The world-famous curve

Your heart rate starts to rise as soon as you start the car up. A sloping road leads into the dip, a drop, a slight left turn, then a right turn with a gradient of almost 18 per cent. The start feels like you’re flying, full throttle downhill, the world-famous curve combination looks for a short moment like a sickle with a long handle.

It’s a little like aiming and calculating how to hold your breath so you can sneak upon somebody even more quietly. It rears its head in front of you like a wall, the Raidillon de l’Eau Rouge at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Raidillon for steep slope, Eau Rouge for red water, named after the river here, which is fed with ferrous water from a spring. The name is too long, the passage too quick, so it’s simply known as Eau Rouge. Short like 'courage bend'. Three syllables. You don’t have much time to think about anything and already Eau Rouge is pressing you into your seat, all that crazy compression, the g-forces clawing wildly at both vehicle and driver. Don’t mess it up now, every inch counts, precision is required now more than ever. The car seems to fly for a short moment. Everything becomes light, the vehicle lifts off its springs, your heart rate hits the roof. Flying blind. No room for error.

The feeling of having perfectly mastered Eau Rouge: indescribable. Maximum momentum achieved. The Kemmel straight as a form of recovery. Full throttle. Uphill.