Future Grands Prix?

[Beetle]

I wouldn't be sad to see Yeongam go. It is, after all, just another Tilkedrome, even if it did have some interesting corners. If they do South Korea again, they need to build a track closer to Seoul/Incheon, if not just run a street race Downtown. Yeongam is out in the middle of nowhere.

So is Sochi, to tell you the truth.

[Beetle]

Hermann Tilke has designed a track in Buriram, Thailand that is now under construction. FIA Grade 1T, within a drive to Bangkok, and on the calendar for Super GT 2014. Also under consideration for an intercontinental DTM race...

Possibilities for Formula 1 to expand to Thailand?

http://www.bric.co.th/home/default.aspx

[Alfaholic]

That looks remarkably like the Red Bull Ring Circuit rotated 90° clockwise.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Hermann Tilke has designed a track in Buriram, Thailand that is now under construction. FIA Grade 1T, within a drive to Bangkok, and on the calendar for Super GT 2014. Also under consideration for an intercontinental DTM race...

Possibilities for Formula 1 to expand to Thailand?

http://www.bric.co.th/home/default.aspx

Does F1 really need another far eastern GP and another Tilkedrome?

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

That looks remarkably like the Red Bull Ring Circuit rotated 90° clockwise.

That's a very interesting find... never noticed that.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Does F1 really need another far eastern GP and another Tilkedrome?

This actually looks like a decent track. The corners aren't insanely tight and it doesn't seem to be so technical. It also doesn't have that long straight into a tight hairpin thing that COTA, Yeongam, Shanghai, and Sepang have.

India will be dropped, Yeongam possibly - so you're only left with Suzuka, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sepang in Asia. Dropping two Tilkedromes for the price of one, or even dropping one Tilkedrome for a better one, is something we should all be thankful for.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Beetle

That's a very interesting find... never noticed that.



This actually looks like a decent track. The corners aren't insanely tight and it doesn't seem to be so technical. It also doesn't have that long straight into a tight hairpin thing that COTA, Yeongam, Shanghai, and Sepang have.

India will be dropped, Yeongam possibly - so you're only left with Suzuka, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sepang in Asia. Dropping two Tilkedromes for the price of one, or even dropping one Tilkedrome for a better one, is something we should all be thankful for.

India is only being dropped for 2014.

[Bononi]

I really don't know wich one is worse... but there you go.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Bononi

I really don't know wich one is worse... but there you go.

Delhi and Bangkok are pretty similar, although Delhi is a bit bigger and perhaps a bit dirtier. I'm not sure which place I'd rather spend a weekend in, to be honest. But at least the Buriram circuit looks a bit more like a classic track than a Tilkedrome. It'll probably turn out to be like another Ordos or Chengdu, though - lots of promise but in the end not enough effort.

But it'll be interesting to follow the progress.

Bangkok


Delhi

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

What's the damn point of all of these Eastern races? Nobody cares over there. The Dutch have a far bigger motorsport interest than South Korea. Most of these newer GPs are here to fill Bernie's already-brimming pockets. Formula 1, whilst most people involved take part in a sport, the people in charge are there for money first, money second, and money third in the priority list. The calendar is becoming more and more of a joke.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

And, stopping the ranting, any more news on Paul Ricard?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

What's the damn point of all of these Eastern races? Nobody cares over there. The Dutch have a far bigger motorsport interest than South Korea. Most of these newer GPs are here to fill Bernie's already-brimming pockets. Formula 1, whilst most people involved take part in a sport, the people in charge are there for money first, money second, and money third in the priority list. The calendar is becoming more and more of a joke.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

What's the damn point of all of these Eastern races? Nobody cares over there. The Dutch have a far bigger motorsport interest than South Korea. Most of these newer GPs are here to fill Bernie's already-brimming pockets. Formula 1, whilst most people involved take part in a sport, the people in charge are there for money first, money second, and money third in the priority list. The calendar is becoming more and more of a joke.

As long as the tracks are decent, I don't see the problem. Sepang is awesome, Suzuka is awesome, and this new Buriram Circuit looks OK. Yeongam is kind of boring and Buddh is in a terrible location. I think people don't give Tilke enough credit... yes, some of his designs are "cookie cutter", but nevertheless, he's producing top-quality racetracks, if not a bit sterile.

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

And, stopping the ranting, any more news on Paul Ricard?

I don't know about Paul Ricard. I had the privilege to visit there two months ago after Le Mans and it was a wonderful track. It's kind of out of the way, though - there's two track hotels (and very nice ones, at that) but the nearest major city is Marseille.

Of course, nothing was more "out of the way" than Magny-Cours.

Come to think of it, a Dutch GP would be really great. I was always thinking about Zandvoort, but there's Assen, of course. I think that could work.

I have a question as well - what became of the Cape Town street circuit? It seemed a bit over-optimistic to me (as cars would be flying by residential apartments), so is it done? South Africa needs an FIA Grade 1 permanent course...

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

And, stopping the ranting, any more news on Paul Ricard?

Do you think Bernie is going to pay CVC 20million to hold a race at his own circuit and make a profit?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Do you think Bernie is going to pay CVC 20million to hold a race at his own circuit and make a profit?

Wouldn't that amount to a conflict of interest?

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Wouldn't that amount to a conflict of interest?

