The uphill struggle to master Spa
Fresh from his first experience of racing just a few weeks earlier, Stefan Mackley headed to the home of the Belgian Grand Prix for an RSRSpa premium trackday. Here's what he learned from his day at the legenday track
Performance
Our experts' guide on how you can become a better racing driver
"Stefan Bellof was killed here in 1985 and just last week someone died at this very spot on a trackday."
As welcomes go, it certainly isn't the most reassuring, but these are the first words I hear from the founder of trackday specialists RSRSpa, Ron Simons, who is leading a track walk at Spa-Francorchamps.
Share Or Save This Story
A proud Yorkshireman, Stefan Mackley is Autosport's National Deputy Editor. Having graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a degree in sports journalism he spent nearly four years working on local newspapers in Wiltshire - during which time he became an NQJ-qualified journalist and cut his teeth covering club racing at Castle Combe in his spare time.
Making the jump into motorsport journalism full-time, he joined the national desk for both Autosport magazine and Motorsport News in 2017 before becoming National Deputy Editor for the former in 2020.
His passion for motorsport stems from watching Formula 1 as a child with his father and is matched only by his love for Star Wars.
A better journalist than racing driver, he has so far competed in the Citroen C1 24 Hours and 116 Trophy with hopes of racing more machinery in 2021 and beyond.
More from Stefan Mackley
Lola returns to motorsport in Formula E with Yamaha powertrain partnership
The challenges that await on Formula E’s long-overdue visit to Tokyo
How the Dragon Sport Scholarship winner is chosen
Guenther: “Performance reasons” behind 40-place Formula E Sao Paulo grid drop
How brilliant Bird survived the heat to end Formula E win drought in Sao Paulo
Vote to allow Formula E drivers with WEC Spa/Berlin clash to race rejected
Dennis: "Win was there" in Sao Paulo Formula E race
Cassidy must "look internally at myself" after Sao Paulo Formula E crash
Latest news
Lola returns to motorsport in Formula E with Yamaha powertrain partnership
Rob Huff back in BTCC with Toyota
F1 owner Liberty Media set to finalise purchase of MotoGP
Stella: Red Bull didn’t enjoy F1 tyre advantage at high-graining Melbourne
Autosport Plus
How motorsport is embracing the opportunities of AI
The unlikely series providing an open door to innovation
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2023
How a lost Lotus that could have revolutionised Can-Am finally came to life
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.