Spa promoter thrilled with F1 ticket sales

The race promoter is heralding almost unprecedented interest in this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

The race promoter is heralding almost unprecedented interest in this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Andre Mas, organiser of the Spa-Francorchamps race, told La Derniere Heure that he is delighted with ticket sales as F1 emerges from its summer break.

The ticket boost for 2016 is almost certainly due to the popularity and form of F1 teen sensation Max Verstappen, who is Dutch but was actually born in Hasselt, Belgium, just an hour's drive from Spa.

"70,000 tickets have already been sold," Mas told the Belgian newspaper.

"I have not seen it since 2001, 2002. And I'm talking about actual numbers - three-day tickets. It's not like some other large events on which I worked for some years where there was a great difference between the actual number of tickets sold and the official figures."

The report adds that general admission tickets are still being sold for the race weekend, increasing spectator numbers even more to at least 75,000.

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