Ickx at Speed
Belgian driver Jacky Ickx was a specialist at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. By the early seventies only Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans remained as the high-speed public road circuits that had been created earlier in the twentieth century to promote the automobile. Although Le Mans had the 3.7 mile Mulsanne straight, the average lap speeds were slower than Spa. During qualifying for the 1973 Spa 1000km race Jacky Ickx set the fastest lap in the 3-liter Ferrari 312PB (s/n 0888) at 163.7 mph. This was on public roads and with the exception of the La Source turn, the cars are flat out the amazing aspect is that the circuit is mostly turns. L'Eau Rouge is well known as the fast wiggle at the bottom of the old pit straight, but Burnenville was stunning. The corner was a very long gentle downhill right turn that the fastest cars took at over 140mph. This image is Jacky Ickx turning into Burnenville.
Ickx at Speed captures the speed of the Ferrari 312PB on a stunning circuit in the rural setting of the Belgian Ardennes countryside.
