Dutch Touringcar Championship

[werner]

Nowadays Holland is lacking a good touringcarchampionship. So here is my imaginative DTCC, whith 8 rounds on 8 different tracks.

Round 1: Dutch Touringcar Grand prix of Haarlem
Circuit Park Zandvoort (short)




Round 2: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Eindhoven
Circuit Zolder (Belgium)


Round 3: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Assen
TT-Circuit Assen

Round 4: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Zeeland
Circuit Perkpolder

The circuit of Perkpolder is located on the deserted land of a Ferry-company that connected 2 parts of the very waterfull province of Zeeland in the southwest of the Netherlands. The Ferrydock became redundant when a tunnel was digged between the 2 parts.
The circuit goes anticlockwise and is about 2.3km long (or short), and is lying in a dramatic landscape with huge windmills and dykes, some of them giving spectators a high place to watch the races. Large ships will sail by on their way to the Antwerp Harbour, which will be a spectaculair sight over the 'Westerschelde-' and 'Kruiningen'-corners.

Round 5: Dutch Touringcar Gran Prix of Enschede
Enschede Airport

The Airport of Enschede is only a small airport, mainly used for military aircraft. The circuit goes clockwise, and is about 3,5 km long

Round 6: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Rotterdam
Circuit Zuidplein

This circuit is the only Street-circuit to be raced on in the series. It's located around the Zuiderpark and the Ahoy conventioncenter, giving place for an indoor paddock. It's length is about 4,5km. The clockwise layout is al about high speed and braking hard for the sharp corners and chicanes, giving lots of opportunities for overtaking.
The greatest challenge is the first corner, a high-speed lefthander with the armco just besides it. It's even more importand given the next corner, the hairpin. A great place to overtake, right in front of the largest grandstands.
The circuit is very good to reach for lot's of people, with a subway-station on 100 meters rom start-finish, connecting the circuit with the Rotterdam central intercity trainstation.

Round 7: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Amersfoort
Circuit Barneveld

This circuit is situated right in the middle of the Netherlands, next to the A1-highway. Also a trainstation is about 1km away.
The best overtakingopportunity is the hairpin after the longest straight of the circuit, witch measures about 900 meters.

Round 8: Dutch Touringcar Grand Prix of Amsterdam
Circuit Park Zandvoort (GP)




On the map you can find were the circuits are located

[shambles]

Very imaginative, and some great tracks.

[Mr Pink]

very nice! I like the Perkepolder track very much.

[Lustigson]

Very nice, indeed. Good effort, mate.

I'd like to add the 'Gooische Grand Prix' at Hilversum, too. It's located on the (very interestingly constructed) motorway exit on the A27. Check it out:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1377686

It's 5.2 km (3.2 mi) long, with 3 chicanes, 2 hairpins and 3 very challenging, potentially very fast sweeping corners. The pits could be situated along the straight going south from the left-top hairpin, with the pits on the grassy bit on the left.

[shambles]

That would be a brilliant Championship.

[Lustigson]

By the way, I've though of some similar championship in the past, but more in the form of a Benelux Championship. It included Assen and Zandvoort (NL), Spa and Zolder (B), and the Goodyear test track Colmar-Berg in Luxembourg. Add a number of street circuits and you've got a great Championship on your hands.

[Lustigson]

Here's another possible street track on an industrial estate in Arnhem. It's 2.2 km (1.4 mi) long, although I suspect the tarmac isn't wide enough.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1378097

[Lustigson]

Another one, on an other industrial estate in the south of Arnhem. It's 3.3 km (2.0 mi) long and most parts should be wide enough for racing. Otherwise only minor changes would be needed to make racing possible, such as the chicane in the long bended straight at the top end.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1378108

[Lustigson]

And, finally, I've made an addition to your Zuidplein Circuit, with the track now going across the Ahoy parking lot entry roads, to make it 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long. Pits and paddock could be either on the Ahoy grounds or along one of the straights.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1378127

Not taking the to-be-built Barneveld circuit into account, we have as much as 12 circuits. Some existing tracks, some relatively easy to construct street circuits:
1. Zandvoort (long version)
2. Assen (short version) (NL)
3. Hilversum (motorway circuit) (NL)
4. Zolder (B)
5. Perkpolder (Kloosterzande) (NL)
6. Spa-Francorchamps (B)
7. Rotterdam (street circuit) (NL)
8. Arnhem (NL)
9. Enschede Airport (NL)
10. Colmar-Berg (L)
11. Zandvoort (short version) (NL)
12. Assen (long version) (NL)

[werner]

Well, the perkpolder-circuit is not ready to race as it is: the surface is not good at all, often not wide enough, and a few pieces of the track aren't there at all. (motorclub, oude veerbocht)
Instead of Perkpolder you can also use the circuit of Chimay.

I like the first circuit in Arnhem, it looks like a real opporunity, and it has some amazing corners, with you wouldn't expect there. However, I have a much better idea for Arnhem, though not to realistic. I'll post it soon.

I don't like your Zuidplein-changes, it really changes the character of the circuit, and makes the best spectatorplaces unusable. I have thought of a smaller version of the circuit as well, witch does'nt goes around the whole park. I'll post it soon aswell.

