SAMPRAS AND HIS FULL CIRCLE IN TENNIS

Separated by a year, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras knew about each other's game when they faced they reached the 1990 US Open finals. They were picked by many to lead the American tennis in the 1990's along with Jim Courier and Michael Chang. 

Agassi, the senior of the two had already impressed many with some consistent performances and was playing in his second title clash coming into the finals. Sampras, on the contrary had a career marked with ups and downs - he had played his best tennis to reach his maiden grand slam finals by overcoming the legends like Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe in the quarterfinals and semi-finals respectively.

Two Americans facing each other in New York had been a rarity in men's tennis - in fact since 1953, there had been only one occasion when two American men played in the title clash (1979 finals between John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis) before this finals. In 1990, this was a match between the hopefuls of the American men's tennis and both these players had never won a grand slam before. The winner would win the hearts of many and irrespective of what the stats were.

THE HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Agassi was stylish - long hair, a headband and backed up with performances on the court, there was no denying Agassi created quite a stir and had a lot of fan following by the time he faced Sampras in the finals. He was an American youth icon; fashion, glamour, fame and attitude, all these fitted well and it was an instant connect with the masses and the media. Agassi was seen as the 'exciting' guy.

On the other hand, Sampras had his ups and downs since the junior days; he resembled a shy guy who went about his business discreetly. No drama, no overtly display of emotions and surprised many with his presence at the finals.

Growing up, it was pretty hard to imagine, the weak link in Sampras game was his serve. That he was taught to practice his serves day in and out helped him a lot to make the transition to the senior level. The use of the same toss and his ability to disguise the serve all came to play on the day of the finals as Agassi found it hard to return. In straight sets, Sampras finished off the match to win his first title.

It is uncertain how he would have performed against an unknown opponent or another legend of the game. Probably, it was Agassi's presence, the known factor which might have helped to calm his nerves as Sampras knew the opponent and that played a huge role in the mental makeup of his preparations.

"The better guy won the match. When you can hit a serve 120 (miles/hour) on the line, there is not a lot you can do about it" - with these words Agassi summed up the match, after having collected the consolation prize of  $175,000.

For Sampras, all those hours of watching the 16mm tapes of Rod Laver had paid off as he took his first step towards stardom. No matter what he did, he knew, he would always remain a US Open champion as he collected the trophy as the youngest US Open champion from David Markin, the then President of the United States Tennis Association. He couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at the trophy, closely at his name inscribed alongside many champions... it had not sunk in.. he went ahead and held his trophy aloft, probably posing for the first time in front of so many cameramen.

THE THEATRICAL CLIMAX IN 2002

By the time these two athletes met at the 2002 US Open finals, they were at the far end of their careers and since that final twelve years ago, both had went on to achieve great things in tennis. Pete Sampras stood tall among all having won thirteen titles - a feat no one had managed to achieve in the open era, while Agassi was a career grand slam winner and had rejuvenated his tennis career yet again.

While records stayed that way, the personal form of Sampras was dipping rapidly while Agassi was more in control of the game. After years of dominating men's tennis, it all came down to Sampras and how motivated he was to go on playing. Sampras knew, he had it in him to win one more title if not many, but his record stated otherwise. Slowly, the media went after him, and since the triumph at 2000 Wimbledon, Sampras didn't have much to show in spite of reaching the finals at the US Open in 2000 and 2001.

The champions suffer a lot when they fail to live up to their standards; with each loss the glorious past appears to fade away and all that remain are 'memories'. The future looks uncertain - those memories remind us how great those years were, while media and a lot of experts speak about the present and remind constantly, those days are gone, and in some cases long gone.

Sampras at age 31, was branded old, slow and since his marriage to the actress Bridgette Wilson, soft. He was fed up after many people told him to retire, pointing to his game that had lost its edge. The two years leading up to the 2002 US Open final was an emotional ride for Sampras, whatever he did, it didn't work and unless he had his hands on a grand slam trophy, critics wouldn't shut up.

Like in the previous two years in 2000 and 2001, once again Sampras overcame much younger opponents to reach his eighth US Open finals and like in the years 1990 and in 1995, he faced Andre Agassi at the Flushing Meadows. Seventeenth seeded Sampras against the sixth seed Agassi - two American tennis legends competing for the trophy in front of the home crowd. The form didn't matter, the seeds didn't matter as Sampras knew Agassi's game and vice versa.

