SI.com - Racing - Raikkonen takes Belgian Grand Prix pole - Saturday September 15, 2007 11:04AM(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
It was a major comeback for Ferrari, which watched McLaren win at the Italian GrandPrix last Sunday.
Raikkonen, who won here when the GrandPrix was last contested in 2005, lapped the scenic 4.325-mile track in 1 minute, 45.994 seconds, holding an edge of.017 seconds over Brazil's Massa.
After winning the Italian GrandPrix on Sunday, Alonso trails Hamilton 92-89, compared to a 14-point gap after the French GrandPrix on July 11.
There was no BelgianGrandPrix in 2003 because of the country's tobacco advertising laws but it returned to the schedule again in 2004.
In 2006, the FIA announced the BelgianGrandPrix would not be part of the 2006 Formula One season, since the local authorities have started major repair work in Spa Francorchamps.
The BelgianGrandPrix circuit was conceived in 1921, to host the Belgium Motorcycle GrandPrix.
Considered by many to be the best circuit on the F1 calendar, Spa (home of the BelgianGrandPrix) has the longest lap length of all, and is certainly one of the most scenically situated, surrounded by wooded hillsides and small farms.
It is also renowned for its changeable weather and it is not unknown for one half of the track to be streaming wet and the other half hot, blue skies.
Majestic Spa is the last of the classic GrandPrix circuits to remain in the World Championship.
First playing host to a motorcycle GrandPrix in 1921, cars took to the track in 1925 on the 9.29 mile (14.86km) closed road circuit in the Hautes-Fagnes region of the Ardennes.
Swooping uphill Eau Rouge corner, instigated in 1939, remains the greatest challenge in GrandPrix racing which taking flat is the barometer of greatness in car and driver although the modern circuit, reopened in 1983, includes little more than a third of its ancestor.
The BelgianGrandprix has been cancelled this year to allow the Spa track to be improved, Formula One's ruling body said on Wednesday.
"The Belgian National Sporting Authority, the RACB, has written to notify the FIA of the withdrawal of the 2006BelgianGrandPrix from the FIA Formula One World Championship," the FIA, the sport's ruling body, said in a statement.
The FIA said it hoped the GrandPrix would be raced from 2007 onwards.
What Wimbledon means for Boris Becker, that is the world´s longest and demanding GrandPrix circuit, the track of Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Ardennes mountains, for Michael Schumacher: It is his living room.
And he made himself a really nice present for his 10th anniversary as a GrandPrix winner: With the 10th victory of the season he is alone on the of the record list ahead of the legendary Briton Nigel Mansell with 9 wins per year.
His 63th GrandPrix win the same time was the 6th in Belgium, where he had been disqualified as a winner back in 1994, because the undertray of his BenettonFord had not been in accordance with the technical regulations of that time.
Following another positive two-car finish in Monza last weekend, Jordan GrandPrix is heading straight to the very challenging circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, the last European round of the season.
Located in the Ardennes forest, Spa-Francorchamps is a fantastic track that is truly a favourite among the drivers and known by the three Jordan GrandPrix drivers.
USATODAY.com - Belgian Grand Prix dropped for 2006(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
PARIS (AP) The BelgianGrandPrix was dropped from this year's Formula One schedule but might be restored in 2007 once improvements are made to the course.
The race has been in jeopardy since local organizers filed for bankruptcy last year, forcing the regional government to cover mounting losses.
Belgian officials wanted Formula One's commercial director Bernie Ecclestone to become the race promoter.
Michael Schumacher rewrote racing history at the BelgianGrandPrix in Spa on Sunday, by clinching the Formula One Drivers’ World Championship for the 7th time.
Michael’s victory follows hot on the heels of the Shell and Ferrari win at the Hungarian GrandPrix two weeks ago, when the team won its 11th joint Formula One constructors’ title.
This meant that with four more races left in the 2004GrandPrix season, he was still able to claim the drivers’ crown at the racetrack where he began his Formula One career 13 years ago.
Belgium GrandPrix information: The BelgianGrandPrix is part of the Formula One World Championship.
Buy BelgianGrandPrix tickets and sell BelgianGrandPrix tickets on GET ME IN!, Europe’s leading marketplace for BelgianGrandPrix tickets, British GrandPrix tickets, Monaco GrandPrix tickets, Spanish GrandPrix tickets, German GrandPrix Tickets and all other 2007/2008 GrandPrix tickets in the UK and worldwide.
