic at Spa last year in the wet) - Avon do some which need the Dymags to fit and then there are the new Yoko wets developed for the Atom Cup series (can punters buy them Tom ??)

Seriously some folk love tail out action but surely a place like Spa is more fun with grip - you can play at sliding in a car park IMHO

[Templar245]

Yeah the toyo's I have. However I'm broke so no new tyres for me I'm afraid. I might stick with
AO48's really depends on the weather. I'll leave it as long as possible before making a decision.
We're leaving on Friday racing on Sunday... It might be dry and it might not. No weather report can ever be that accurate
more than a week ahead of time.

[Templar245]

Hi guys as promised is my video of my track day. if you don't have much time the faster stuff is towards the end. it's not flat out as we had 463 miles to get back home just in case anyone wants to have a go at me... 

Ariel Atom 3 at Spa-Francorchamp Circuit


Templar245