The crowd in anticipation of this titanic clash came in large numbers, they knew it might be the last time they would get to witness the two American tennis giants fighting it out on the courts of New York; like the first time they met in the 1990 finals to win the second oldest grand slam trophy in tennis. 

Irrespective of what Sampras had achieved (six more titles than Agassi at that point), the winner would take away all the glory. This match was a decider as to who was better and all the stats accumulated by those two players were put aside. It was the 'match'.

Many who had followed the game knew their preferences that night - but what about those newbies who were planting their first steps into watching tennis? How would they remember such a contest?

The great battles on the field remain etched in the memory of the fans for a long time - as those moments alone makes that significant impression when it comes down to determining favourites. As to words and numbers, they  convey the message unlike the images.

Four sets was all it took for the game to go in favour of Sampras; it didn't matter who the crowd was rooting for, as even the proudest of Agassi fans stood up acknowledging the 'true' champion of the day!

The Italian author and journalist Oriana Fallici once quoted - "Glory is a heavy burden, a murdering poison, and to bear it is an art. And to have that art is rare."

Sampras didn't rush into things and it took him over a year to come out in open and tell his fans and to everybody that he was 100% retired. "I'm at peace with it. It's time to call it a career."

When asked in an interview about how he felt winning his 14^th and final title, Sampras replied - "I had the last word, and that feels great!

THE LEGACY OF WOLFGANG VON TRIPS

Wolfgang von Trips, minutes before his demise 

"I wanted to win, but not at this price." - so remarked the 1961 Formula One champion Phil Hill. It was a dream victory to have secured his maiden world title in Formula One driving for Ferrari and to top it, in front of the several thousands of Tifosi at Monza, Italy. Hill won the title by leapfrogging his teammate by one point. Wolfgang von Trips, his colleague and the points leader coming into the race needed a third placed finish to secure the driver's title, a first for a German driver. His race ended on lap two, and a little later, his life ended too!

DEATH AT THE TRACK

Growing up as a racer, Von Trips was not new to accidents. In fact, he survived so many accidents before maturity and consistency became an integral part of his driving. And these new attributes were on display when he was part of Ferrari's dream team of 1961. Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Ricardo Rodriguez, Giancarlo Baghetti and Wolfgang von Trips won five of the seven races Ferrari took part in and the team and its drivers were clearly miles ahead from rest of the pack.

Coming into the penultimate race at Monza, Von Trips was leading the championship by four points over his American teammate Phil Hill. They were friends off the track, but on the race day they were fierce competitors as both wanted to be the first from their country to win a driver's title.

Von Trips was in the best position to claim the win as he qualified in the front row with the fastest time and all Hill could manage was fourth. Thousands of fans had gathered with a prospect of watching one of the Ferrari drivers winning the title.

The race started - Von Trips had the worst start and by the end of lap one he was placed sixth and ahead of him were - Phil Hill who led the race, followed by his other team mates Ginther and Rodriguez; then came Jim Clark, followed closely by Jack Brabham and Von Trips.

Von Trips relying on Ferrari's superior speed got past Clark and was chasing down Brabham. Clark with a lighter fuel load was not in a mood to give up that easy and his pace and car handling kept him within few metres of the German. As they duo approached the Parabolica curve, Von Trips slowed down a bit to position himself better to take the tricky right hander. Sensing an opportunity, Clark tried to overtake Von Trips from the left and at this instant, Von Trips moved slightly to the left to cover his position and next moment - bang!

The left rear of Von Trips made a severe high speed contact with Jim Clark's right front wheel and in the next few seconds, it was a catastrophe. The Ferrari took the aerial route, found itself inverted and with no seat belts, Von Trips was thrown off the car and he fell down with a great impact. The car with a high momentum went on to strike the fence where spectators were placed, hit some of them before flipping back on the track.

Von Trips died on the spot and so too eleven spectators. Three more died the next day and one after five days.

THE AFTERMATH

"Trips was head of me, driving on the centre of the track. Suddenly he slowed down. Since my Lotus was faster than the Ferrari, I tried to overtake him. In the same instant the Ferrari surprisingly pulled to the left, and a collision became unavoidable..." - this was Jim Clark's take on that dreadful incident.

