Opening my archive

[Yannick]

Hello MyTrackers,

being still a fairly new guy on this board, please allow me to first say a few introductory words. Around 1991, when I was 13, I began drawing my first fantasy race tracks, and many of my track designs were initially drawn in that year. Of course, I upgraded the tracks to new increased safety standards after the horrendous events of Imola 1994.
My interest in track design had waned at several points in time since then, but I seem to always have come back to it in some way, if only for occasionally redrawing interesting shapes and blots that I've seen, in the form of a racetrack.
Maybe four years ago, I had redrawn most of them for archiving purposes, and have only started drawing again a few weeks ago, after I had found your forum via an internet search on the topic of the move of the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka to Fuji, realizing that I had never drawn a track that was meant to be in Japan.

In this thread, I'm going to open up my archive and show you those of my fantasy tracks that I still like (in some way or another), with some time in between posts, so you have enough time to discuss them, if you like to.

Fantasy tracks can get a little wild and crazy sometimes, and since I've been looking for something special in almost every track that I've drawn, mine are no exception when it comes to this, even to the point where they get unrealistic. I hope you don't mind getting to see some of my crazy ideas as well.

I'm good with a pencil, but not so much with the mouse, so my graphics will be a hybrid of drawing and photoshop, which I hope to learn to better work with in the process. Some of them will be the sketches from the archive, but some of them need to be drawn again as well, so there will be variations in the color scheme.

Not only are my tracks ficticious, but the locations are ficticious as well, and some of them I'm not even sure where they are, but I'm going to post a bit of info on the location where possible. Your board has somewhat inspired me to come up with some ficticious track history, too.
I'm going to leave the original track names intact, even if they are easily recognizable as fake French, fake Spanish or fake Portuguese.

Since I'm not a native speaker, I'm still learning how to use special vocabulary, like the word 'camber' for instance, so if there should be something in a track description of mine, that you can't understand, please ask and help me better my English in the process. Thanks.

Though the number of tracks I'm going to post is higher than the average number of races on a Formula 1 calendar, I'll try to post them in order of a calendar of a ficticious international motorsports series, but without taking into consideration the logistics of the whole affair.

Yours
Yannick

P.S.: Now let's head straight on to track #1 in the series in the next posting in this thread.

[Yannick]

Bournemouth is a permanent racetrack on an almost flat piece of land in the south of England, neighbouring Bournemouth International Airport.
In my ficticious OtherWorld(ly)Series, it is the home of the British Grand Prix. Length is around 5.6 kilometers.

Before clicking to view it, please remember that fantasy tracks can get a little wild at times, and this one indeed does so (but not all of my designs do.)
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...g/51fc58d1.jpg

Lap description:
The track runs anti-clockwise and has no significant elevation changes, but it features some heavy banking, which I have marked in the sketch by short lines on the outside of the particular corners, growing longer/shorter as the banking rises/decreases. The type of banking is shown in the sketch, too: old-style high-rise banking.
The start-finish straight is the longest straight on the circuit. At its end, there is THE major overtaking point of the circuit, the tight 75 degree left-hander Turn 1 (2nd gear, 3rd for some), for which you need to brake hard. Next comes another straight, with the wide Turn 2 at its end, at the apex of which the braking zone for the hairpin-like Turn 3 begins. Turn 3 (2nd gear) is in fact made up of two corners, a slight kink and the main hairpin following directly afterwards. You can overtake here, too, but it's more difficult than in Turn 1. From then on, the goal is to accelerate through the right-hander Turn 4 that follows shortly after Turn 3, for the first of the two banked sections of the circuit is next. That consists of Turn 5 and Turn 6. It is too short to actually reach the full speed of the car there, because when Turn 6 (5th gear) opens up, the banking decreases rapidly, and the braking zone for the subsequent tight right-hander Turn 7 (2nd gear again) begins when you're still relatively high in the banking of Turn 6. As it is a heavy breaking zone, overtaking in Turn 7 is possible, but difficult. After Turn 7, you enter the back straight, which is the beginning of the most technical full-throttle section on any of my tracks. At the end of the back straight follows Turn 8 (7th gear), a wide kink to the right, after which the 2nd banked part, which is nicknamed the bobsleigh-run, starts with the left hander Turn 9 (7th gear). At its end, the corner with the 2nd largest radius in the bobsleigh-run, Turn 10 (7th gear, what else) follows. At 2 thirds into it, the feeling of bobsleighing starts, because there, the banking of the next corner, the right-hander Turn 11 (7th gear) begins to rise on the inside of the exit of Turn 10. Turn 11 has a smaller radius than Turn 10 again, so cars are expected to be pressed higher into the banking than in Turn 10. Exiting Turn 11 before its banking decreases, the speed and the banking of the channel you're in brings you to the other side of the track again, where there has already risen the banking of Turn 12 (7th gear, what can I say?). Turn 12 is a 180 degree corner with high-rise banking, almost like out of a quartermile oval from the days of historical racing, which is perceived by some as two corners, because it opens up until at 90 degrees into it, it gets tighter again. Because of this, the exit of Turn 12 is the place on the circuit where you get pressed the strongest into the banking beneath you. You'll know in the midst of Turn 12, if you need to lift the accelerator a bit to enable you to take the speed through the last corner of the bobsleigh-run, Turn 13 (7th gear, what else?) onto the start-finish straight. Turn 13 has the largest radius in the bobsleigh-run to enable you to take as much speed onto the straight as possible.

