**A Day at Spa-Francorchamps: A Journey into Motorsport History**
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### Introduction: Claude’s Visit to Spa-Francorchamps
Claude, a motorsport enthusiast and YouTuber, finds himself on a sunny day in Belgium, making his way to Spa-Francorchamps. Known for its stunning roads and breathtaking landscapes, Claude describes the location as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world. His visit coincides with the 24 Hours of Spa race weekend, where he plans to support his friend Phil, who is participating in a separate race with a newly acquired Aston Martin DBR9. Claude humorously refers to himself as "the ultimate lagger" and jokes about not pretending to be cool while riding around on a scooter. His excitement is palpable as he prepares to witness the iconic event.
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### Discovering Spa-Francorchamps
This is Claude’s first time visiting Spa-Francorchamps, a location he has long admired from afar, primarily through TV broadcasts. The scenic roads and the historic race track leave him in awe. He mentions the beauty of the surroundings and how it justifies the reputation of being one of the most picturesque racetracks in the world. Claude’s enthusiasm is contagious as he shares his thoughts on the history and significance of the venue.
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### Meeting Phil and the Aston Martin DBR9
Claude catches up with his friend Phil, who is preparing for his race in a newly acquired Aston Martin DBR9. The conversation turns to the car’s specifications, with Phil revealing that it uses a modified Subaru rally car chassis and an evolved version of the Ferrari 550 program. Claude expresses his admiration for the car, calling it a “proper prototype” and a “modern classic.” He jokes about how Greta (presumably his partner) would disapprove of him having such a “toy,” but he is clearly fascinated by the machine.
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### The History Behind the DBR9
Phil explains that the DBR9 was developed by Pro Drive, known for their work with Subaru rally cars. Pro Drive built one-off vehicles for Frederick Dorr, a private client who preferred white cars without sponsors. Phil mentions how the DBR9 is essentially an evolution of the Ferrari 550 GT1 program, designed to be more affordable and easier to maintain while still being competitive in historic racing events. Claude expresses his desire to meet Frederick Dorr, calling him “insane” for commissioning such a car.
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### The Racing Experience
Claude sits down with Phil to discuss the challenges of driving the DBR9, which he describes as having “two less wheels to grip us.” Phil admits to feeling nervous due to their previous spin on dirt roads. Claude humorously teases him about being a novice driver but acknowledges that even experienced drivers would struggle in such a car. The conversation shifts to Phil’s first race with the DBR9, where he managed to finish third despite driving the car for only two days.
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### The Thrill of Historic Racing
Phil shares his passion for historic racing events, mentioning upcoming races in Dubai and other locations around the world. He emphasizes how these events bring together iconic cars like the Ferrari 550, Maserati MC12, and Porsche 996 RSR. Claude marvels at the sight of these legendary vehicles on the grid, calling it “insane” and “incredible.” The pair discusses the camaraderie among drivers and the unique atmosphere of historic racing.
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### Claude’s Personal Reflection
Claude reflects on his own driving experience with the DBR9, noting how challenging it is to adapt to the car’s quirks. He jokes about his lack of visibility and the overwhelming number of buttons in the cockpit. Despite these challenges, he expresses gratitude for the opportunity to drive such a historic machine. Claude also mentions his mother’s disapproval of him getting into cars with Phil, but he reassures her by highlighting the safety features of the DBR9.
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### The 24 Hours of Spa and Beyond
The article concludes with Claude and Phil watching the main event, the 24 Hours of Spa, from the sidelines. Phil is competing in a support race alongside other DBR9s, Maseratis, and Porsches. The excitement is palpable as Phil fights for third place against experienced drivers. Claude describes the day as “incredibly special” and expresses his hope to return to Spa-Francorchamps in the future.
