One of the questions we get asked a lot is how to go racing at Spa Francorchamps.
Driving the track on a trackday is great but it's the racing that it's really about. Many of our customers who have done a couple of trackdays want to take the next step. But they wonder how to. If you want to find out, just keep reading.
How to prepare
Before you hop into a race car and do a race at Spa you should get to know the track first. You can start learning the track at home by playing some race simulator games, examining track guides and watching YouTube videos. This way you won't be thrown completely in the deep without any knowledge of the turns once you arrive at the track.
The next step would be to participate in a trackday so you can get some real life track time. Ideally you would book an instructor to give you some driver training to increase your learning curve and keep you out of trouble.
What do you need to go racing at Spa Francorchamps
First of all, of course, you'll need a racing licence. There are plenty of racing series competing at Spa Francorchamps that don't require an international licence — just your national licence will do.
Secondly you'll need a car. For sure you can bring your own car and crew, but that's not how most people do it. Instead they rent a seat in a car that's being run by a race team. In all the racing series competing at Spa Francorchamps there are teams that prepare cars and rent a seat, or seat time, to customers. TrackTime for instance has various race cars available for racing at Spa Francorchamps.
In what series can you compete
We all know that F1 races at Spa and so do the GT3's in the 24h race. But if you're an F1 driver or a GT driver competing in the Spa 24h you'll probably not be reading this article. So let's focus on some of the 'lower level' series that you can compete in at Spa Francorchamps.
- Belcar: Belgian National GT and Touring Car Championship
- BGDC: Belgian Gentlemen Driver Club (endurance championship)
- DNRT: Dutch championship with sprint races
- ACNN: Dutch regional championship with 1 hour races
- DRDO: Dutch championship with 2 races of 1 hour
- Bravo Youngtimer Cup: Belgian youngtimer series with vehicles of the 90's
- Dutch Supercar Challenge: Dutch National GT and Touring Car Championship
- NES500: German National Endurance Series, 4h races
- BMW Clubsport Trophy: Belgian BMW series with E90 325i's
- M235i Racing Cup: Belgian BMW M235i Racing Cup
- GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux: Porsche GT3 Cup series, 2 races of 30 minutes
- 24h series by Creventic: endurance races of 6, 12 and 24 hours
These are just a selection of the available series. There are lots of others. Basically you can go racing at Spa Francorchamps almost every weekend. For all the series presented above TrackTime has race cars available. If you need more info on a series just give us a call or shoot us an email.
What does it cost
What it costs depends on the car and the championship. Prices for a 'cheaper' car and series combination generally get you started for about €2,500. From there on out it's all upwards. If you'd like to know more, just contact us.
Arrive 'n Drive
As mentioned earlier, you don't have to bring your own car and team. You can just rent a race car backed by a team. TrackTime offers complete packages to get you racing at Spa Francorchamps. From driver training on your first laps to competing in a real race — we've got you covered. All you have to do is arrive and drive!