Eau Rouge (corner)

Belgium / Luttich / Malmedy /
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Arguably one of the most challenging corners on the world-wide Grand Prix circuit; Eau Rouge is named for the nearby stream which creates a downhill valley from La Source, and then moves steeply uphill again onto the Radillion curve, followed by the Kemmel straight.

As technology and increasing downforce levels have progressed over the years, the corner is usually taken flat-out at around 160-170mph in modern Grand Prix cars. Eau Rouge used to have little run-off space, but as the years went by, more and more room was created, although the bend itself was rarely affected. Stefan Bellof lost his life at this corner when trying to overtake Derek Bell during the 1985 Spa 1000km WEC sports-car race.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_de_Spa-Francorchamps#Eau_Rouge
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Coordinates:   50°26'30"N   5°58'16"E

Comments

  • Public Domain photo, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Francorchamps01.jpg
  • It wasn't Derek Bell who Bellof tried to overtake, it was Jacky Ickxs.
This article was last modified 12 years ago