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### Final Thoughts
Claude’s journey to Spa-Francorchamps offers a unique glimpse into the world of historic racing, blending personal anecdotes with insights into the cars and drivers that make this sport so thrilling. From the stunning location to the iconic machines on display, Claude captures the essence of what makes motorsport such an unforgettable experience. His excitement and passion for the sport shine through in every word, leaving readers eager to dive deeper into the world of historic racing.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhow beautiful is this location how inviting is that road hello on and on welcome to seeing through class welcome to a beautiful day in belgium right now i'm on my way to spa francom chomps je m'appelle claude you're the coop plow it's the 24 hours of spa this weekend in addition to that my friend and good friend of this channel phil is also participating in a separate race in a newly acquired race car an aston martin dvr9 so i thought on my way back to the uk after my latest adventure in this f-type i would swing by to support him check out his new car and yeah just enjoy a sunny day in belgium bonjour speak parking for the historic uh do you have a place uh the the guy's just coming should i wait here somewhere yeah you can wait on the cracking on the left side okay perfect thank you very much this is actually my very first time at spa i've always wanted to visit but it's never really had the opportunity based on the roads here in the current scenery i'm gonna say it's one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world and i haven't even seen it yet apart from seeing it on tv uh oh my god who does he think he is lewis hamilton you can't pull this off don't flag your way in oh i'm the ultimate lagger but help me you can't ride around on a scooter pretending like you're cool i am cool i've seen your car shall i go and park next to your car yeah and let me give you all the stuff now i would love to pretend this is the first time we've been this close but oh what a familiar place to me this is i'm getting the fun experience today how are you on dirt roads on this thing i'm great i mean i've seen you in dirt roads on a four-wheeler but two wheels i'm suddenly inherently nervous mum i'm sorry again well you remember we spun out immediately last time yes that's why i'm inherently nervous because we've got fundamentally two less wheels to grip us here we go is that a pencil in your pocket i've played with this car on gran turismo forza yeah i've done laps of the ring i've done lots of lagoon i've done laps everywhere in that and now i get to do it for real it's ridiculous because this is an iconic mod i'm obsessed with modern classics as you know it's a modern classic race car because when did this compete from like mid-noughties to yeah early 2506 they were built and they competed until 11 12 somewhere around there um yeah correct me if i'm wrong and hopefully i'm not it's just a punking grey b12 engine right yeah i mean as a race car greta would not approve no she would not give me a sort of toy is that nos no i'm joking of course it is but never too soon too soon junior because this is it's not a db no i mean it is but it's way more than that it's a proper like prototype so it's called a dbr9 as you can see there and essentially what the rules were you had to use the same chassis you had to use the same base engine block and then you could go from there and i'm oversimplifying it in a big way but pro drive who built subaru rally cars most people will know them for that they had a client called frederick dorr who organized them to continue doing more things a private client he had subaru rally cars built for him and they were always white with no sponsors really cool very cool and he said ferrari 550 that's a cool car i'd like a lemon car made out of that awesome and yeah as one does and he said and pro drive said you're a real client you know what this is going to cost sure we'll do it and so that entire 550 lemon program gt1 yes was built for him i want to meet this guy now but they built those as basically each car was a one-off and what you have to think of the dbr 9 is aston martin wanted to go racing they went to pro drive and pro drive took all the lessons from the 550 program and this is essentially a 550 gt1 evo but with obviously bigger numbers so that all the parts were more available building it was cheaper and it became a more affordable car to run within the context of gt1 and you can now get one and take it in through historic events all around the world yeah there's historic events there's i mean i'm being flagged by by my friends who are also doing gt1 to come and do there's a race in dubai at the end of the year yes um and it's an endurance race so you go and bring friends also you can just use it for track days but there's five events with peter author of the a year there's there's uh and they're all on youtube and you can watch them and it's great this event here where it's spot the 24 is a support race this is on youtube i'm not going that fast i drove it for the first time two days ago she turned up i've never driven it i bought it a month ago sight unseen i sat in it 10 days ago to get fitted and understand what it was and also drool a lot you know sure and uh and finally um yeah drove it two days ago still learning a lot so way off the face got really lucky yesterday i had a really good run um i mean i hate blowing smoke up your house you know it's the thing that i like to do at least in this way i don't know what you're talking about the fact that i didn't realize you've basically never driven this car before so you're off the pace where did you finish yesterday third yes i am i don't know if i'm gonna get in there well you might get in but you might not get out maybe maybe you can hold this sure i mean oh yeah diving i