Track marshalls along the bobsleigh-run and the back- and front straights have the additional job of signalling to the drivers the presence of slow cars in the track sections to follow, including those that are going to enter the pitlane. Therefore, drivers have an additional switch in their cars to send a radio signal to signal the marshalls if they get slower, and the marshalls in that section are in constant radio communication as well. For safety reasons, spectators are not allowed around the track in the banked section of the bobsleigh-run, apart from a hill in the western part of the infield, from which it is possible to observe the whole section.
In the other banked part, spectators are allowed, with the exception of the exit of Turn 6.


Now here is the track's long history (I'll probably write shorter history information on my forthcoming tracks, to not waste too much time on research, like I did with this one):
It's based on the remains of what was originally built as an egg-shaped oval with 6 heavily banked turns in the mid-1930s, with both Formula 1 and 2 cars racing there in (obviously) non-championship events. But in 1940, tragedy struck when large parts of the circuit were destroyed by German bombs aimed at the nearby airport. With the garage building and much of the banking gone, the remains of the track lay dormant for quite a number of years.
Around 1958 or 1959, two local motorsports enthusiasts bought the property and rebuilt the track in its original shape, but without constructing new banking for the southern part of the circuit that was destroyed. After two years of saloon car racing there, and little public interest, the owners decided to close their venture and the track was again disused for some years in the early 1960s.
When the British Leyland company needed a new test track for their road cars, they decided to buy the property around 1965 and construct a track there that would fit their requirements. They changed the track layout massively, apart from retaining only the banked northwestern part from the original layout. They raised a new garage building on the front straight, redeveloped the section from the tight Turn 1 through the almost hairpin-like Turn 3 and even built the new banking of what is now Turn 6, which abruptly ends in the tight right-hander that is Turn 7. Additionally, they introduced the wide 180 degree curve on the southwestern part of the circuit, which today is the penultimate Turn of the circuit, but didn't build a banking there. That was only constructed much later.
When the company faced internal troubles in the mid-1970s, the track was deemed unnecessary anymore and lay, again, dormant for a few years. In 1985, it was bought by a worldwide club of motor racing enthusiasts, team owners and privateer engine manufacturers, who were searching for a new home for the British Grand Prix of their OtherWorld(ly)Series, resurfacing the track, but not further altering the layout, thereby keeping the banked parts.
In the 1st race meeting after the reopening of the circuit in 1988, the angle in which the highspeed passage of the backstraight and subsequent kink entered the banking in Turn 9 proved to be a suspension-killer, so in the year after, a chicane was placed into Turn 9.
After the events of Imola 1994, another two chicanes got introduced: the one that used to grace Turn 1 for a few years and the one that used to be in Turn 11 where the banked part ended at the time and runoff was lacking.
In 1999, when I first began to draw the circuit, having seen its shape in a puddle on a flat roof after a heavy rain, major renovation efforts began, to get rid of the chicanes, which included building new banking from Turn 9 up to Turn 13. Therefore the British Grand Prix in 1999 had to take place at another site. The other banked part of the circuit was renewed at that time as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to complete the reconstruction in time for the 2000 race, when the banked section was only finished up to after Turn 12, so a chicane was tried in Turn 13, to slow cars down before entering the pit straight. That one was the source of many accidents in that particular race, so it was abandoned afterwards, and the banking in Turn 13 was carried out as it had originally been planned, thereby completing the so-called "bobsleigh run", the section from Turn 9 to the start-finish straight, which is the most characteristic part of the track today.

