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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

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"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.

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Author Stefan Mackley

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.