know you can get the leg further up and then dive in look at that look at him squeeze he's like origami oh man this is real deal so hold that on there we go there we go oh yes there's a lot of buttons there maybe it's it's a lot to try and figure out and your mirrors are non-existent i don't know like that's not a thing they are actually awful like i have no idea who's beside me who's anywhere do you have anything which helps you with what's coming behind you no nothing but you know first rule of italian driving what's behind you doesn't matter the other thing which i find insane which i always forget to sitting in a race car is basically how far back i am from everything you know not like a road car you've kind of got great visibility i'm going to lay the floor oh yeah hold that and actually show people you can't see the front wing no i mean it was terrified but you get in the car and immediately it shrinks around you and you understand where things are fine because yeah this is i'm now at drive i still got what driver eye level i guess i'm sure i've made up that phrase but anyway yeah i literally can't i have no idea what the front of the car is but it seems very far away and steering wheel right back towards me here i mean it's it's cushy mate it's christy it's not bad and uh i've got this is the most important part that's my bollock blower oh very nice that's aimed literally right at the end oh mate this is so special what an awesome awesome thing and there is some good news as well because you handled driving around in the center so well i've found out that it is possible to relocate what's in the passenger side put a second seat in there and take you dear viewer for a passenger ride mom i'm not gonna go mum i'm not gonna she's already you know i've made this joke before and it's not even a joke my mother doesn't enjoy me getting in cars with philip yeah but this one's safe look at all the roll cages i think it's fair to say i slightly underestimated what i was attending today uh just to clarify phil's taking part in a support race for the main 24 hours of spa he's competing alongside other dvr lines but also maserati mc12 gt ones uh 996 rsr porsche 911s there's lamborghini mercenargo gt ones a whole range of incredible sounding incredible looking iconic race cars so yes it's gonna be pretty special to win this look at this now on the grid ahead of phillips place this is insane oh rouge is right there it's gonna kick off hey so so so hmm so uh my um holy gonna so hmm so hmm oh so uh hmm right this is insanely exciting phil is genuinely in the mix in the fight for third place with an audi rv and joe mccarthy oh there's so much noise going on this is the pit stop window now the second person to stop of his three-way battle laughing um so three or two well a pretty incredible p6 for his second race in that car he was in the fight for p3 at one stage but a lot of the other teams a lot of the other teams did driver swaps he didn't he did the entire race by himself and some of the driver swaps put pro drivers into their cars so a couple of mc12s came out of nowhere and as you might have seen he was literally fighting for all of his life out of that final corner what this has been amazing a totally unexpected but incredible day youhow beautiful is this location how inviting is that road hello on and on welcome to seeing through class welcome to a beautiful day in belgium right now i'm on my way to spa francom chomps je m'appelle claude you're the coop plow it's the 24 hours of spa this weekend in addition to that my friend and good friend of this channel phil is also participating in a separate race in a newly acquired race car an aston martin dvr9 so i thought on my way back to the uk after my latest adventure in this f-type i would swing by to support him check out his new car and yeah just enjoy a sunny day in belgium bonjour speak parking for the historic uh do you have a place uh the the guy's just coming should i wait here somewhere yeah you can wait on the cracking on the left side okay perfect thank you very much this is actually my very first time at spa i've always wanted to visit but it's never really had the opportunity based on the roads here in the current scenery i'm gonna say it's one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world and i haven't even seen it yet apart from seeing it on tv uh oh my god who does he think he is lewis hamilton you can't pull this off don't flag your way in oh i'm the ultimate lagger but help me you can't ride around on a scooter pretending like you're cool i am cool i've seen your car shall i go and park next to your car yeah and let me give you all the stuff now i would love to pretend this is the first time we've been this close but oh what a familiar place to me this is i'm getting the fun experience today how are you on dirt roads on this thing i'm great i mean i've seen you in dirt roads on a four-wheeler but two wheels i'm suddenly inherently nervous mum i'm sorry again well you remember we spun out immediately last time yes that's why i'm inherently nervous because we've got fundamentally two less wheels to grip us here we go is that a pencil in your pocket i've played with this car on gran turismo forza yeah i've done laps of the ring i've done lots of lagoon i've done laps everywhere in that and now i get to do it for real it's ridiculous because this is an iconic mod i'm obsessed with modern classics as you know it's a modern classic race car because when did this compete from like mid-noughties to yeah early 2506 they were built and they competed until 11 12 somewhere around there um yeah correct me if i'm wrong and hopefully i'm not it's just a punking grey b12 engine right yeah i mean as a race car greta would not approve no she would not give me a sort of toy is that nos no i'm joking of course it is but never too soon too soon junior because this is it's not a db no i mean it is but it's