The essential Porsche guide to driving at Spa-Francorchamps

Porsche Track Experience: the Porsche guide to driving at Spa-Francorchamps

With the Porsche Track Experience, participants can drive laps on legendary racetracks

June 26, 2025 | 6 min read

Historic colour photo of motor racing at Spa-Francorchamps

Top racing driver, Laurens Vanthoor, explains how to master the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit

In the middle of the picturesque Ardennes region of Belgium lies a racetrack that has not only made legends, it is one itself. Spa-Francorchamps has a reputation like no other. And it’s easy to understand why. With its challenging layout and unique weather conditions, which sometimes seem to change from one minute to the next, it’s a racetrack that drivers both past and present talk of in hushed tones.

Part of the reason for Spa’s status as ‘the driver’s track’ is that over the years it has retained plenty of the quirks and charm that so many other circuits have lost with a succession of makeovers and amendments.

Driving Spa requires courage, skill and dedication – and those are qualities you need whether you are a professional racer or a dedicated enthusiast, like those who take on the challenge with the Porsche Track Experience. Those same iconic sections – Eau Rouge, Kemmel, Blanchimont, Rivage, La Source – driven by the greats of the sport can be experienced by you.

Historic black-and-white photo of a race at Spa-Francorchamps — The #41 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR of Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Müller competing in the Spa 1000km, round five of the 1973 World Sportscar Championship Photo: Porsche

The secrets of Spa with top racing driver, Laurens Vanthoor

One man who knows the secrets of Spa-Francorchamps like few others is Laurens Vanthoor who, in June 2025, finished second overall at the 24h of Le Mans with his team-mates Kévin Estre and Matthew Campbell in the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963.

As a Belgian, Laurens has an intense feeling of pride about his homeland’s signature circuit. Laurens has won the 24 hours of Spa – one of the highlights of the racing calendar – on two occasions: once in 2014 and again in 2020. In that most recent win, Laurens teamed up with Le Mans winners Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber in the ROWE Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, completing 3,691.1 km on their way to victory. Quite simply, Laurens is one of best drivers competing in endurance racing.

Laurens shares his passion for this demanding track with other racing drivers from around the world, who return to Spa time and time again to take on its mighty challenge. The circuit’s combination of elevation changes, high speeds and challenging corners makes it a place where action and incident is always guaranteed. Growing up at another of the great Belgian racetracks, Zolder – just an hour away from Spa – meant that Laurens was virtually born behind the wheel of a racecar. And it means that the Porsche works driver was the ideal choice to reveal to you the secrets of this formidable circuit.

Laurens Vanthoor, in racesuit, looks into the distance — Belgian Laurens Vanthoor has been a works driver in the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 since 2023 Photo: Porsche

Why Spa-Francorchamps is the race drivers’ race circuit

“Spa is one of those tracks that is popular with every driver,” says Laurens. “It's all about commitment. You can always push for another tenth of a second here or there by taking a certain amount of risk. Courage often makes the difference in the fast corners, and there are constant changes in elevation. The first lap on this track is something special – it’s impressive but you also have to first get used to it all. But after a few laps, that’s when things really get going."

“Whenever you come to Spa with a car that’s new to you, driving through all these sections in the racing car for the first time is always a special experience.” Spa never feels routine, he adds. On this track, the experience is like a long, restless river – so it’s fitting that the first corner is called La Source, which in French means “the spring”.

La Source is a hairpin bend and the narrowest and slowest part of the route. “In principle it should be an easy spot, and yet somehow it isn’t, since it’s also easy to lose time here,” says Laurens. This is because the hairpin bend is also where the hairiest part of the entire track begins – Eau Rouge, one of the most famous (and infamous) sections of asphalt in motorsport. At Eau Rouge, wheat is separated from the chaff, courage from restraint.

How to improve your lap times at Spa: through the corners

Laurens floors the accelerator as he exits La Source, his speed increasing dramatically on a downhill slope of more than 15 per cent. Then it’s full speed ahead through a slight bend to the right. He manoeuvres the Porsche 911 that he’s driving to the far right, frighteningly close to the white wall separating the old pit lane from the track. This creates a kind of echo effect that intensifies the overall acoustic experience.

But this is only for a fraction of a second, because the car then dives into the sweeping, uphill curve that is Eau Rouge. And that raises one of the most contentious questions in motorsport – full throttle or not, Laurens?

“After you’ve tried it for the first time, the answer is a resounding yes,” answers Laurens. Courage is required but is not always essential. While full throttle is standard in order to qualify for any race here, the response is more nuanced during the race itself, when tyre conservation and a full tank come into play. Of all people, however, Laurens expresses a cool attitude towards the most cherished corner of countless generations of racing drivers: “I think that the first corner in Macau and a segment of the Nordschleife [Nurbürgring] demand even greater courage than this one,” he reveals.

For the Eau Rouge/Raidillon sections, it’s important to just drive into it so you can build up maximum speed for the long Kemmel straight that follows, Laurens explains. “Because then there’s not much you can do other than wait for the braking point.”

But this is crucial. It has to do with the sharp bend to the right that was added here in 1979 – Les Combes. “Here you have to think ahead about three corners,” says Laurens, “because what you do at the front affects everything else.”

Porsche 956 B driving through La Source at Spa-Francorchamps circuit — “At first glance, it seems like an easy spot,” Laurens says of the La Source corner at Spa, “but it’s also easy to lose time there” Photo: Porsche

As you approach Rivage, the track drops steeply downhill. Numerous elevations are a key feature of Spa, which takes advantage of its setting in the beautiful Ardennes, one of the highest regions in Belgium. Here you have to navigate this double right-hand corner cleanly to pick up speed again, before quickly reaching Pouhon, renowned for its wonderful views for spectators. “It’s not really technical here, but you need courage to push it to the limit,” says Laurens.

Group photo of ROWE Racing Team with Porsche 911 GT3 R — Laurens has won the 24 Hours of Spa endurance race twice – once in 2014 and once in 2020 – the latter with team-mates Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. He knows the legendary Belgian circuit better than most Photo: Porsche

In the sections that follow, balance is especially important – and finding the ideal balance can certainly be tricky. The sections that come next are also crucial for lap time, such as the Bus Stop chicane. Here, it’s vital to negotiate these rapid bends correctly so you can get back to the start with plenty of speed. “It’s simply a matter of tucking your head in and going for it, as so often is the case at Spa,” says Laurens.

Spa demands plenty for those who take on the challenge – seeing, feeling, thinking and making decisions not only with your gut but also with your head. And never hold back when you go full throttle. It’s a racetrack that’s as close to perfection as you’ll find in motorsport. Spa is an eternally exhilarating experience. A circuit where, as the lap progresses, you often find yourself wishing it was over – but by the time you reach the Bus Stop, you only have one thing on your mind. Your next lap on this magnificent roller coaster of a racetrack.

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