Imagine your dream race track.....

[rojo81]

...and then tell me about it!!

Hello thank you for reading.

I am an architecture student working on a project to design a race track.
My idea is to develop an existing site (which has extensive car park and road infrastructure) into a race course. It would function as a race track during the night time, while the site is not being used for anything else. It would be a permanent development.

My intention is that it would operate in a similar way to the Nurburgring in Germany - being open to motor enthusiasts to practice and compete in organised events, possibly with an open workshop space for people to fix and modify their cars.
- run as a legal, profit making business.

I am looking for people who have had more experience than I have (which is very little) of any kind of racing or motorsport - to tell me what would make up your idea of a perfect race track experience or environment (on the track itself or on the sidelines).

- your thoughts will be of great value to me, helping me to develop my project in a constructive and pragmatic way.


Thank you so much for reading and I hope to hear from you soon,

[mod]Email address removed[/mod]

Kindest regards,

Rojo

[Tathrim]

Prove you're not a spambot, THEN we'll talk.

[ascarracinguk]

dont spam bots usually ask for credit card details lol

just ignore scrooge!!!



erm my ideal track would have a mixture of fast flowing corners and tight twisty bits for overtaking. the circuit should have some good elevations and dips too

take a look at donington park, oulton park, spa, monza, theyre the circuits that people like, not this new cr4p that tilke keeps coming out with!

[exflagman]

Easy - just take Donington Park from the start line down to Starkeys Bridge Hairpin, add on Cadwell from the bottom of the dip after Charlies through to the top of the Mountain and end the circuit with Oulton Park from the top of Clay Hill to the finish line - they almost line up both in plan and typographically.

Do that and I might even be persuaded to come back marshalling!

[bio]

Well, good luck with your project! Seems exciting, for sure!

bio

[Purist]

Easy, Tathrim.

The best circuits for me have several high-speed turns/corners/curves, a few to some medium-speed bends, and often, but not always, a few slow turns. They follow the natural terrain, and have significant elevation changes. Run-offs are not so vast that you don't even feel like you're at a racetrack, and thus not even a part of the event; there isn't so much gravel or tarmac that you think you're in the desert, or a parking lot/barren airfield. A park-like setting makes a track very inviting also.

Of the tracks I've visited so far, Road America offered as good racing, if not better, as anywhere, and a superior viewing and visiting experience to the other venues I've gone to.

[The STIG]

My dream race track would be a facility with space for all different kinds of motorsports and thus be very adaptable to showcase them all to a high level. I personally prefer a more technical track rather than one built for out and out speed so I can see the drivers working!

On the sidelines with my Marshal Hat on, The sides of the track around the tyre walls should be built in such a way that we can run along them without breaking our necks (make them rabbit proof!!). Good sturdy Huts or shelters would be good, preferably offering shelter for the observerver from wind and rain, and somewhere nice and dry to put the flags without them getting totally saturated or blown all over the place. It must also be possible to leave in a hurry if necessary. The posts would certainly need to be equipped with a modern and reliable communication system - My preference is Radios, but others prefer phones or land lines - and if we're talking complete fantasy, a timing screen would be very handy.

With my Telly hat on, side line facilities would be some dedicated camera positions with decent flat patches to put tripods down on, and cable ducts around the circuit to prevent having to dig it up to lay cables down back to the production area.

[rojo81]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts

Some excellent ideas... very insightful.

I'm inspired!

[rojo81]

ooh... of course if you have any more ideas, I would still love to hear them.........

[LuiggiSpeed]

The best thing would be not to do any mistakes, regarding logistics, safety, and of course building the most exiting track possible within the terrain, with all the good elements like everyone agrees.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Be cool to see any provisional ideas you have drawn up. Then the boys here will tinker til your hearts content. Very, very talented bunch here.

Selby

[Tathrim]

Originally Posted by rojo81

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts

Some excellent ideas... very insightful.

I'm inspired!

Sorry for doubting you, BTW, I'm too cautious. and your only two posts at the time were exact copies of each other. I get very paranoid about information.

So, on with the details

I'd have to say that the more dynamic tracks (Interlagos, Spa, or Monza), for instance, produce better racing for fans than the Tilke-dromes that have been built up over the past decade.

