Located in Stavelot, Belgium, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit was first opened in August of 1921, establishing a 14.982 25 turn circuit consisting of public roads through the local townships of Francorchamps, Malmedy & Stavelot creating an incredibly fast, exhilarating experience for all drivers who were willing to conquer it. The circuit has undergone considerable changes in the post war era, now established as a permanent 7.004 kilometre circuit consisting of 20 corners including the famous Eau Rouge, Raidillon & Blanchimont corners.

This week, championship leader and TTR stalwart Jake Burton takes us through what it takes to master one of the most demanding circuits on the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup calendar.

1. Setting a valid Qualifying Lap

Across a lap at Spa there are so many places where you’re penalized for exceeding track limits. There are sizable gains at La Source, Eau Rouge, No Name, Pouhon, Stavelot and Blanchimont in opening the steering and exceeding the track limits, but doing so in qualifying will invalidate your lap. Such a long lap means you won’t get many opportunities to set a time, so ensuring you do a fast lap but importantly, a clean lap, will prevent a disaster in qualifying.

2. Striking a balance with wing angle

Across the last 12 months, we’ve seen many drivers and teams starting to play with rear wing angle to develop a straight line advantage in their setup. Spa has many long straights where you could certainly benefit from running a low-drag setup, but also has many high load corners such as Eau Rouge, Pouhon and Blanchimont where you want maximum downforce. Finding the ‘sweet spot’ between drag and downforce will be critical to developing a fast but agile racecar around this track.

3. Using the draft

There is a huge gain to be found at Spa in tow. Up to 0.5 seconds in qualifying, which can mean the difference between mid pack and the front. It’s difficult to balance however, as in some of the faster corners later in the lap, being too close to the car in front creates huge aero-wash. The drivers who maximize the use of the tow, will be the ones who leave enough gap to not catch the car in front, but also not too far so there is no tow benefit. You also need to depend on the car you’re following being fast enough to pull you along and not make any mistakes - this will benefit larger teams.

4. Fuel saving

With so many long straights and braking zones, accompanied with a strong tow from the draft, fuel saving will play a big element in this race. Don’t be surprised if you see drivers not wanting to lead early in the race, as the draft is too powerful to drive away, and punching a hole for everyone else will just leave you swamped when it’s time to pit. It’s also critical that if you save fuel the whole race, you take enough to drive home from your last stop at full tilt. This is an easy way to get caught out and one that I’ve learned the hard way.

5. Defense

When it gets to the last few laps of the race, the draft is so strong that it’s pretty easy to pass even if you’ve got worse tyres and less pace. If you’re leading the train you’ve got to be ready to put your car in the right place and pull other people up at the apex and stop them from getting an overlap on the inside. It’s so easy to lose 2-3 spots in one corner by getting freight trained due to the long corners at this track, so not letting anyone get past will be key in the dying stages.