[werner]

The promised track near Arnhem:

It's a fantastic track trough the forests of the Veluwe.
The straight is about 3 km long, but there is an opportunity to create a chicane at about 1km into the straight. After the start-line, witch is nicely located at 1 km from the Highway, and just adjacent to a railway, the drivers race to Velp, a wealthy suburb of Arnhem. A few corners and later thy leave it, to go uphill trough some fast corners. Still going uphill, the corners become tighter and tighther, with even a few hairpins, and the track goes higher and higher. Suddenly the scenery changes when the track enters a wide plain. After a few quick corners the drivers have to deal eith a never ending long righthander, witch suddenly ends with a kink to the left. Quick after, the drivers reach the highest point of the track, the Posbank-hill. Here is a retourant located, wich is probably the most fantastic place to be at raceday. After a slow right and left, the drivers almost freefall trough medium and fast corners to the vally of the ijssel-river, a good 80 meters lower. At the outskirts of the Village of Rheden, they have to brake very hard and make a 90-degree turn to the right, witch brings them on the 3km-straight, giving them some time to recover of the demanding lap they have just driven.

[werner]

And here is the shorter Zuidplein-circuit. It's clockwise, and measures 2750m. It starts the same, with the fast left-hander and the hairpin, but with the Vaanbocht, the direction of the circuit goes to the parkingspace of the Ahoy-conventioncenter. After a few turns inside a sort of stadium-section, we leave the mickeymouse-part to accelerate hard to the full throttle ahoywegcorners. After a right, a left you reach the brakingzone for the 90-degree chaarlois-corner, witch is very hard, since it's not straight. A ashort straight follows, witch leads to the final chicane. Driving hard over the curbs you again accelerate to cross the finischline.

[werner]

I've made an even better version of the Zuidplein-circuit. As a bonus I've added Birds-eyeview-pictures of the locations with the circuit etc. drawn into it.

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by werner

The promised track near Arnhem:

It's a fantastic track trough the forests of the Veluwe.
The straight is about 3 km long, but there is an opportunity to create a chicane at about 1km into the straight..

3km straight!?
I foresee blown engines and thrilling accidents,unless they're racing UFO's up there!

[Chiefy]

Great idea for a championship. Jos Verstappen to be the main man, perhaps?

[Lustigson]

Originally Posted by Chiefy

Great idea for a championship. Jos Verstappen to be the main man, perhaps?

As long as he's neither in court nor in jail...

[TilkeWannabe]

Hi Lustigson!

Is Jos Verstappen a really bad boy?

[Lustigson]

Originally Posted by TilkeWannabe

Hi Lustigson!

Is Jos Verstappen a really bad boy?

He recently was in court on accustion of beating and harassing his (now ex-)wife Sophie Kumpen (sister of sportscar racer Anthony, by the way). Got suspended jailtime, IIRC.

[Chiefy]

His [ex-]wife is a racing driver anyway, isn't she?

Naughty Jos...

[werner]

I'm afraid the track at Perkpolder won't be able to be build anymore, since they are going to 'give the place back to nature'.
No problem though, because I've found a great replacement. I've designed a streetcircuit at the city of Vlissingen. Vlissingen is the largest city of the province of Zeeland. It's not to far from Perkpolder (4). On the map it is just across the water, and then almost 50 km to the west, close to the sea.

Vlissingen is not a very large city, about 50.000 inhabitants, but it has the look and feel of a much larger city. The reasons are the large hotels along the boulevard, and the important seaport, including ferryservices to the UK. The amount of hotels, actually located inside of the circuit, make the city a good place to host a large event. A disadvantage is that the city is quite far away for most people, and the region itself had not got to much inhabitants. Alhough a lot of you from larger countries will laugh about what Dutch call large distances.

The clockwise track is located near the seafront. The paddock is located on a large parkinglot. The start is at the Spuitkomweg. The first corner is a kink to the left. The first sharp corner to the right, into the Coosje Buskenstreet is a difficult one, because of the small righthandkink in the brakingzone.
After a small straight, one of the most important corners follows: a 90 degree righthander with a twist in the exit leads onto the long straight over the boulevard. Thousends of people can watch the action here from the grandstands at the beach. At the end of the boulevard, just in front of the highest tower in the city, the drivers have to brake very hard for a very tight chicane that leads to a road at the back of the boulevardbuildings.
The scenery changes quite dramtically, as the road is surrounded here by the large trees of the Nollenbos (bos = forest). Fully accelerating the road changes from straight into a long lefthander into an even longer righthander. Although still going fast, maximum throttle is not possible anymore. Without ever getting straight again, this bend leads into the difficult breakingzone of a 90 degree righthander.
Then follows a long straight surrounded by nice villa's, long enought to bring the cars to very high speeds. It is with such speeds that the drivers approach the scariest corner of the tracks, or indeed the championship. As said, a very high speed approach, then a lefthand fast kink, with every centimeter that you leave between the barrier at the exit costing you a lot of time, but 1 cm to far out can cost you you car. And it is important going fast when you are under attack. Taking this corner to slow means you are a sitting duck at the next corner for the driver behind you if he manages to get a good exit. Luckily for the safety the barrier is at the passengers-side of the cars. On the picture you can see that corner. The picture looks back to the exit of the kink. In the background you can see the exit of the chicane at the end of the boulevard.
That next corner brings the drivers back to the start of this 3km long track.

[TilkeWannabe]

Nice quick lap by the looks of it, also looks like good fun too.

[Quintin03]

Those Zuidplein tracks, I've made one too without knowing of these. the direction can be either. We should at least try to get one of these circuits to reality. The best way would be to send the plans to Rotterdamracing (Bavaria City racing).