Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Circuit guide by Chris Pollitt · dates updated 2 November 2026

Spa-Francorchamps sits in the Ardennes forest in eastern Belgium, and the current 7.004 km layout dates from 2007, although racing here goes back to the early 1920s. It's long, fast and properly hilly, with the 40-metre plunge and climb through Eau Rouge as its signature, and the weather can be wet at Stavelot and dry at La Source on the same lap.

For UK drivers it's the easiest of the big continental tracks to reach, and plenty of us make it our first European trip. Open pit lane days are run by a long list of organisers for cars, and there are bike days too. The speeds are high, the run-off is generous by older standards, and the straights are long enough that a 2.0-litre hatch will see the top of fourth gear. It suits drivers with a few UK days behind them. Novices are fine with tuition, but this isn't a place to learn the basics on your own.

A lap of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Layout: Grand Prix, 7.004 km (4.35 miles)

The lap starts with a stop for La Source, the tight right-hand hairpin and the slowest corner on the circuit. Get it right and you're flat down the hill to Eau Rouge, where the road flicks left at the bottom, then climbs steeply right and left through Raidillon over a blind crest. In a road car it's usually flat or a confident lift. The compression at the bottom loads the suspension hard, so keep the car straight and don't turn in early.

Then it's the long Kemmel straight, the fastest part of the lap, to Les Combes. Brake hard for the right-left, take as much speed as you can through the right, and set up for the downhill right at Malmedy. The track falls away to Bruxelles (also called Rivage), a long, tightening right-hand hairpin where people turn in too early and run out of road on exit. The little left after it, Speaker's Corner, comes up quicker than you think.

Next comes a fast downhill run to Pouhon, a double-apex left taken at big speed. Stay patient through the first part, hold a tight line and let it run out to the second apex. Fagnes is a fast left then a short right, then Campus and the right-handers past the old Stavelot section, including Paul Frère, carry you onto the long climb back up the hill.

Blanchimont is a fast left kink that's flat in plenty of track cars, though the trick is keeping the car straight over the slight bumps at the exit. Brake for the Bus Stop chicane, a slow right-left, and don't clout the kerbs too hard. Getting a clean exit there sets up your speed on the pit straight and the next stop for La Source.

Track day tips

• Noise limits matter here. Many days run to 103 dB(A), so check yours before you book and fit a quieter silencer if you're close.
• The Ardennes weather is famous for a reason. Pack wets or at least decent road tyres, and expect one part of the circuit to be damp when the rest is dry.
• Brakes get a hard time with the long straights into La Source, Les Combes and the Bus Stop. Fresh high-temperature fluid is a must.
• Fuel is available near the circuit and in Francorchamps village, but fill up before the day starts as queues build at lunch.
• Watch your mirrors on the Kemmel straight. Speed differences between cars can be huge on mixed days.
• If you're new to Spa, book a day with tuition or sighting laps. The track is too long to learn properly from a handful of laps.

Getting there

Spa is around 330 km from Calais, about three and a half hours on Belgian motorways via Lille, Brussels and Liège, so it's an easy run off the Dover to Calais ferry or Eurotunnel. Leave the E42 at the Francorchamps junction and the circuit is a few minutes away. Liège is the closest airport, with Brussels and Cologne Bonn also within reach. Stavelot, Malmedy and the town of Spa have hotels, gîtes and B&Bs, but book early for summer and race weekends.