BelgianGrandPrix ticket prices are set by the seller and may differ from face value.
Onlineseats.com is your best choice for entertainment when you have the last minute urge to see BelgianGrandPrix live or just simply to find out more information about them such as tour dates and times.
BelgianGrandPrix tickets may be purchased by following any of the links on this page.
In addition to all mlb baseball tickets, we also provide concert tickets, nfl football tickets, nba basketball tickets, ncaa basketball tickets, pga golf, major tennis events, major boxing event tickets, music concert tickets, comedy show tickets, and theater tickets including but not limited to las vegas shows and broadway shows.
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium – Kimi Raikkonen won the BelgianGrandPrix for the second straight year Sunday, keeping alive his distant shot at the title while denying Fernando Alonso a first chance at becoming Formula One's youngest champion.
Rain is practically a tradition at the BelgianGrandPrix, but Sunday's expected showers never came.
It was damp throughout as the drivers raced under low, leaden clouds through the pine-covered hills and lush valleys of the Ardennes.
There are reports in Belgium that the race promoter DDGP (Didier Defourney GrandPrix) has run into major financial problems because of a dispute with the local authorities over how much they should be paid.
There are also the race fees that must be paid to the Formula One group and the result, it seems, is that the promoter does not have sufficient cash to break even.
If DDGP drops out the Belgians will have to find a new promoter and that is not going to be an easy task because of the financial arrangements which exist, which make it hard to make money.
The moment that Fernando Alonso has dreamed of could be just 44 laps away from becoming reality as Formula One's European season draws to a close with the BelgianGrandPrix at Spa.
At one of the most historic circuits on the GrandPrix calendar, the Spaniard could take his place in history as the youngest ever F1 champion if he can outscore title rival 150; and 2004 race winner Kimi Raikkonen by four points.
With a 27 point lead, Alonso is certainly in the box seat in the championship standings with just four races left to run, meaning that even if he doesn't clinch a first world crown this weekend it can surely only be a matter of time.
BelgianGrandPrix organisers have agreed a deal with Bernie Ecclestone to bring Formula One back to Spa-Francorchamps in 2007, just days after this year's race was cancelled.
This season race was scrapped earlier this week when race organisers conceded defeat in their bid to renovate the track in time for the September 17 grandprix.
But, according to Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Spa has renegotiated their deal with Formula One commercial rights holder Ecclestone, securing a new deal to run from 2007 to 2011.
Everyone expected the Belgian GP to be Hill v Villeneuve and Schumacher v the rest of the field.
Hill was just finishing a run as rain started to fall and never got a chance to use his last set of tyres (for some reason the last run is usually his best).
The weather at the Belgian circuit is, for some reason, always unpredictable and produces some odd qualifying from time to time (Barrichello's pole in 1994) but this time the front of the grid at least, was pretty much as expected.
In 1960 Stirling Moss was seriously injured and two young British drivers - Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey - were killed during the Belgian GP weekend.
In the 1960s the Spa 1000km became A nasty accident at Spa started Jackie Stewart's crusade for better safety and Spa was a victim, the GrandPrix moving to the characterless Nivelles circuit near Brussels.
Qulifying for the BelgianGrandPrix is due to take place on Saturday 31st August 2002...
The FIA welcomes the dismissal by the Verviers Court of a legal action seeking the reinstatement of the 2003BelgianGrandPrix in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
This classic event was omitted with the greatest reluctance only because the teams would have been prevented by reasons beyond the control of the FIA from fulfilling their sponsorship contracts and, as a result, unanimously refused to compete.
The last event to appear on the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar in the absence of a promoter’s agreement with the teams was the 1981 Argentine GrandPrix: it did not take place.
Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit is among the most historic on the Formula One calendar, having hosted a (non-championship) GrandPrix as long ago as 1924, and remains one of the most popular venues with drivers and fans alike.
The lap distance was reduced slightly over the years, with some corners eased, but when the 'old' circuit staged its final GrandPrix in 1970 it still measured just over 14 kilometres and remained staggeringly quick - Chris Amon set that year's fastest lap at an average speed of just under 245 km/h.
Welcome to Spa-Francorchamps where there is currently a 60 percent chance that the BelgianGrandPrix, the 16th round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship, could be the first wet race of the season.