Recollecting the incident after 50 years, the second placed driver that day Dan Gurney gave an account on what happened and what was the attitude back then in an interview with Daily Mail: "'I had a very good seat for watching what happened. I was probably running in about 10^th place in my Porsche. There was a great group of drivers, some of whom were braver and less experienced than they should have been so the chance of something like that happening was pretty great." 

Phil Hill knew there was a huge accident, but the race continued. He completed the race in a little over two hours before he enquired his manager about what had happened.

"And Trips? Is he dead?"

"Come on,” said the manager. "They want you for the awards ceremony."

In today's world, it is unimaginable to think of such a response. But the times were different and as Dan Gurney points out - "We were born at a different time and basically were raised during the time of World War Two with many of us involved, or very close to being involved in it. It seemed to be the general outlook, people didn't complain about things and they had a World War Two attitude."

Robert Daley, who was a journalist that day recalled - "The emotions are still right on the surface. I was the same age as these guys and they were dying all around me."

In his book 'The Limit', the author Michael Cannell covers Phil Hill's triumph and the 1961 Formula One season - " I always felt like this was a proxy war. The British, Italians, Germans - they were still in some way fighting World War II. They were putting their handsome young men in the most sophisticated machinery and sending them out to their deaths."

LEGACY

Wolfgang von Trips belonged to one of the respected families in Germany. The Von Trips family lived in Castle Hemmerbach since 1751, and Von trips grew up in this grand building, with his ears attuned to the sounds of the Silver Arrows at the Nürburgring, which was very close to the castle grounds.

In 1961, a month prior to his unexpected demise, a fan club was formed in his honour and continuing the name of this great German post WW II, the members constructed a go kart facility in Horrem. With time, the virus of karting spread across Germany and with constant support from the Von Trips family, came a new facility in Kerpen-Mannheim.

Michael Schumacher's dad Rolf got involved and leased the facility for some time and that is where the Schumacher brothers first got the taste of racing. Other German drivers like Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Nick Heidfeld and the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel are all the products of this facility. Michael Schumacher re-started the passion and went on to complete the unfinished job of Von Trips in becoming the first German driver champion of F1 and the trend continues......

ON AN END NOTE

Wolfgang Von Trips on the brink of becoming the first German to win the championship was eager to get the 1961 Italian Grand Prix off his back. He was visibly nervous and he disclosed his feeling to Robert Daley and his wife over tea on the eve of the Grand Prix - "Every driver has a place deep inside him where he's afraid of death." He went on to add - "This could all end tomorrow, you never know." 

C'EST LA VIE - VETTEL & FERRARI AT THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Image Source: The Guardian 

Sebastian Vettel had to bow out of the Belgian Grand Prix while he was fighting for the third place. Behind him was Romain Grosjean and he looked good to overtake the Ferrari and steal the last place on the podium from Vettel. With Mercedes not losing its might in the championships, one can assume, a third place finish to be a winner. And Vettel was within this reach and they were on a one-stop strategy with the hard tyres 27 laps old. And then, the Ferrari fending off Grosjean's Lotus had to take some defensive lines and this went on for about five laps and boom! - off it went Vettel's rear right tyre and there was no option but to retire as he had a good 5 km or so to cover to reach the pits. Whose fault was it?

NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND DEFINITELY NOT THE LAST TIME

It was not the first time a driver had to retire in Formula One - there have been many occasions when F1 cars have retired when the car was within kilometres from winning before hell broke loose. In the recent past, it has happened to Mika Hakkinen at the Spanish Grand Prix 2001, the car ceased to move because of engine related problems and he retired on the last lap, while leading the race. Kimi Raikkonen was leading the 2005 European Grand Prix and for the last twenty laps he went on with a flat spot on his front right tyre. He raced on over the course of twenty laps (rules stated no tyre change unless punctured) and this affected the suspension and the tyre came off on the last lap. Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren took a gamble. The team and the driver collectively took a decision to ride on their luck hoping it would pay off. Fernando Alonso would have won the race as he had a better car behind Kimi or if Kimi could have held him off,  McLaren would have celebrated the victory. You play the sport with high stakes at times!

