In the dry, in 1962, Jim had won at an average of 133.98 mph – this on a lap that included a 40mph mid-corner speed at La Source hairpin. You could literally confuse amphetamine with going fast, that’s just the effect that pushing down a… Search. Their argument states “Eau Rouge creates a 1.7G compression for drivers in a modern F1 car, throwing them out at the top of the hill — Raidillon — at breathtaking speeds.” Yes, please. Eau Rouge was the scene of several major crashes in the Nineties. Play. Putting it down is still a work in progress, I think. WEST SUSSEX, England - From the INFINITI Q50 Eau Rouge powering up the Goodwood Hill to the latest models for visitors to enjoy, plus guest appearances by some very special VIPs, INFINITI's presence at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend was a resounding success.. With truly something for everyone, INFINITI was front-of-mind for many of the 50,000 car … Sort by. Zero to 100 mph: 8.4 sec Media. The Carlsson Aigner CK65 ”Eau Rouge“ Dark Edition with 756 hp offers a maximum speed of 335 km/h which is electronically regulated due to safety … With the official fastest time of 5.55 and average speed of almost 141km/h. Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, 9 June 1963. "When you attack it flat out, when you get to the bottom of it, your insides drop. 1958 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps. Its maximum speed stated is 290 km/h, which is 180 mph. "When you attack it flat out, when you get to the bottom of it, your insides drop. They should keep the great Recaros, keep the GT-R brakes, keep the suspension tune, and definitely keep the GT-R V-6 (both the Q70 V-8 and a supercharged 3.7-liter V-6 were considered). © Sutton Motorsport Images. In an article published by ESPN , it ranked as the top corner in the sport. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, and 1924 saw the first running of the now famous 24 Hours of Francorchamps race. As for runoff, there are a generous few inches of it here and there, right before the guardrail. Gear: 3. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 15th June 1958. © ©Sutton Motorsport Images. The Q70’s all-wheel-drive system isn’t exactly performance-oriented, so the Eau Rouge sends about 50 percent of its power to the front end. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. The rest of the field followed through La Source. Eau Rouge is unique in the world,” explains Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. On the legendary circuit nestled in the countryside of Belgium’s Ardennes region, a huge compression is combined with cornering at high speed. © Sutton Motorsport Images, The beginning of the decade saw the gravel trap on the outside of the corner replaced with asphalt as the push for improved safety continued, while the support paddock pit lane exit was moved to the inside of the corner. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The engine delivers its power through to the wheels via a 7 speed automatic gearbox. There are a few sections where a brake-tap is mandatory to prevent serious air, as on the “Jaguar corner,” so named because it sent a Jaguar airborne into some trees. The circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1925. Patches are left where the wooden planks scrape the track surface. 0:00. 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. And now that they have titanium skid blocks, the current breed of cars are just as spectacular. Build that. It strikes a great balance between compliance and poise, which is appropriate for the four-door audience. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Eau Rouge has remained broadly the same since the turn of the decade, though the evolution of technology has continued to make it an ever-changing challenge for the drivers. Kaluzny, not wanting to use forced deceleration, went around the outside to keep his speed at 80 mph. "I always enjoy driving here, but it was easy to take Eau Rouge flat today,” Villeneuve said in 2002. “With traction control and high grip it's now the same for everybody." ©Sutton Motorsport Images, Carel Godin de Beaufort (Porsche 718) leads a Ferrari Dino 156 passed the pits towards Eau Rouge. However, not everyone was happy that an element of jeopardy had been removed. "The feeling of the sweep uphill through the corners is just awesome, every time," says Jenson Button. Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Ayrton Senna (BRA) Lotus 98T, who finished the race in second position, sends the sparks flying as he climbs Eau Rouge. However, advances in aerodynamic performance meant that the following year many found that Eau Rouge could indeed be taken flat in top gear on low fuel. Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, 12 June 1966. There are few, if any, better first corners in F1. The tires are another area that might require some tinkering. But now the cars are a bit more stable through there. 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. And then when you get to the top they come back up and it feels like everything will come out of your mouth - which is quite exciting when you are going 200mph!" © LAT Photographic, Tony Brooks (Vanwall) makes his way down the hill towards the towering Eau Rouge. The chicane was part of the initial layout of the track but has undergone some changes over the years. Infiniti, for its part, says that it hasn’t replicated the behavior. Ditto when you roll on the throttle and get a real taste of the 3.8’s talents; that signature intake whoosh paired with brutal acceleration tells your brain this is a GT-R. As you can see, there were initially no barriers at the corner, though a low-level metal Armco barrier was added to the inside of the uphill section in the mid-Fifties. Read about topics like Mid Night Club and underground street racing. Eau Rouge: Renowned for Speed, Commitment and Courage For motor sport aficionados, Eau Rouge, the signature high-speed corner of the famed Spa-Francorchamps race circuit in Belgium, is synonymous with daring, commitment and speed. "Eau Rouge is always the most exciting part of the circuit," Lewis Hamilton concurs. Speed is a drug. The section would return to its visceral best the following year, albeit with additional tyre barriers, gravel traps and run-off areas. Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, 9 June 1963. Godzilla is now family-friendly. 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. Alain Prost approaches Eau Rouge during the 1987 Belgian Grand Prix. © LAT Photographic, Despite the poor weather, a group of spectators have an unparalleled view of the action at the top of Eau Rouge. And gearchanges were programmed to take a while—again, with the hopes that this transmission would last long enough to survive the attentions of a few writers turned loose on Millbrook’s alpine loops. Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Saturday 1 September 2012. Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, 2 September 2001. From a visual point of view, the low-slung cars of the era made the legendary section practically pyrotechnic, with cars spewing out sparks as they hit the compression at the bottom of the hill. Infiniti’s Q50 Eau Rouge concept packs a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 that develops 560 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque. "When you attack it flat out, when you get to the bottom of it, your insides drop. Articles by Atelier Eau Rouge telling stories from the Japanese car culture. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India F1 VJM03), 2010 Belgian Grand Prix. The drivetrain presents more challenges. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F2007) tackles Eau Rouge at great speed. Standing ¼-mile: 12.0 sec Plus—big, wide tires look cool. Weighing more than 2,645 pounds plus driver and fuel, the car's weight is also much higher than in qualifying. best. © LAT Photographic, Heikki Kovalainen kicks up some sparks through Eau Rouge during the © Sutton Motorsport Images, Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari SF15-T at Formula One World Championship, Rd11, Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, Saturday 22 August 2015. That meas, lefthand turn is the name of the river, righthand turn is the steep slope. 2007 Belgian Grand Prix. ©Sutton Motorsport Images, The awesome Eau Rouge corner, 1997. Ref: 3130 - 30A. Hence the steering-system warning light on the dash. 03/01/2019. We may earn money from the links on this page. In its current guise, the Eau Rouge is running the seven-speed torque-converter automatic from the V-8–powered Q70, along with the Q70’s all-wheel-drive system. 1986 Belgian Grand Prix. "If you take away Eau Rouge," the five-time Belgian winner said, "you take away the reason why I do this..." The sad irony was that it was Senna’s death - and the subsequent safety backlash - that led to a chicane being installed at the corner in 1994. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Eddie Cheever(USA) Arrows A10, 4th place at Eau Rouge corner Infusing a Q50 sedan with GT-R guts isn’t quite as easy as fabbing up some new motor mounts, as I discovered at the Millbrook Proving Ground in England. Top speed: 180 mph, FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST): The GT-R, it seems, has a much longer nose than the Q50, so the Eau Rouge needed all new front bodywork to accommodate the cooling apparatus for the 560-hp furnace pushed against the firewall. It launches from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds with no wheelspin and can top out speeds higher than 210 mph (338 km/h). Enjoy! “The challenge is not as it used to be, with the V10s we used to arrive there right on the edge, and in the tyre war days it was quick. Zero to 60 mph: 3.8 sec Speed Comparison: GT vs. F1 through Eau Rouge - Video Jul 18, 2012, 6:38 PM Video comparison of Eau Rouge at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most famous corners in motorsport shows us why F1 cars are the fastest when it comes down to laptime: the insane cornering speed. Now let’s go drive that priceless prototype! The Eau Rouge displayed wonderful agility with instant turn-in, but I think that might be an artifact of the rear-diff behavior along with the relative lack of grip at the back end. Hubert violently struck a barrier near the track's high-speed Raidillon/Eau Rouge complex and was then hit by fellow driver Juan Manuel Correa, sparking a multi-car incident. "Eau Rouge is always the most exciting part of the circuit," Lewis Hamilton concurs. It wouldn’t be a prototype without a few constantly illuminated warning lights. ft/61.2 kgm). It also rarely loses grip in corners due to … Speaking in 2008, Mark Webber said he approved of the changes. But that was the least of Jim Clark’s worries during practice in 1966: "I was taking the hill from Eau Rouge at 130mph and taking my line through the bend when I came across this [road] car moving at a quarter of my speed. Infiniti asked that we use the paddle shifters to manually change gears, in the interest of transmission preservation. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-29 leads Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 W05 through Eau Rouge in 2014. The famous hill of Eau Rouge, 2007. After having negotiated the La Source hairpin, drivers barrel down a straight to the point where the track goes over the Eau Rouge stream for the first time, before being hurled steeply uphill into a sweeping left-right-left combination of corners with a blind summit. As you can see the concept will be lower and wider than the production version Q50 and will include a very aggressive carb… 1962 Belgian Grand Prix. 