[Race] Vive La France!

[Marbot]

France is aiming to get a GP underway again.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92700

[BobHWS]

"All men have two countries. Their own, and France." -Benjamin Franklin

"Without France, the world would be alone."
-Victor Hugo

It's ridiculous that France, historical and spiritual home of grand prix racing, does not have its own grand prix (whereas we do have grand prix in China, Singapore, Malaysia and India). Furthermore, it does not have a single current driver and it has not had a world champion in decades. At least it has a successful engine supplier and a team (sort of). France deserves and needs to have a grand prix. Vive la France!

[Marbot]

This is the place where car 'Grand Prix' started. Where phrases like 'Parc Ferme' and 'Ferrari Internationale Assitance' sprang from. I hope they succeed in their efforts. But not Magny-Cours! Please not Magny-Cours!

[Wims]

Magny cours is an awesome circuit, what do you have against it? At least it has high speed corners, low speed corners, medium speed corners and elevation changes. I highly doubt any other french circuit would do better, especially Paul Ricard, totally flat airport style highspeed romp....thats not fun.

[Marbot]

I don't know what it is with Magny-Cours. It just didn't excite very much. Hard to remember a 'classic' from that particular track. Maybe much better with current regs? DRS all the way up to the Adelaide hairpin!

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by BobHWS

"All men have two countries. Their own, and France." -Benjamin Franklin

"Without France, the world would be alone."
-Victor Hugo

It's ridiculous that France, historical and spiritual home of grand prix racing, does not have its own grand prix (whereas we do have grand prix in China, Singapore, Malaysia and India). Furthermore, it does not have a single current driver and it has not had a world champion in decades. At least it has a successful engine supplier and a team (sort of). France deserves and needs to have a grand prix. Vive la France!

Hopefully France will come back to the calendar, and maybe drivers... who knows.

[ujoint]

Do it right though. Wait till Bernie dies.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by ujoint

Do it right though. Wait till Bernie dies.

I'll stick with Marbot this time... better the devil you know.

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by Wims

Magny cours is an awesome circuit, what do you have against it? At least it has high speed corners, low speed corners, medium speed corners and elevation changes. I highly doubt any other french circuit would do better, especially Paul Ricard, totally flat airport style highspeed romp....thats not fun.

Magny-Bore has everything ..... for an exciting motorcycle endurance race. The Bol D'Or is really fun to watch there.
But Formula 1 ? - Please No. Dijon would be just fine. Unfortunately, it has way too few grandstands to fit B.E.'s needs. Basically, If you want to have a French race at Magny-Bore you could always stick to the Valencia race as well. Not that far away from France and a circuit equalling Magny-Bore.

[Hubble]

I'd love to see them around the streets of Pau!

[Sodemo]

Bernie can't wait to destroy another classic track in the name of F1... Oh hello Mt Fuji... Quite a legacy.

[Purist]

I just don't understand where people get off giving so much guff to Magny Cours. All it really needs is to have that final chicane gotten rid of. And you can't tell me that you can't closely follow the car ahead through the infield section; 2008 PROVED that statement false.

The advantage of Paul Ricard is that the run-off and pit facilities are already there; you just need some more stands and the luxury boxes. As long as they run the full GP layout, withOUT the Mistral chicane, it could be great.

One of the tighter versions of Varrerie might work better for F1, and would give a good outbraking zone right at Turn 1. The whole St. Beaume/L'Ecole complex is a nice rhythm section. You have to sacrifice the right corners to make the most of the section, and get a good run out onto the Mistral. Signes should still be plenty breathtaking in an F1 car. And then, you have another good rhythm section from Double Droit de Beausset around to the final turn at Virage du Pont.

Given the current car's lack of power and abundance of drag compared to the turbo-era machines, I don't think they'd lap absurdly fast around the track if they used the tightest layout of Varrerie, but still had NO chicane on the Mistral, since the only place the current cars would then be able to make gobs of time on their 1985 counterparts would be in the third sector. As an added bonus, Paul Ricard would restore something that has been missing from the calendar, for the most part, for some time now: a circuit at relatively high altitude.

Finally, I figure there are three existing tracks that might have a real shot at this, and I do NOT want to see the French GP back at Le Mans Bugatti, especially since they've added all those chicanes after 1967. So, that leaves Magny Cours and paul Ricard as the more realistic options, and of those two, I think Le Castellet has more to offer.

P.S. Look at the bright side. I could have suggested something really bad or crazy, like Pau, Nogaro, or Mas du Clos.

[BobHWS]

From a fan's point of view, the ideal location for the French Grand Prix would be at a new track constructed somewhere in the Paris region. Imagine staying in Paris and riding to the track on an RER suburban train or, depending on the location, maybe on a TGV train (I attended the 2010 Le Mans race while staying in Paris and commuting to Le Mans by TGV).