When it comes down to going for glory or nothing, you gotta be prepared that - the other side of victory is defeat. To give one more instance of riding on one's luck - Ferrari and Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix decided not to pit for new tyres when it was clearly visible the car lacked grip and losing time. Ferrari wanted to gain more points as Schumacher's rival Fernando Alonso (yeah, again) had retired from the race. Ferrari relented and ended up losing Michael Schumacher as he damaged his suspension trying to defend from cars overtaking him.

For Ferrari and Vettel, yes it was unfortunate that tyre gave up the way it did. Twenty seven laps on a single set of hard tyres was not the way other drivers chose. The car was handling fine and I was confident he could have made it but for the pressure exerted by Romain Grosjean in the dying stages of the race. Vettel up until then was happy to be placed third and chose not to pit for new tyres - the script was perfect, just that the Grosjean factor was not considered. The four-time champion could have let the faster car go instead of defending  - but a racer that he is, it is not easy to let go someone without fight in that heat of racing. Vettel pushed his luck, while Ferrari crew could only watch and hope the result to be in their side and in the end it didn't pay off. Tough luck!

Post race, Vettel went aggressive on Pirelli and suggested the tyres must never come off as long as drivers raced within the track limits. However, this isn't an ideal world where things happen as we wish it has to, there will be anomalies and Vettel's tyre burst was one such case. He was fighting for the third place in a race where Ferrari looked out of sorts - Vettel took the gamble and in the end it didn't go his way.

When reporters asked Pirelli head Paul Hembery about Vettel's reaction - he brushed away and told drivers undergo a lot of things after such intense battle before showing surprise about being unaware of Ferrari's single stop strategy compared to rest of the drivers. 

While Vettel has come to terms with the issue of tyres, the world of motorsport mourned at the loss of a former F1 driver Justin Wilson. He drove in the 2003 season in a specially customised cars designed by Minardi and Jaguar as he was very tall for the normal design. He passed away after sustaining head injuries in a IndyCar race.

Graham Nash once quoted - “Life is not perfect. It never will be. You just have to make the very best of it, and you have to open your heart to what the world can show you; and sometimes it's terrifying, and sometimes it's incredibly beautiful, and I'll take both.”

Formula One and motor racing is dangerous and yet people have great ambitions to be part of it, safety marshals risk their lives in doing their job by the track side and many others including fans who are in the circuit - why?

Hindsight is vision 20:20 and decisions are not made all the time looking backwards, some decisions are made on the go looking at the present - it works at times, and in other times it doesn't. If it pays off - life is beautiful; when it doesn't - life can be cruel. C'est la vie, Voilà Formule Un! 

SEVEN YEARS ON TOP - USAIN BOLT

Usain Bolt winning his third 100m world championships at Beijing 

Terry Pratchett in his book, A Hat full of Sky quoted - "Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving". The year 2008, the Summer Olympics came to China for the first time and like all the previous editions, the athletics remained the hot favourite. 

Enter Usain Bolt, the tall Jamaican, who was five days shy of turning 22. He had the world record for the 100m dash - but running in a Olympic final is a different matter. As cool as ever, Bolt composed himself, took his mark and when the shot was let go, he was off in a flash and by the time he completed the 70m, there was none to either side of him, he opened his arms, slapped his chest and crossed the line celebrating his achievement. 16^th August 2008, the race that catapulted him to the global audience. His unshyly expressions made him a crowd's favourite and overnight he became a poster boy with his trademark 'lightning bolt' pose.

Bolt winning his first 100m Olympic gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics 

Yesterday, at the Bird's Nest he took part in the clash that was dubbed as 'Good vs. Evil' and like the cliche goes, the good won - but just by a tiniest of margins to retain the title of 'world champion' in 100m.

From 2008 to 2015, a lot has changed in that period for Bolt - from being an apprentice with tons of talent and promise, he has taken giant strides and has conquered all his opponents multiple times, overcame his occasional faults (Daegu 2011) and has become an all-time sprint great. He looks good to add a few more gold medals to his tally in Rio next year, to defend the three gold medals which he won here in Bird's Nest in 2008 which were successfully defended at the 2012 London Olympics - a feat that has never been achieved before in sprinting.