Nothing unusual in Bernie's world.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Nothing unusual in Bernie's world.

Haha, too true!

[wolfhound]

Just another thought if Bernie could hold a GP at Ricard and show everbody else that they he can make a profit on the event plus pay CVC 20million.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Just another thought if Bernie could hold a GP at Ricard and show everbody else that they he can make a profit on the event plus pay CVC 20million.

By getting a group of French companies and the French government to pay for everything......?

And include a percentage for him!

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

[QUOTE=Beetle;3291369]As long as the tracks are decent, I don't see the problem. Sepang is awesome, Suzuka is awesome, and this new Buriram Circuit looks OK. Yeongam is kind of boring and Buddh is in a terrible location. I think people don't give Tilke enough credit... yes, some of his designs are "cookie cutter", but nevertheless, he's producing top-quality racetracks, if not a bit sterile.
QUOTE]

That is true, but it's still a bit farcical. And Suzuka is not exactly a new circuit. Tilke has done very well recently - the Circuit of the Americas is an amazing circuit - but is there really nobody else?

[bjohnsonsmith]

[QUOTE=Biscuits In A Red Bull;3291643]

Originally Posted by Beetle

As long as the tracks are decent, I don't see the problem. Sepang is awesome, Suzuka is awesome, and this new Buriram Circuit looks OK. Yeongam is kind of boring and Buddh is in a terrible location. I think people don't give Tilke enough credit... yes, some of his designs are "cookie cutter", but nevertheless, he's producing top-quality racetracks, if not a bit sterile.
QUOTE]

That is true, but it's still a bit farcical. And Suzuka is not exactly a new circuit. Tilke has done very well recently - the Circuit of the Americas is an amazing circuit - but is there really nobody else?

The Japanese have been involved in F1 since the mid '60s and have been a major player in motorsport in general and thoroughly deserve their place on the F1 calendar. As for these other places, there is no motorsport heritage and I just see it as a cash cow for Bernie.

According to this article in Wikipedia and they don't always get it right, the layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz with the assistance of Hermann Tilke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit...as#The_circuit

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

[QUOTE=bjohnsonsmith;3291648]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

The Japanese have been involved in F1 since the mid '60s and have been a major player in motorsport in general and thoroughly deserve their place on the F1 calendar. As for these other places, there is no motorsport heritage and I just see it as a cash cow for Bernie.

According to this article in Wikipedia and they don't always get it right, the layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz with the assistance of Hermann Tilke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit...as#The_circuit

I knew it wasn't Tilke who proposed the plan, but I'm still sure that it was he who did the main architecture. For a start, I remember an article on how Tilke wanted the circuit to be fan-friendly in I believe the 2010 Korean GP preview edition of Autosport. Whether or not this means he did it, I don't know, but it clearly means he had a big say in things.

[bjohnsonsmith]

[QUOTE=Biscuits In A Red Bull;3291649]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I knew it wasn't Tilke who proposed the plan, but I'm still sure that it was he who did the main architecture. For a start, I remember an article on how Tilke wanted the circuit to be fan-friendly in I believe the 2010 Korean GP preview edition of Autosport. Whether or not this means he did it, I don't know, but it clearly means he had a big say in things.

I don't doubt he was purely responsible for the architecture and he's done an excellent job; he's had enough practice.

[bella]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Just another thought if Bernie could hold a GP at Ricard and show everbody else that they he can make a profit on the event plus pay CVC 20million.

can immediately shoot that down due to the need for temporary infrastructure investment for a crowd any larger than about 2000 people. he could put up a couple of grandstands and call it a circuit but that would be running at a venue and with facilities of a far inferior level than he demands from potential host circuits.

mind you, potentially if the red bull ring does it right and stirs the pot in the right direction we could be heading for a revolution in f1 event hosting in a similar vein to the impact london 2012 has had on the planning of future olympic games. that would be the smart thing to do.

Originally Posted by Beetle

I don't know about Paul Ricard. I had the privilege to visit there two months ago after Le Mans and it was a wonderful track. It's kind of out of the way, though - there's two track hotels (and very nice ones, at that) but the nearest major city is Marseille.

Of course, nothing was more "out of the way" than Magny-Cours.

toulon is pretty substantial, and it's where teams stay. lots of summer rental apartments and villas available along that coast too. if you liked it in its current state you'd have refused to leave when it was in pre-makeover 70s timewarp format. it was awesome

magny cours was no worse than the red bull ring, location and accomodation wise, and many times better than the moscow raceway, for example. it's very easy to access now they've finally built the dual carriageway all the way to the circuit. the fan catchment area is huge and the campsites were a good laugh. very well priced too!

[Beetle]

Sergey Sirotkin to make F1 debut for Sauber in Sochi demo

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109361

Yes... well, it seems as though it's all coming together for the 2014 Russian GP in Sochi. I sincerely wish them well - and this demo run will probably be quite accurate given it's a "street circuit" (more like a parkland/fairgrounds road course akin to Montreal), so there isn't that much more work left to be done.

I'm hoping for a night race... I enjoy seeing the Sochi Olympic Park light up at night.

[wolfhound]

Mexico is apparently on the provisonal 2014 calender according to Autosport with a race in Mexico city after Austin.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109493

That was a bit of a surprise as I have not heard it mentioned for some time.