There was a serious proposal in 2008 to build a new track near Euro Disneyland but it fell apart when the locals objected to the idea of a race track in their backyard. That would have been a good location because the area already has a good number of hotels and it is close to Paris.

Or why not Le Mans on the Bugatti Circuit? Though I imagine the ACO doesn't really want Bernie's show there, since they already have a better one.

[Tourer]

Personally I think that the Le Mans Bugatti track is simply too tight and restrictive (and probably not long enough) to provide a spectacle for F1.

I'm not a bit Magny knocker but it IS hard to feel any warmth for it - other than all the political intrigue at the time (which I guess is typically French) I struggled to see any benefit in going there over Ricard - or spending the same money on re-juvenating Dijon for example. Biggest issue in my mind against Magny is that it is just in the middle of nowhere and just doesn't have any great character.

To me, if F1 is going back to France, then it should be at a track with character, history and a some Frenchness about it. I reckon that Ricard would be the go for that BUT run it on the old layout - flat out through Signes, no Mistral chicane (or as close as you could get to this from a modern safety point of view).

Now, THAT is a circuit with character in the true F1 way - presenting challenge, balls-out bravery and commitment in spades and with a very strong French character in a fantastic tourist region plus has the benefit of being instantly recognisable and thus with some identity.

If F1 went back there, we'd have Silverstone, Monza, Spa, Monaco and Ricard back on the calendar as "classic, pure" F1 tracks with history - now if only we could get back to Zandvoort as well!

It would just be good to have a French GP at somewhere that offered more than a succession of medium and slow speed corners in the current "drome" way.

[stripedcat]

I would love to see a race back in France. I am no fan of Magnys-Cours, though. Only decent races there, were probably 1991(with Mansell and Prost fighting one another) and 2001(with DC and Schumi fighting one another, helped by the hot weather that one, it ate Schumi's tyres). I admit that the 'Estoril' corner is an exciting corner on that, but that's it. It is still quite difficult to overtake there.

I would give my vote to Paul Ricard as well, as I think it would provide better racing.

[Sodemo]

I struggle to think of really great tracks in France. Of course there are the classic ones like Dijon, Reims, however neither of those could host a GP, Dijon would require massive changes and Reims, im not sure exists and was a road course anyway. So that really leaves Paul Ricard and Magny Cours and maybe Nogaro, none of which really "excite" me. Le Mans of course is probably one of the best tracks in the world, however F1 would never go there.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I struggle to think of really great tracks in France. Of course there are the classic ones like Dijon, Reims, however neither of those could host a GP, Dijon would require massive changes and Reims, im not sure exists and was a road course anyway. So that really leaves Paul Ricard and Magny Cours and maybe Nogoro.

I saw a proposed perminant circuit near Paris (I can't mention where i'm afraid) and it looked really quite good. Apparently, Alain Prost helped design it.

Shame it never surfaced.

Selby

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I struggle to think of really great tracks in France. Of course there are the classic ones like Dijon, Reims, however neither of those could host a GP, Dijon would require massive changes and Reims, im not sure exists and was a road course anyway. So that really leaves Paul Ricard and Magny Cours and maybe Nogaro, none of which really "excite" me. Le Mans of course is probably one of the best tracks in the world, however F1 would never go there.

Reims is a circuit made of public country roads, what still exists anyway so an absolute no go for F1. What would be the massive changes in regard of Dijon though? The circuit is just fine and challenging.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by Andy77

What would be the massive changes in regard of Dijon though? The circuit is just fine and challenging.

I was thinking that.

I think it's more in regards to spectator/VIP facilities, at a guess.

The track itself funnilly enough we really ahead of its time with tarmac run-off..!

Much alike whenever I see early/mid 80's clips of Brands Hatch (Paddock Hill Bend), very ahead of their time without even realising!

Selby

[ptclaus98]

I think Magny Cours would be a lot better with no refueling. The pit delta was so low there that they would all just go light on the first stint, get strung out, and then play follow the leader after the pits.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Good point. I think it's worth remembering the F1 is an entirely different beast these days.

Selby

[JeremySmith]

What is so wrong with Magny-Cours apart from Flabio could not find a hotel that suited his fat arse...

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

What is so wrong with Magny-Cours apart from Flabio could not find a hotel that suited his fat arse...

Killer Cows! Cows so deadly, that they have to wear bells around their necks to at least give you some chance of surviving the attack.



They look fairly harmless, don't they?

Which is exactly what they'd be expecting you to think!

[ECW Dan Selby]

I had no idea...

Selby

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

I had no idea...

Selby

Many is the tale recounted by the poor defenceless race goer that wandered accidentally into the territory of a KILLER COW. Some were not so lucky. You have been warned!