When I watched his epic-duel with Justin Gatlin, my mind went back to 2008 when he was hailed as the 'sprint king' by the members of media and press after his triple gold feat. Seven years on, he has retained his personality, but has gone many levels up, standing tall on the track and off the track staying away from doping. 

It is a rarity and at the same time a privilege to witness a sprint athlete achieve such an extended peak performance and all I can say - athletes like Bolt have carried the image of sports in the positive light and in the right way among all the negativity that threatens to derail the sport consistently. 

My first impression of Usain Bolt was formed during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and since then I have followed his career, met him a couple of times and heard him speak about his journey before Beijing 2008 and his life after that - quite remarkable and inspirational these seven years have been.

WHEN BRADMAN SAW DHYANCHAND PLAY

Just a week to go before India celebrates yet another National Sports Day. The day is in honour of the birth date of India's first superstar and one of field hockey's finest player. This was featured in SportsKeeda -http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/dhyanchand-bradman-meet-indias-greatest-hockey-player-met-australia-greatest-batsman

Today, there is no sport that comes close to cricket in India, the sheer popularity, the fan following this game commands is unparalleled, something one can relate to football in Brazil. And this is a very recent phenomenon - one can say from the 1980's. Before that, for close to 50 years, field hockey was the sport that brought laurels consistently winning eight Olympic gold medals and a World Cup. 

Major Dhyanchand is one such name that lives on through his performances on the hockey field across the world. And in cricket, in the same era as that of the hockey wizard, an Australian by the name of Don Bradman lives in everyone's mind as the greatest cricketer the sport has seen. And these two legends met once - way back in 1935 in Adelaide. 

Read - http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/dhyanchand-bradman-meet-indias-greatest-hockey-player-met-australia-greatest-batsman

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THE KILLER YEARS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Image Source - http://bit.ly/1PDjTFE 

"There is so much more to racing when it is dangerous, because the exhilaration of success is far higher" - Sir Stirling Moss summed up what was Belgian Grand Prix like when it was twice the length as the current track distance. With an average speed of over 255 km/h (in the 50's and 60's) on a 14.1 km circuit, it was a daunting challenge for the drivers who lined up each year to race at this Grand Prix.

NOT SAFE ENOUGH  

What was considered as exhilaration in the 50's was looked from a different perspective from the mid-1960's. Drivers got together, talked openly about the safety standards about the track. The aspect of 'thrill' was there - but a lot of the drivers didn't want to see one of their colleagues die on the track. The word 'future' didn't exist in the vocabulary of many drivers as they knew all can go wrong in a matter of one second of misjudgment.

The tickets during those days clearly inscribed the words - "Motorsports is dangerous" and yet thousands of people flocked in each year and stood close to the racing tracks, completely aware a slight accident can claim their lives too.

It wasn't a test of who survived from the accidents - instead motor racing was (and is) all about pushing a car to its limit and yet come out alive and celebrate if victorious.

In case of the Belgian Grand Prix, the track comprised of public roads, not an ideal environment for speeding cars - however those were the norm during those days. Since the start of the championships in 1950, each year the car went a touch quicker as competition for the top spot intensified. Naturally, the drivers too went at high speeds and what remained constant was the track and its set up with a minimum focus on safety procedures.

In 1969, several of the drivers boycotted the scheduled Belgian Grand Prix complaining the track was way too dangerous. They had their way in the end and organisers installed the Armco barriers for the 1970 Grand Prix with the previous edition being cancelled. In spite of this added protection, the drivers still felt the circuit was very fast, dangerous and this resulted in the cancelling of Spa-Francorchamps as the venue from 1971 for a period of thirteen years. In 1983, the race distance was halved, a major chunk of the circuit was removed - and with run-off areas, barriers, and other safety measures, the Spa-Francorchamps returned and has been a regular feature since the mid-1980's.

JACKIE STEWART SURVIVES THE SCARE

The old circuit at Spa-Francorchamps - pacy and intimidating

Many drivers who raced in the 1950's and 60's have been open in saying the roads of Burnenville, Masta Kink and Stavelot happened to be one of the fastest and intimidating parts they had to encounter, even more challenging than Eau Rouge. A long fast right hand corner in Burnenville leading up to Malmédy was one such part which was challenging and marked the start of the dangerous path in the old circuit.  