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. However, when cars first started racing there in the 1920s, Eau Rouge was a sharp left-hander which took the drivers off towards a hairpin in the direction of the German border. © Sutton Images, Mark Webber (right) completes a daring overtake on Fernando Alonso heading into Eau Rouge during the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. My takeaway: Please retain that agility but add some ultimate grip. And then when you get to the top they come back up and it feels like everything will come out of your mouth - which is quite exciting when you are going 200mph! A rear torque bias seems like a must for a car such as this. © Sutton Motorsport Images, The legendary Eau Rouge. ©Sutton Motorsport Images, The remains of Jacques Villeneuve's BAR after his qualifying accident at Eau Rouge in 1999. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren MP4-27. The introduction of the latest generation of power units in 2014 changed the game once more, with the drivers now unanimous in their belief that the legendary corner is a true challenge once more - especially in the wet. © LAT Photographic, Luigi Musso (Ferrari Dino 246) crosses the bridge at the bottom of the hill. Safety precautions at the corner remained minimal at best, with an unforgiving stone wall lining the outside of the bend all the way from the bottom of the hill to Raidillon (the final left-hander at the crest of the hill). ©Sutton Motorsport Images, Winner Michael Schumacher (Ferrari F310B) takes the famous Eau Rouge corner during the 1997 Belgian Grand Prix. ©Sutton Motorsport Images, Gerhard Berger tackles Eau Rouge in 1990. In 1999 the wall was moved back from the inside of the right hander, prompting Jacques Villeneuve to say: “The corner’s easier now - visually it’s not as impressive as it used to be. 98% Upvoted. 0:00. Senna S, Interlagos. ©Sutton Motorsport Images. hide. This section of track is not for the faint of heart and is very fast in all cars. © Sutton Motorsport Images, The competitors climb through Eau Rouge in tricky wet conditions at the start; a keen photographer on the right getting very close to the action. They’re 255s all the way around. I told them I’m the wrong guy to ask about that, as I’m firmly in favor of sticking GT-R engines in everything that Nissan makes, including its forklifts. So the power was there. The car has been fitted with a specially made limited-slip rear differential—the only thing on the Eau Rouge not from the corporate parts counter—since Infiniti quickly concluded that open diffs weren’t going to cut it with 560 horsepower, all-wheel drive or not. But seeking to improve the average speed of what was already a supremely quick circuit, track bosses decided to create an ‘artificial’ uphill sweep in order to bypass the slow section. 1986 Belgian Grand Prix. 13th - 15th June 1958. After eight successive races at the universally unpopular Zolder circuit, the drivers were delighted when the Belgian Grand Prix returned to Spa for a one-off race in 1983 (ahead of a permanent return in 1985). This is very flattering to a writer, the implication that my opinion might be relevant to some important decisions in, say, the final suspension tune or even whether or not to build the car in the first place. ©Sutton Motorsport Images, As these pictures show, there were no major changes to Eau Rouge in the Sixties, save for the addition of advertising banners to the bridge. The exit kerb at the top of the hill was also flattened, helping ensure drivers continued to take Eau Rouge at nerve-shredding speeds. Concerns from the Grand Prix Drivers Association over rising speeds, dangerous road surfaces and inadequate safety barriers led to the cancellation of the 1969 race, but the event returned in 1970, by which time Eau Rouge had been lined with protective Armco. © LAT Photographic, Pole sitter and race winner John Surtees (GBR) Ferrari 312 leads the field through Eau Rouge at the start of the race. It’s worth remembering that Spa used to be made up entirely of public roads - hence the road markings and graffiti shown in these pictures. Looking out over the hood, with its GT-R–style vents, you can fool yourself into thinking you’re in Nissan’s supercar rather than Infiniti’s possible flagship sedan. “We want to know what you think,” said the polite fellows in custody of Infiniti’s recently completed—and only—Q50 Eau Rouge prototype. © Sutton Motorsport Images, Cars fly through the newly revised Eau Rouge flat out in 2002. In its current guise, the Eau Rouge is running the seven-speed torque-converter automatic from the V-8–powered Q70, along with the Q70’s all-wheel-drive system. EPA city/highway: 17/23 mpg, 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Is the Tucson as a Pickup, 2022 Kia Forte Could Change Its Name to K3, Our 2020 Kia Telluride Never Lost Its Luster, 2022 Honda Civic Sedan Revealed in Production Form, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Note the steepness of the hill. It was all I could do to stay out of the trees...", Eau Rouge was lined with Armco barriers for the 1970 race. VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan, ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection, Displacement: 232 cu in, 3799 ccPower: 560 hpTorque: 443 lb-ft, TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automatic with manual shifting mode, DIMENSIONS:Wheelbase: 112.2 inLength: 189.1 inWidth: 72.6 in Height: 56.3 inCurb weight (C/D est): 4000 lb, PERFORMANCE (C/D EST): Jack Brabham (Brabham BT33-Ford), retired, leads Jacky Ickx (Ferrari 312B), 8th position, through Eau Rouge, action. It’s going to be flat-out…” The Canadian’s words would come back to haunt him. Speed: 110 km/h. ", Free and simple registration required to view this content, © 2003-2021 Formula One World Championship Limited. It didn’t always seem to release full power—either due to traction control or maybe torque modulation in the name of transmission survival—but when it did, it scrolled the scenery as hard as you’d expect. 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