Indy

[neilap]

Nothing special says Alonso. I think the layout may be boring but since its inception I feel it has produced the best racing over the years. Even last year with the runaway victory, Indy still produced what I think was better racing than anywhere else behind the BS/Ferraris.

Maybe they knew what they were doing. As a matter of fact if the track was more technical there would be less passing and the US audience would become quickly bored with the event. Imagine a race like the one in Budapest in Indy. That would be suicide.

[Damon]

It has the advantage of having one relatively easy passing point. I like the circuit, it does always provide good racing.

[GP Racer]

Sorry if Alonso's alittle bored, but as a fan, you've got to like the racing it provides.

[esorniloc]

I thought they only intended to run the circuit for about 1 or 2 years then change it, so they incorporated another long run on the back straight?????

[Muzza]

Originally posted by esorniloc
I thought they only intended to run the circuit for about 1 or 2 years then change it, so they incorporated another long run on the back straight?????

Hello, Esorniloc,

Yes, the plans for a track using the back straight existed, but were shelved in early 2001. The most detailed study depicted a figure-of-eight track, with an overpass, like Suzuka (or Oran Park, for those in Australia, or Balcarce, or Hämeenlinna).

The construction of such a track would compromise the golf course that exists in the Brickyard complex (with eight holes inside the track and ten out of it), and the IMS decided against it.

Regards,


Muzza

[ASCII Man]

What's a golf course doing inside a the track???

[shiny side up!]

I don't know, but we play football on one of the greens outside the back stretch in between support races every year at the USGP...

[Mr V]

Indy has produced some good racing over the last couple of years, but i still reckon the F1 circus should be racing at Road America

[Muzza]

Hello, ASCII Man,

Curiously, several times motorsport and gold crashed (I apologize for the poor pun) regarding the use of the same piece of land. The stillborn figure-of-eight road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is far from being a single case, ad I remember at least two more instances of similar situations elsewhere.

One is the Jarama track, in the suburbs of Madrid. The R. A. C. E. (Royal Automobile Club of Spain) had a plot in that area, and curiuously enough decided to split it between a race course and a golf course. The whole plot itself was not that large, so John Hugenholtz - the famed Dutch race track designer, commissioned by the R. A. C. E. to pen the course - was forced to "cram" the racing one into about 50% of the originally available land.

That was tough, as the track was supposed to bring Formula 1 back to Spain, and the FISA had requirements regarding minimum track lenght. So Hugenholtz was obliged to make full use of the slopes and hills of the plot, twisting the track around itself. That was an innovative concept for the time - albeit practiced before by LuÃ*s Roberto Sanson when he conceived Interlagos back in 1939.

Hence Jarama was considered an "odd" lay-out when it came to light, in 1967 - remember that those were days where the so-called natural race courses such as Spa-Francorchamps and Nürburgring prevailed. Jarama was the original "mickey mouse" track, as it was there that Jackie Stewart coined the term, used to refer to slow and twisting tracks.

Another case is Bridgehampton, in Long Island, New York State. Regrettably this challenging track was closed years ago when the circuit fell into desrepair, and after the local town council was convinced by real estate developers (those "evil creatures" that sadly killed more than a few tracks around, Edmonton in Canada and Riverside in California are two that spring to mind now) that a luxury, high-end community build around a gold course would generate more revenue that racing...

Cheers,

Muzza

[codename_47]

Originally posted by Mr V
Indy has produced some good racing over the last couple of years, but i still reckon the F1 circus should be racing at Road America

Perhaps, but they'll probably have to butcher the place to get them racing there (FIA Tarmac on the exit of the Carousel...no thanks! )

The good thing about the American race is the speedway part, a long fast straight where cars can actually pass.....plus it's wide, so there's almost no chance of a first corner pile up since people have easy escape routes (though I probably shouldn't Jinx it like that!! )

The bad part of the track is....all the rest of it...nothing happens....

The real question is will any Americans turn up, after last years farce at the finish?? :confused:

[bcobbus]

To the best of my knowledge the term, "Mickey Mouse" track was coined regarding the 1967 Le Mans Bugatti circuit used for the French GP that year. In fact there is a video from 1967 called Nine Days In Summer, a chronichle of the first races of the lotus 49 which states, "Even one leading driver called the track a Mickey Mouse circuit!"

[Muzza]

Hello, Bcobbus,

Thanks for correcting me - has anybody else any other information about the origins of the term "mickey mouse track"?

Regards,

Muzza