And then came the most frightening of all the corners - the Masta Kink. Drivers had to be more brave than skilful to take this corner without leaving the throttle. The Masta Kink was a tight left-right chicane and cars approached it at the top speed well over 270 km/hr. The key element was the speed as this chicane was sandwiched between two unbroken straights each measuring 2.5 km. Hence the entry speed and exit speed was crucial to maintain the overall lap time.

Jackie Stewart in 1966 had his car severely damaged after his BRM crashed a telephone pole at Masta Kink. With fuel dripping all over him and coupled with broken ribs,  he was unable to get out and was stuck in his car. Fellow BRM drivers Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant had also gone off the circuit and the duo came to Stewart's rescue. With no medical support unlike in the modern era, it took a spectator's tool kit to separate Stewart from his car. Jackie Stewart admits, he was lucky to survive as he was half-drenched with fuel and was stuck inside the car for close to 25 minutes. The steering wheel had to be taken off to relieve Stewart and this incident paved way for detachable steering wheels.

AN ADVOCATE FOR SAFETY

Since that incident, Jackie Stewart always tapped a spanner to his steering wheel and off the track became actively involved to improve the safety standards in Formula One. With each year, his fame as a driver grew and so did his voice and his several messages had profound effect on increasing the track safety standards. It was him who led the driver's concerns and eventually had Spa dropped from the F1 calendar till the time it was deemed safe.

There were other races such as the touring races, endurance races that took place in the old circuit in the 70's and finally in 1979, the circuit was modified and it took a further four years for Spa-Francorchamps to make it back to the F1 calendar.

The modified circuit which helped Spa Francorchamps to make a comeback

The beauty, the charm and the nostalgia associated with Spa-Francorchamps is still there without those thrilling sections from the old track. The track revisions has had a positive effect on the organisers and thereby to Formula One - as this circuit's evolution links the several dots the sport has joined over the years.

END NOTE

I was lucky enough to drive on those roads that were deemed dangerous. Burnenville and Masta Kink are now just a pale shadow of what it represented. Since thirty five years, these have remained just another European village roads where speed limits do not exceed more than 80 km/hr. Even today, drivers are excited to go quicker and they get the same exhilaration when they win - but they have also seen a generation growing up who sacrificed their lives to make this sport safer and a lot more secure.

I love this sport because the talk is not about accidents, deaths or safety alone - there is a lot more that's discussed and written about. Formula One is no longer a threat to life as it once was (in spite of Jules Bianchi's tragic incident) - it has evolved and values safety more than few individual's exhilaration and kicks they derive by making sports dangerous. A lot has changed from those killer years when a normal race seemed like a death race. It is no longer a question of hope when a driver sets out to race, he/she is now confident about safety. Yes, being very safe that takes the sheen if one looks at it from excitement point of view alone - however, is it worth rooting for a sport that swallows lives week after week and make money out of it? 

THE CULT OF EAU ROUGE - BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Eau Rouge - the iconic corner in Formula One 

Pouts of rain in the middle of European summer is not an unusual sight and in spite of few days of 'harsh heat', there are more cooler days and that was the case when I reached the town Spa. It was more than a drizzle as a few people working around me have just put on their rain jackets while few visitors took to  umbrellas and went on with their business as usual. I parked my car, asked my mother, if she wanted to come outside? She was comfortable being seated inside the car along with my sister and their newest companion, Abhinav. Tripti, my wife, as usual was always game to my crazy habit of visiting F1 tracks - be it 'contemporary 'or in ruins. We took our umbrellas with us ( just in case) and both went about walking perpendicular to the race track and entered the tunnel over which the cars at a great pace approach 'Eau Rouge'.

THE NAME

Located in the Ardennes and in the province of Liège, its famous municipality Spa is known worldwide for many reasons. A popular place and a well-known site for healing cold springs, the name itself has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source with special health benefits is known as 'spa'. For the lovers of detective fiction, it is worth noting the birth place of Agatha Christie's petit and the central character Hercule Poirot was born in Spa.

Since the mid-1920's, Spa and the nearby towns of Stavelot, Masta and Malmédy all played its part in hosting the Belgian Grand Prix - an annual motorsports event involving cars. After close to 90 years since its inception, there has been just two major revisions to this track one in 1946 and the other in 1983. While the circuit in its totality is one of the best we have in motorsports and specially in Formula One, a tiny part of this track - Radillon Eau Rouge happens to be my favourite.

