F1 with a large motorhome in Spielberg - what a Dutch couple wrote to us after the race

Dutch regular guests are a special group for us — many are senior campers with large motorhomes, quiet, predictable, and have been with us for decades. A few weeks ago, we received a message from a couple who wrote to us after the F1 weekend — sharing a story from the beginning of their GP journey that made us pensive. With their consent, we are publishing the message.

The Message

“Dear Schitterhof team,

our first Austrian GP is already a few years back — a Friday evening after the qualifying, a site near the Ring that advertised itself as 'quiet.' Around 10:30 pm, the neighboring spot started playing music through a Bluetooth system louder than our car. By midnight, our decision was made: drive on. We drove to the Bavarian Prealps at two in the morning, to a quiet Stellplatz where we had stayed before. Sleep, breakfast, and back on Saturday morning.

Logistically absurd. But for two people over sixty who also want to stay awake for the race on Sunday — not absurd. Since then, we plan Spielberg differently. We no longer look for the campsite that is 'closest' to the Ring. We look for the campsite where it is truly quiet at night. We found it with you.

This year we stayed three nights on your Premium XXL pitch. 78 m² is spacious for our 7.5-meter double axle. The flat, solid ground was important after the rain on Friday — no sinking, no maneuvering theater. We used the extra Schuko sockets and 16A connection directly at the pitch for climate control and inverter. No voltage loss, even at full load during the day.

At night, from 11:00 pm, it was quiet. Not 'relatively quiet,' but truly quiet. We turned off our hearing aids in the evening and sat outside, coffee in hand. Background noise in the distance, sometimes a final pit engine. Nothing else. That's what we were looking for.

We will book the same pitch next year. If possible, please keep the old pitch number.

Warm regards,
J. and M. van der V., Apeldoorn
July 2025”

Why it's also acoustically right with us

What the van der V. couple hears (or doesn't hear) at night is measurably documented. An independent acoustic analysis of all camps around the Red Bull Ring models 38.7 dB(A) at midnight on the F1 weekend for our site according to ISO 9613-2 — at the level of a quiet living room. Other official color-coded sites in the same calculation range between 58 and 65 dB(A) — equivalent to conversational volume. A 22 dB difference roughly corresponds psychoacoustically to a fivefold perceived volume.

The main reason is geography: a ridge between Spielbergerstraße and the track provides, according to model assumptions, 17–22 dB attenuation. The main access roads do not pass by the area. And we do not operate a DJ stage, pulsers, or a race corner ourselves. The site-specific sound sources, which the model considers individually for each receiver, are zero with us. Tolerance according to the standard: ±5 dB.

For motorhome travelers with large vehicles

PREMIUM XXL pitches (78 m²) are designed for vehicles up to 12 m in occupied length including double axles and trailer combinations. Additional Schuko and 16A CEE connections directly at the pitch for large motorhomes with climate control, inverter, or heating. Booking 6–8 months in advance.

Published with the guests' consent. The message was reproduced in the original Dutch. The mentioned levels are from a model calculation according to ISO 9613-2 (±5 dB tolerance).