From local resident and fine Spa-Francorchamps racing historian Christophe-Antoine Gaascht:
In answer to your question, here are my memories of that monument.
"It was the weekend of the Belgian GP, Saturday evening was hot, I was 11 and already in bed.
We lived in the countryside, opposite the Masta straight.
Suddenly we heard a dreadful noise, definitely the sound of a violent collision!
I rushed to the window and saw campers running down the meadow at the end of the bend on the Malmedy side.
The next morning we learned that a young man had crossed the track on his moped just as a motorbike was coming at high speed.
The collision was inevitable. I think both men died in the accident.
On the evening of the practice sessions, motorbikes and spectator cars often took laps of the circuit (which was open to traffic between practice and the race)."
I find his Spa books wonderfully informative. Highly recommended, as here:
Hours after posting this I received another e-mail from Christophe with which he generously shares the following complete list of Spa Circuit National monuments and memorials:
1 -The first monument on the circuit marks the spot where Bill Hollowell died during the 1925 Belgian Motorcycle GP. The bend has been named after him ever since. This memorial dates back to 1926. It is now located in the centre of the village of Francorchamps.
2 - A memorial to Freddy Charlier (who crashed fatally) at the 1929 Francorchamps 24-Hours. It was located in front of the grandstand and was moved to the Route de Ster in 2022 when the new grandstand was built.
3 - In the Malmedy bend (before 1980), there was a monument in memory of the 1st Maréchal des Logis Schmits, who died during the 1929 Francorchamps 24-Hours. The gendarme had been run over by Kerveyn's Minerva.
4 - In 1931, the Jules de Thier monument (one of the circuit's three founders) was unveiled on the inside of La Source corner. It was demolished in 1957.
5 - A modest marker at the exit of the Martinfagne bend (which later became the Club House bend) marks the spot where Richard Seaman died. It disappeared in 1983 when the F1 pits were built. (Isn't that terrible? - DCN)
6 - In 1958*, a cross was placed in the wood on the outside of the Burnenville bend, in tribute to Claudine Brillowski. This accident had nothing to do with the circuit. It was a road accident.
7 -The Peter März Cross, for him as the victim involved in a road accident on the exit of the Malmédy bend on the Saturday evening of practice for the 1976 Motorcycle GP.
8 -The last memorial is located above the paddock and pays tribute to my dear friend Paul Frère, who died in 2008.
* Christophe adds this human note:
"1 December 1958 was a Monday. It was the evening of St Eloi's Day. On her way home from lessons, Claudine Brillowski took the bus. She got off at the stop at the crossroads, crossed the road and started to walk up the right-hand side as she had always done. The daughter of Polish emigrants, she lived with her parents in a small brick house called L'Emilienne, built on the outside of a bend in the road on Route Nationale 62 between Spa and Stavelot ... the bend known as the Burnenville curve. Night had fallen long before. At this time of year, banks of fog bathe the hillsides of the Ardennes High Fens. And fog overwhelmed the reflexes of an employee of the Laloire garage in Malmédy who was driving home. The impact catapulted Claudine ten metres into the ditch. There were no safety barriers at the time.
"As there was no street lighting in the area, it took some time to discover the girl's body, which lay where the commemorative memorial was erected. The Brillowski family was predictably devastated. The house was sold to the owner of the Renault garage in Francorchamps, Emile Jamar, who inscribed L'Emilienne on the pediment of his business in tribute to Claudine. The memorial can still be seen on the edge of the circuit."
DCN
Edited by Doug Nye, 21 October 2024 - 17:44.
posted a picture of a memorial stone, located on the left hand side coming out of Malmédy on the old Spa-Francorchamps track (the picture is now unavailable).