Tripti and I had walked all the way from the La Source hairpin through the parking garage and the storage areas of the pit lanes towards the 'iconic section' of this track.

The name 'Eau Rouge' translates to 'red water' (French to English), is a small stream that flows through this part of the circuit and joins the river Amblève near Stavelot. Due to the reddish oxide deposits, the stones and the riverbed appears red and hence the name. The corner 'Eau Rouge' was so named as it is in that place, the track crosses the stream for the first time.  

DO YOU HAVE YOUR HELMET?

"I can let you inside the track if you have your own sports car and a helmet." - a security official told me. My basic French skills was enough to strike a ice-breaker conversation and soon enough my inability to speak in the local language was evident and he switched over to what he called 'broken English'. We spoke about this part of the track and he explained to me what it was like to be there standing and working when cars are zooming past him. I too shared my views on what I thought about the track just as I saw few cars speed past me to encounter the challenging corner in F1.

I am not sure what worked in my favour, the security official was kind enough to let me walk very close to Eau-Rouge. Just as I was separated by just a few metres from my favourite corner, my mind went blank and I am sure about it as I just recall staring at it - the elevation, the width and imagined all those times when I saw multiple times F1 cars going past it.

So what is it that makes Eau Rouge a cult figure in Formula One? Let me explain it in as few sentences as possible. In the 1993 Belgian Grand Prix, Alex Zanardi (yes, the same guy who injured and came back strongly to win Paralympics medals) had an horrendous accident at Eau Rouge. Following this, there were speculations whether a chicane would replace the existing design of 'Eau Rouge'. When asked, Ayrton Senna just didn't respond, he made a statement - "If you take away Eau Rouge, you take away the reason why I do this (race F1)". Thankfully, sense prevailed, and those speculations remained just that.

TRAVERSING THE OLD CIRCUIT

While I was visibly disappointed about not walking or driving on Eau Rouge (as there was a testing day for cars), I was told the other farther parts of the circuit was open and can be accessed. I asked him about Blanchimont, the Pouhon and Stavelot - he gave me a smile and nodded a yes.

It was time for lunch as well and I drove along the old-part of the circuit - Haut de la Cote, Burnenville before heading to the centre of Malmédy for a pit stop. The lunch was quick as we bought few sandwiches and off we went on to the road leading to Masta, Holowell leading up to Stavelot where the current track re-joins.

I took a diversion which led me to the smaller roads in the direction of Pouhon and from there a 5-minute drive towards Blanchimont - the fastest corner in F1 (taken at 250 km/hr). I parked my car in between the sections of Fagnes and Stavelot. My son had just woken up from sleep and I took him out and showed him those few cars on the track from a distance. I am not sure whether he would follow F1 in the future, if he does, then he already has been at the 'Mecca of Formula One circuits'.

WHY IS IT THAT POPULAR?

I spent close to three hours encircling the track and now it was time to head back home. Thanks Amma, Tripti, my sister Rashmi and our little darling 'Abhinav' for having the patience to be part of this 'crazy' road excursion. I had fun explaining why this track remains so dear to me.

The highlight of this Spa trip happened right at the beginning while at Eau Rouge - While I still stood looking at Eau Rouge, the kind security official came to me and pointed towards a building and asked me to go on top of a pit block - to have a look at the same thing which I was staring at. He told me I would enjoy it. And so, it was, the whole view of cars speeding towards Eau Rouge. The sounds of the throttle, the minimal adjustments and a tiny room, in fact no room for error as one takes the corner head on with 100% commitment, flat out before finding yourself on the Kemmel straight.

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 World champion spoke greatly about Eau Rouge and these were his words - " Eau Rouge is probably the most exciting corner in modern F1. It has a little kink to the left and then you start turning right as the track starts going up. You pull a lot of 'G' force through there and the car scrapes the ground, so you get a little bit sideways. At the same time you don't see the exit of the corner so you're just turning right and then suddenly you're turning left and at that point the car gets very light. All that - flat out! It's a really exciting corner to do. Going flat-out there doesn't actually make your overall lap faster, but it does make you feel proud. Pride is stupid, but it is important!" and......

I now understand what he meant by that.