way more than that it's a proper like prototype so it's called a dbr9 as you can see there and essentially what the rules were you had to use the same chassis you had to use the same base engine block and then you could go from there and i'm oversimplifying it in a big way but pro drive who built subaru rally cars most people will know them for that they had a client called frederick dorr who organized them to continue doing more things a private client he had subaru rally cars built for him and they were always white with no sponsors really cool very cool and he said ferrari 550 that's a cool car i'd like a lemon car made out of that awesome and yeah as one does and he said and pro drive said you're a real client you know what this is going to cost sure we'll do it and so that entire 550 lemon program gt1 yes was built for him i want to meet this guy now but they built those as basically each car was a one-off and what you have to think of the dbr 9 is aston martin wanted to go racing they went to pro drive and pro drive took all the lessons from the 550 program and this is essentially a 550 gt1 evo but with obviously bigger numbers so that all the parts were more available building it was cheaper and it became a more affordable car to run within the context of gt1 and you can now get one and take it in through historic events all around the world yeah there's historic events there's i mean i'm being flagged by by my friends who are also doing gt1 to come and do there's a race in dubai at the end of the year yes um and it's an endurance race so you go and bring friends also you can just use it for track days but there's five events with peter author of the a year there's there's uh and they're all on youtube and you can watch them and it's great this event here where it's spot the 24 is a support race this is on youtube i'm not going that fast i drove it for the first time two days ago she turned up i've never driven it i bought it a month ago sight unseen i sat in it 10 days ago to get fitted and understand what it was and also drool a lot you know sure and uh and finally um yeah drove it two days ago still learning a lot so way off the face got really lucky yesterday i had a really good run um i mean i hate blowing smoke up your house you know it's the thing that i like to do at least in this way i don't know what you're talking about the fact that i didn't realize you've basically never driven this car before so you're off the pace where did you finish yesterday third yes i am i don't know if i'm gonna get in there well you might get in but you might not get out maybe maybe you can hold this sure i mean oh yeah diving i know you can get the leg further up and then dive in look at that look at him squeeze he's like origami oh man this is real deal so hold that on there we go there we go oh yes there's a lot of buttons there maybe it's it's a lot to try and figure out and your mirrors are non-existent i don't know like that's not a thing they are actually awful like i have no idea who's beside me who's anywhere do you have anything which helps you with what's coming behind you no nothing but you know first rule of italian driving what's behind you doesn't matter the other thing which i find insane which i always forget to sitting in a race car is basically how far back i am from everything you know not like a road car you've kind of got great visibility i'm going to lay the floor oh yeah hold that and actually show people you can't see the front wing no i mean it was terrified but you get in the car and immediately it shrinks around you and you understand where things are fine because yeah this is i'm now at drive i still got what driver eye level i guess i'm sure i've made up that phrase but anyway yeah i literally can't i have no idea what the front of the car is but it seems very far away and steering wheel right back towards me here i mean it's it's cushy mate it's christy it's not bad and uh i've got this is the most important part that's my bollock blower oh very nice that's aimed literally right at the end oh mate this is so special what an awesome awesome thing and there is some good news as well because you handled driving around in the center so well i've found out that it is possible to relocate what's in the passenger side put a second seat in there and take you dear viewer for a passenger ride mom i'm not gonna go mum i'm not gonna she's already you know i've made this joke before and it's not even a joke my mother doesn't enjoy me getting in cars with philip yeah but this one's safe look at all the roll cages i think it's fair to say i slightly underestimated what i was attending today uh just to clarify phil's taking part in a support race for the main 24 hours of spa he's competing alongside other dvr lines but also maserati mc12 gt ones uh 996 rsr porsche 911s there's lamborghini mercenargo gt ones a whole range of incredible sounding incredible looking iconic race cars so yes it's gonna be pretty special to win this look at this now on the grid ahead of phillips place this is insane oh rouge is right there it's gonna kick off hey so so so hmm so uh my um holy gonna so hmm so hmm oh so uh hmm right this is insanely exciting phil is genuinely in the mix in the fight for third place with an audi rv and joe mccarthy oh there's so much noise going on this is the pit stop window now the second person to stop of his three-way battle laughing um so three or two well a pretty incredible p6 for his second race in that car he was in the fight for p3 at one stage but a lot of the other teams a lot of the other teams did driver swaps he didn't he did the entire race by himself and some of the driver swaps put pro drivers into their cars so a couple of mc12s came out of nowhere and as you might have seen he was literally fighting for all of his life out of that final corner what this has been amazing a totally unexpected but incredible day you\n"
