1989 Silverstone Short circuit?

[McKay]

I was looking at my 1989 BTCC video and round 6 was on the short silverstone circuit. i was very confused as the cars were coming from the left/right down at bridge and not turning in at woodcote off the club straight. was this a mistake on Steve Ryders part saying it was on the short circuit or was it on the short circuit but a different one? could someone please help me and if you can post a diagram of the short silverstone circuit in 1989

[Andrew Kitson]

I have the programme for this one and remember the meeting.
At the time, the club circuit left the usual GP circuit just before the old Becketts with a right hand hairpin and back towards Woodcote on the long club straight.
After the vehicle bridge the circuit turned left at Brooklands where a short straight led to a right hander 'Luffield 1'. ( Very much like the Brooklands / Luffield layout now). Luffield was not a constant radius right hander like now but two right hand bends connected by a very short straight. The GP circuit rejoined in the middle of the Luffield complex after the GP circuit vehicle bridge. The second Luffield then led to the straight before Woodcote. However, Woodcote had a chicane, as used on the GP circuit previously.
This layout was infact called the 'national' circuit. The old club circuit with a blast from Becketts right up to Woodcote was also used, but latterly with a 'tyre' chicane where Brooklands turned left, about 100 yards before the Woodcote right hander.

Silverstone was a bit of a mess at this time having had so many layouts - still looks like a building site now!

[Andrew Kitson]

Infact looking through the programme I have here, I had forgotten how good F3 was in 1989!
At that Silverstone meeting, the F3 entry included David Brabham, Paul Warwick, Vincenzo Sospiri, Allan McNish, Rickard Rydell, Steve Robertson ( now Kimi's manager), Mika Salo, Alain Menu, Paul Stewart, Derek Higgins, Richard Dean, Phillipe Adams, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Gary Ayles, Kenny Brack and Scott Stringfellow among the 47 entries! Unlike now being a Dallara domination, half the chassis' were Ralts and the rest Reynards. Motors were either VW, Toyota, Alfa or Mugen.

[JR Ewing]

I'm sure that there was some sort of kink halfway along the club straight near the bridge which had the effect of funnelling the cars in together.
I can distinctly recall that being in the middle of a pack of 40 Formula Fords on the first lap was 'mildly exciting'

[Snapper Baz]

I think you'll find that actually just after the bridge the circuit opened out a little making cars effectively jink to the left (if you were driving)to take the line for Woodcote.

[McKay]

so it was like this? sort of?

[JR Ewing]

No - not remotely

[McKay]

hmm... more like this? if i dont get it this time please draw one for me

[redshoes]

I'd forgotten just how much the circuit has changed around that section. This scan is from the programme from 1990 on the GP circuit but should give you the general idea.

[McKay]

thanks. thats helped me loads! you see, im making a model landscape of silverstone from that year. and BTW, whats that tiny oval for?

[McKay]

was the bridge @ bridge moved back in 1991?

[JR Ewing]

No, no, no - we-re talking about a funnelling where the track moved from the inside of the runway to the outside - it made it very narrow at that point which could cause problems in a crowd but we-re not talking about a corner here.
I'm no artist but give me a few months and I will be able to scan in some old finals/program back from when i raced there in the early 90s.

[McKay]

i was. but still, that would be interesting. you can see the funneling in the 1995 and 1994 BTCC vids

[redshoes]

Originally posted by McKay
whats that tiny oval for?

As I recall there were plans to use it for short oval stockcars but I don't ever remember it being used. Would be difficult to use anyhow, without installing some temporary grandstands.

[Andrew Kitson]

The short oval was used for a couple of meetings for short oval hot rods, stock cars and the like.

The track did indeed kink to the left just after the club circuit bridge to join a new strip of tarmac that was laid as part of the new GP circuit in 1991. The original width of club circuit tarmac was used as run off for the new Priory corner. However the 89 layout was before this new GP circuit and did not have this kink.

On the map below, the red line is the national circuit as requested from 89, although I have shown how the kink went from 91 onwards. Some meetings used the Woodcote chicane as shown. The blue line is the GP circuit as it is today. When first built, the new GP section carried on further after bridge ( at Priory) towards the club straight bridge. This was changed again in the mid 90s to provide further run-off as it is now. When the new GP track was first built in 91, the Daily Express bridge by the hangar was moved downtrack as can be seen. This area was excavated too to include the dip through the present Bridge corner. Some wag at Brands Hatch, already peeved at having lost the GP to Silverstone put out a press release at the time stating that the bulldozers were also going to be moved in at Brands to make it 'flat and featureless!'

[McKay]

was it banked? it would of been very hard to use in that very small area

[McKay]

your picture did not come up

[Andrew Kitson]

Try again.

[McKay]

cool. isnt todays luffield a more than 180degree turn?

[Snapper Baz]

Well done Andrew...you can now see the slight (and it is very slight!)king just after the bridge which made the circuit there look a lot wider just before the turn in for Woodcote on the club circuit...I remember the commentator saying how Jerry Mahoney's superb car control was (in his prod' saloon Cossie Sierra) when seconds later (and it was seconds)he understeered straight off into the bank near my feet and destroyed his car!! ....Also remember Tim Harvey ploughing straight into the back of a staionary car at Woodcote (Van Uitert?)in his F'Ford and breaking both ankles...ouch!!

[Snapper Baz]

Sorry...slight "king" should read..."Kink"!

[Andrew Kitson]

And do you remember Colin Blower going through the armco at the same spot in his Tuscan! That was a massive one. Or Negri's huge F3 flip that featured on the opening credits of 'They think its all over ' and 'BBC Grandstand'.

[Snapper Baz]

Actualy, my incidents were when the cars would come down the club straight and then turn right into Woodcote-those were great last lap slipstreaming days!...I do remember the TVR and Negri though!!

[Andrew Kitson]

Now your'e talking Baz, the best corner ever in British Motorsport. Watching FF races there was heart stopping. 6 abreast into the corner on the last lap.

I remember John Stevens - the race instructor going straight on and ending up in the wall having mown down all of the catch fencing. His Metro had complete brake failure - ouch!
...and many many FF incidents too!

Remember John Village pulling a South American ( Toledano / Mansilla?) out of his car by the shoulder straps who had him off on the last lap? He didn't wack him though.

[McKay]

did the BTCC ever use it?