[Lustigson]

Let's have it. I'm curious.

[Rockmunky]

Wow, you've gone into some major detail there, which i really respect that you've obviously put alot of effort into your work.

As for the first track, blimey! that's some serious banking, unrealistic but thats what fantasy circuits are all about!

Welcome to 10/10 btw

[jab]

A really imaginative, original design - can't wait to see more!!

[Alwaysfirst]

Imaginative & really crazy! Would be good as a fantasy track on a game like NASCAR. Would be crazy to see single seaters there! I like it though!

[ScotsBrutesFan]

A wild ride through the Bobsleigh run that's for sure.

A great first effort.

[shambles]

Welcome Yannick, great detail - just what I love. Nice track as well, eager to see more!

[V8_TURBO]

When did you find the time to write all this out? NIce track though, good first effort.

[Yannick]

Thanks a lot for the welcome and the approval. Indeed, now I ask myself where I found the time to write this. I'm going to continue posting the tracks from my archive, but I don't want to rush them. Anyway, the back stories to the other tracks will most likely be shorter than that of Bournemouth - at least those that I've already written are shorter.

See you next time around (probably by week's end)
Yannick

[pirenzo]

Hi Yannick, and welcome to ten-tenths

All that banking would certainly be pretty cool. It would be pretty odd that's for sure. You'd probably have to slow down for the bits between corners in order to change from one side of the track to the other, and then be flat out high up on the banking in the middle of them, which is pretty topsy-turvy

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Hi Yannick, and welcome to ten-tenths

All that banking would certainly be pretty cool. It would be pretty odd that's for sure. You'd probably have to slow down for the bits between corners in order to change from one side of the track to the other, and then be flat out high up on the banking in the middle of them, which is pretty topsy-turvy

Thanks for the welcome and for the comment, pirenzo. It made me think about where bobsleigh riders are actually breaking when running downhill.
One thing is certain: you can reduce the centrifugal force that carries a car out of the corner, or here higher into the banking, either by slowing down or opening up the radius, which is of course not an option here, because the banking is in place.

Actually, I should update my lap description with this detail. Do you think it would be necessary to shift down a gear when changing the side of the track in that particular place, coming down from the banking, like it's necessary for the first time on the Bournemouth track on the exit of Turn 10?
Thanks for your opinion(s).

[V8_TURBO]

So, how often do you suppose you'll post a new track?

[pirenzo]

Originally Posted by Yannick

Thanks for the welcome and for the comment, pirenzo. It made me think about where bobsleigh riders are actually breaking when running downhill.
One thing is certain: you can reduce the centrifugal force that carries a car out of the corner, or here higher into the banking, either by slowing down or opening up the radius, which is of course not an option here, because the banking is in place.

Actually, I should update my lap description with this detail. Do you think it would be necessary to shift down a gear when changing the side of the track in that particular place, coming down from the banking, like it's necessary for the first time on the Bournemouth track on the exit of Turn 10?
Thanks for your opinion(s).

Well, I don't know what you'd do, but I'd guess that it would probably require an odd line. You'd probably find in actual fact that sticking low down on the banking was the fastest way, as you wouldn't be slowing down between corners, and you would be taking a shorter route.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the amount of banking you have is somewhat unnecessary, since you'd never have enough space between corners to use it all.
I reckon a more ordinary approach would work better, where you have a constant gradient rise from inside to outside of a few degrees at most.

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the amount of banking you have is somewhat unnecessary, since you'd never have enough space between corners to use it all.
I reckon a more ordinary approach would work better, where you have a constant gradient rise from inside to outside of a few degrees at most.

You're making a good point there, that driving through the bobsleigh-run low on the banking would probably be both the shortest and the fastest line.
A combination of that line for some corners and the other that includes breaking to come down from the high-rise-banking in other corners might be a good solution as well. And of course, different drivers would choose different lines.
The real reason for which I chose this type of circular banking is that I wanted to avoid having a wall on the outside of the banking at all costs. And from that comes the bobsleigh character.

But now, let's look towards other things ...

[Yannick]

Kéneïeune is a permanent racetrack that has been around since the 1970s. It's located in the tropical forest of French Guyana in South America. In my ficticious OtherWorld(ly)Series, it's the home of the Overseas Territories Grand Prix. Length is around 6.0 kilometers.

