Historical question regarding Spa and GPL

I am fascinated by the Eau Rouge turn on the Spa circuit. Four Wheel Drift calls it "the toughest corner in all road racing", certainly my very modest skills have taught me to regard it with caution if not outright fear <G>. My poor french indicates that it could be translated as "red water" or even "sweat ***", but does anyone have a more idiomatic translation? Does anybody know the history of the name ? In particular I believe that there is a hotel nearby with the same name ( very rough info here), is it named after the hotel or does it derive from something more sinister ? Thanks to all (and to all those who recommended this superb sim) to reply, remove ozmail, insert onaustralia

Hi Chris, Eau Rouge is in fact a small river that flows under the circuit at the entry of the corner, so the corner is in fact a bridge (I live near Spa).

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> I am fascinated by the Eau Rouge turn on the Spa circuit. Four Wheel > Drift calls it "the toughest corner in all road racing", certainly my > very modest skills have taught me to regard it with caution if not > outright fear <G>. > My poor french indicates that it could be translated as "red water" or > even "sweat ***", but does anyone have a more idiomatic translation? > Does anybody know the history of the name ? In particular I believe > that there is a hotel nearby with the same name ( very rough info > here), is it named after the hotel or does it derive from something > more sinister ? > Thanks to all (and to all those who recommended this superb sim) > to reply, remove ozmail, insert onaustralia

DANIELS J.C.L. wrote Eau Rouge in French means "Red water". I am about sure that "La Source" is took as a French name, maybe related to where the rive take it's source.... can you back me up on that ?? ;) - Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard! - Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s. - Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking) - Sponsored by http://www.awpss.com/ on the NROS - "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

I think la Source refers to the source of the famous Spa mineral water. Han ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hij is iets arroganter dan Wim Jansen, om het aardig te zeggen" Cruyff over van Gaal This message is transmitted on 100% recycled electrons ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think "Eau Rouge" is the name of the river in the bottom of the valley that the corner sweeps through, so simply "Red River" would be a better literal translation. Cheers, Gwyn. --

There is a river running under the turn, which has been turned "red" by the clay that surrounds it. Although I must say that when I visited Spa for the GP this year it didn't look all that red:) Cheers! -- Graeme Nash You know what to do with "don't_spam_me"... http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk/ ICQ# 11257824 "My car appeared to disagree with my preference for living"

Thanks guys, I'll have a look for the river next time I take a spin through the turn <VBG> happy racing to reply, remove ozmail, insert onaustralia

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>> I am fascinated by the Eau Rouge turn on the Spa circuit. >> My poor french indicates that it could be translated as "red water" or >> even "sweat ***", but does anyone have a more idiomatic translation? >I think "Eau Rouge" is the name of the river in the bottom of the valley >that the corner sweeps through, so simply "Red River" would be a better >literal translation.

Or maybe "River of No Return". :) -- Wolfgang Preiss \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

>>> I am fascinated by the Eau Rouge turn on the Spa circuit. >>> My poor french indicates that it could be translated as "red water" or >>> even "sweat ***", but does anyone have a more idiomatic translation? Eau Rouge If you'll pardon my French, in my experience, I usually hear it pronounced as, "Oh Shit, crashed again!". -Ferdinand-

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>>> I am fascinated by the Eau Rouge turn on the Spa circuit. >>> My poor french indicates that it could be translated as "red water" or >>> even "sweat ***", but does anyone have a more idiomatic translation? >>I think "Eau Rouge" is the name of the river in the bottom of the valley >>that the corner sweeps through, so simply "Red River" would be a better >>literal translation. >Or maybe "River of No Return". :)

I've returned many times, usually while spinning backwards in the Ferrari and plowing through the spectators - and they say the drivers were short lived! If the spectators had any AI they would run as soon as they saw that little red car come out of the hairpin. Cheers to reply, remove ozmail, insert onaustralia

They showed Eau Rouge on the TV programme about Bernie the other week. It was in it's normal form as a public road. They had cones along the centre! Nowhere else, just Eau Rouge. Spoilsports! -- Paul Laidlaw

No, this is IMHO a good solution, and certainly better than blocking it completely for the public. I drove there, with the cones at the center at the bottom of Eau Rouge, where the downhill lane joins the road again. On top of the hill, the downhill lane turns right and takes a wide turn, AFAIK following the old road. Maybe, over the years, accidents occured in public traffic when "spare-time racers" took Eau Rouge at speed, and drove on the racing-line on the left side at the bottom and at the top of Eau Rouge, which could cause severe head-on crashes. With the cones in the middle, public traffic is forced to stay on the right lane. So, Eau Rouge is tighter and slower than in racing. But it was still fun to drive at 95km/h in a campmobil. With a car or bike, daredevils could enter at way over 100km/h, risking to crash into the armco at the right. -- _____ /_______\ .\\ a t t h e a d I XT /~~~~ I 500\_____ 1977' Yamaha XT.Rex 500 Enduro \____/\__I_I http://matthead.home.pages.de/