What To Expect With The Current New COVID-19 Rules at Circuit of Spa Francorchamps
Well, it has only been a few days that the track of Spa Francorchamps has re-opened but, with the current COVID-19 situation things are quite different for both the organisers and their customers.
So what is exactly changing and how that affects you and your planned trackday there.
Note that if you are already booked for any event there, given that your organiser is serious about his business you should already have good knowledge of all the information written below or an update regarding any cancelation/move of the event date.
Very Low Number Of Cars Allowed On Track
Never mind Spa’s very large size (7.004mt), the racetrack officials had to limit and cap the maximum number of cars on track to 20.
This in turn limits the total amount of drivers and crew at the paddocks, so it kind of makes sense and was expected and speculated before the new announcements.
Only Fully Equipped Race Cars And Drivers With Valid Racing Licenses Allowed
Initially it might sounds bizarre but then again it also makes some sense.
You see test days – as opposed to trackdays – are used for people who are/will be racing sometime soon and want to, guess what, test their car before that time comes.
It is not considered to be a leisure type of sporting event but a sporting activity aimed to competition.
So we can safely assume that all those people already must have their licenses, their racecars and of course a full set of racing gear at hand, which is also mandatory by the track in order to enter.
It sounds harsh and yes i regret having shipped the racecar back to Greece at the moment but safety & health must come first.
No More Than 4 People Per Crew, Including The Driver(s)
Yup, another one of those things that might create a small limitation to teams that can join those events.
If you think about it, it’s a bit of a difficult situation for both racing drivers, teams but also organisers as all are having hurdles that have to overcome.
People who compete usually need a lot of crew to help them setup, maintain the car throughout the day, change the tires, put the fuel, a coach to train them and sometimes those teams have even more than one driver, which would usually split some of that cost between them.
So when you come to think about it, this situation is making it harder for the organiser to attract drivers/teams and host the event up to his standards but also harder for the driver himself ,as costs may rise and amount of services lessen.
No Passenger Allowed = No 1 on 1 Coaching !
Yes, another one of the new limitations is that no passenger is allowed.
If we were talking about a trackday, the first thing to consider would be that no friends can jump in the car and share the fun with you.
But in the case of test-days that would mean that no 1 on 1 coaching is allowed.
Yes there are data acquisition systems which with the combination of a good instructor who can effectively analyse their data can make all the difference, but let me tell you from first hand experience that sometimes co-driving real time and adjusting things on the fly can have a larger impact and can be absorbed easier.
Of course the higher the level of the driver, the easier it is to offer productive advise about his driving techniques and lines remotely with the use of such systems.
Lower Numbers of Cars = Higher Entry Fees
Unfortunately, for both the end user but also the organiser, when government rules put a cap on your maximum number of participants the price of your event have to rise in order to reach that break even point of yours where you can still host your event and keep your croud happy.
So do not be dazed or think negatively when you see any of your favourite organisers increasing the pricing of their events.
I am no organiser my self and have nothing to gain from an increase like this, but if you take scales of economy into account, i can only but sympathise for them. Always hoping that they do not take advantage of this of course!
So When To Expect Things To Go Back To Normal?
Well, like everything else seems to be nowadays, nothing solid has been announced yet by the Government nor the officials of Spa Francorchamps track.
A good speculation based on unofficial news flying around the area, would find trackdays starting to appear after mid June but still not exactly back to the old norm, with the presence of a passenger inside the car still not possible and the maximum amount of cars and people at the paddock still capped.
You can read more… or less actually… on the official Spa Francorchamps website here!
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