From the archives: Magical Spa

On May 17, Alain Prost’s victory in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa brought the Frenchman’s career victory total up to equal the 27 races won by Jackie Stewart. It was perhaps appropriate that Prost achieved this milestone on the revamped Spa Francorchamps circuit, which has always been regarded as one of the most challenging and spectacular tracks on the Championship trail, even after it was redesigned and reduced in length in the early 1980s.

This selection of photogaphs from Motor Sport’s archives has been picked to show some of the famous drivers and cars which have made history at the forest-lined Belgian circuit over the past three decades. When the race was taken off the F1 calendar after 1970 following concern over safety and security, it seemed unlikely that the track would ever be used again for Grand Prix cars. However, it was reshaped and shortened in time for F1 cars to appear there again in 1983 when, again, it was Alain Prost who won at the wheel of a Renault RE40. It is, and hopefully will remain, one of the best circuits on the World Championship schedule. AH