Click to view it here: http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...g/d51c39b6.jpg

Lap description:
The track runs anti-clockwise. The start-finish straight runs slightly uphill, gaining in angle before reaching the entry to the wide 90-degree left-hander that is Turn 1 (5th gear), reaching the highest part of the circuit on the exit of Turn 1.
From there, it goes downhill (no pun intended ;-). The track enters the long drawn-out Turn 2 (7th gear) that is in fact not a corner at all, but a straight with g-forces. At its end, cars brake heavily for the track's first possible overtaking point, Turn 3 (3rd gear), the entrance to the so-called "chicane" section, which is not a chicane, but a section of corners. The track is flat there and Turn 4 (2nd gear) follows next. Cars run wide on the exit of Turn 4, accelerating and drifting through Turn 5, from the inside at the entrance to exiting it on the outside, onto the long back straight. The track reaches its lowest altitude at the southernmost point of the circuit, the entrance to the back straight. The next possible overtaking point follows at the end of that straight with Turn 6 (4th gear). At the exit of that, the angle in which the track rises, increases slightly, along a short straight and into Turn 7 (also 4th gear), until the exit of Turn 7, which leads onto yet another straight, which is flat and flat-out. At its end there comes along another possible overtaking point with the S-curve that is Turn 8 (4th gear) and Turn 9 (3rd gear). The track goes down into a dip there, beginning at the apex of Turn 8 and reaching the bottom of the dip at the apex of Turn 9, from where it goes uphill again until the apex of the tight hairpin that is Turn 10 (1st gear). After that, the track goes again downhill shortly to enter the start-finish straight at the end of Turn 11 (2nd gear). That last part there is called the stadium section.

That was a lap of Kéneïeune, the Hockenheim of the tropics as they call it. Now on to the history:
When the track was opened in the early 1970s, it neither included the "chicane" section nor the stadium section. The "chicane" section was introduced in the late 1970s already, to improve safety and cut the long drawn-out flat-out section in the western part of the circuit in halves, thereby gaining interesting viewpoints for spectators. This was the version of the track that I first drew in my initial session back in 1991, so this is basically one of my oldest track designs.
The stadium section was introduced after the track was overhauled after the events of 1994, when the original 90-degree right-hander that used to be the final corner, was found to be lacking runoff because of the dip right where the runoff should have been. Again, the track owners decided to go for a section of corners instead of the cheap solution of a breaking chicane, and introduced the stadium section (Turn 8 to 11), thereby gaining further attractive space for spectators.

[V8_TURBO]

I like this one. I suppose that the four corners at the end of the lap, would slow cars down for entering the pitlane. Good Job.

[pirenzo]

Well, I like the first few turns of that track, up to and including the switch-back at turns 3 and 4, and then the straight which follows. I think the two left handers at the end of that straight and the complex which closes the lap are a little less imaginative, and of a different character to the rest of the track.

[Yannick]

Thanks for the comments. They are quite an encouragement to continue posting this series of tracks until the whole archive is there.

@pirenzo: If I remember correctly, the section of Turn 6 and 7 and the straights were inspired by the old Silverstone circuit. From what I know now about circuits, it seems indeed strange to have a circuit in the wilderness inspired by an airport track.

I'm going to post the 3rd installment in the series at some time in the middle of next week. It's again an experimentalist track, with which I tried to incorporate an aspect of historical racing into today's track design. Anyway, I consider that forthcoming track has a rather boring shape, but that was necessary to have enough space on the sheet of paper to show details of the special feature when I first drew it.
Until then

Y.

[V8_TURBO]

Round about how many are there?

[Rockmunky]

Who cares! I wanna know what the special feature is

[V8_TURBO]

Special Feature?

[Rockmunky]

Originally Posted by Yannick

but that was necessary to have enough space on the sheet of paper to show details of the special feature when I first drew it.

Unless i've misunderstood somewhere along the lines...

[V8_TURBO]

Probably won't be anything.

[Alwaysfirst]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Well, I like the first few turns of that track, up to and including the switch-back at turns 3 and 4, and then the straight which follows. I think the two left handers at the end of that straight and the complex which closes the lap are a little less imaginative, and of a different character to the rest of the track.

I think that the 2 left handers would be much better if they were rounded off to create faster corners like the originals at Silverstone. I like the entrance & exit of the stadium section but I'd have to loosen the very tight hairpin or add an extra couple of corners creating a larger complex. It would fit in better with the rest of the track if this was done. I like the first section though.