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[bud]

Spa Francorchamps licence suspended
23/09/2009

The future of racing at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps Circuit is in serious jeopardy following the decision by the local Council of State to suspend its licence until 2026.

The move is the result of an investigation into noise following the issuing of a new permit in April 2007.

At the time the permit was issued it was on the condition that circuit organisers would carry out an environmental impact study following complaints from local residents.

The Council of State has now declared the work carried out by the circuit organizers to be "seriously inadequate and incomplete", and consequently suspended the track's licence until 2026.

The decision has come as a complete surprise to circuit director Pierre-Alain Thibaut who told Belgian news website Lesoir: "Since the filing of the complaint, the situation has changed. The circuit has worked hard to reduce noise, and relations with local residents has improved.

"It is a difficult situation," he continued, "but we've made commitments vis-a-vis a range of people, and we must comply on pain of having to pay damages. We will challenge the government, and organise a dialogue with the board of residents."

The news follows claims that, despite one of the most popular events on the calendar, the recent Grand Prix at Spa resulted in a loss of almost £3m.

Well this sucks

[myownalias]

Indeed this does suck, but I expect it to be resolved by the time the race is due to happen next year.

[Denthúl]

[NocturnalTendencies]

Time to hand out earplugs to all nearby residents... that's ridiculous.

[Amanda]

I'd do a house swap with any of them.

This better get sorted before next year.

[Gaz]

nooooooooooooo

please not spa...

[scotty]

This is like the Croft circuit all over again, what do you expect to happen when you move near a racing circuit ffs?!?

[f1ea]

WTF

I can't believe nearby residents / authorities aren't able to find the benefits of taking 3 days of noise a year vs. having a small town in the middle of nowhere that no one really ever visits........ No wonder everyone makes fun of belgians

[McLaren]

[Denthúl]

:banghead: WTF

I can't believe nearby residents / authorities aren't able to find the benefits of taking 3 days of noise a year vs. having a small town in the middle of nowhere that no one really ever visits........ No wonder everyone makes fun of belgians

Spa-Francorchamps doesn't only hold the F1 races.

That being said, if you move near a race track, you should expect (and agree to live with) the noise...

[scotty]

:banghead: WTF

I can't believe nearby residents / authorities aren't able to find the benefits of taking 3 days of noise a year vs. having a small town in the middle of nowhere that no one really ever visits........ No wonder everyone makes fun of belgians

Spa-Francorchamps doesn't only hold the F1 races.

That being said, if you move near a race track, you should expect (and agree to live with) the noise...

Yeah, i suspect it's the endurance races that are the problem here - i think Spa still run several 12/24 hour races a season.

[bud]

cant the locals just drink alot of their great local beer during races? If not ill do it for them!!

[FerrariFan63]

Why doesn't the FIA just set maximum engine noise limits for cars. They have measuring devices on the cars, and if the engine is too loud for too long, the driver gets drive-through penalty. It would give the engine manufacturers a new area to innovate in, while being relevant to road-going technology. Sure, racing fans like the cars to be LOUD, but the world is changing and when the race can be heard from miles away, people will complain.

[bud]

a large part of the atmosphere at a GP is hearing the screeching cars go by and give you hearing problems later in life.

[scotty]

a large part of the atmosphere at a GP is hearing the screeching cars go by and give you hearing problems later in life.

Hell yeah! My hearing hasn't been the same since Goodwood this year either.