Sure, the Tilke tracks are safe, but they're all a bit samey, meaning that it compounds the drag problems I don't like the yas Marina circuit, nor do I like the new Korean circuit. I also believe that the two works in prograss are not going to be my favourites, as they replicate the Korean formula (longest straignt not the S/F straight, only a few turns between S/F straight and long straight).

As long as it has Some form of variety to make the track exciting, it's a winner. I'd even put the hungaroring there, because, even though you can only really get one opportunity to overtake, it's a driver's circuti, so he race can produce unexpected results (1997 for instance)

[ECW Dan Selby]

A mix between the two would be wonderful....

Or just an old-skool style track with 'new school' style safety aspects. I'm sure there's a happy medium there somewhere.

I'd love to draw something up but i'd bore my girlfriend to tears. I may draw something up today, just a few ideas of a mix of the two.

Selby

[ECW Dan Selby]

Can we have any images/info on this plot of land?

Selby

[Purist]

The other element I neglected to mention in my first post is that a circuit should have a good "flow" to it. That is to say, the track should look and feel like it all fits together as a cohesive whole. Doing this allows competitors to get into a rhythm, and means that the timing for braking, accelerating, and turning is much more apt to be at the right points to allow for actual racing to take place.

If, as a competitor, you cannot get into a clean rhythm around the course, you end up being partially, or perpetually, on the back foot so to speak. You're trying to catch back up with the circuit, or are just trying to react to the odd turns it's throwing at you. When this is happening, you're not able to concentrate on going after the opponent who is ahead or you, or keep a weather eye to hold back the adversary coming up from behind.

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by Purist

The other element I neglected to mention in my first post is that a circuit should have a good "flow" to it. That is to say, the track should look and feel like it all fits together as a cohesive whole. Doing this allows competitors to get into a rhythm, and means that the timing for braking, accelerating, and turning is much more apt to be at the right points to allow for actual racing to take place.

If, as a competitor, you cannot get into a clean rhythm around the course, you end up being partially, or perpetually, on the back foot so to speak. You're trying to catch back up with the circuit, or are just trying to react to the odd turns it's throwing at you. When this is happening, you're not able to concentrate on going after the opponent who is ahead or you, or keep a weather eye to hold back the adversary coming up from behind.

I have to say the track is the same for everyone, everyone has to solve the odd turns their little own ways, that's the nature of competition. Having said that I agree the track is better when it flows, but some oddness needs to be introduced to break up the boredom.

[Roy4]

My dream race track would be this one that I thought of:

[ECW Dan Selby]

Love it - Really nice work.

I'm guessing it's clockwise and it works nicely. I especially like the long straight (that isn't a straight).

Only change i'd consider making is the final chicane - It kind of dents the chance of an overtake in to the final corner. Apart from that, great stuff.

Selby

[bio]

Another example that a track doesn't need to be complicated to be good.

I agree with Dan - a more forgiving final chicane would make T1 more of an overtaking spot.

bio

[bio]

The only question is - how this one relates to what was asked originally

bio

[Roy4]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

Love it - Really nice work.

I'm guessing it's clockwise and it works nicely. I especially like the long straight (that isn't a straight).

Only change i'd consider making is the final chicane - It kind of dents the chance of an overtake in to the final corner. Apart from that, great stuff.

Selby

Dan, my track runs anti-clockwise, not clockwise. I should of mentioned that in my other post.

[bio]

Well, to be honest, I myself thought it was clockwise too - the gravel traps don't give much hint except for the lower one top middle - and that would indicate clockwise.

bio

[Duff_44]

I think a track really needs to fit its surroundings, not supplant them.

Tracks like Spa, Bathurst, Zandvoort, Brands Hatch, etc are far better than the newer crop which are sterile by comparison. There has to be some element of danger, and something unique about the circuit that flows with the landscape around it.

And, it needs to be built in a location which is passionate about cars and racing. To build it in a country which does not have a taste for racing yet (read: China, other parts of Asia, eastern Europe) so Bernie €¢¢e£$tone can make a dollar is a tragedy in and of itself.

[bio]

Originally Posted by Duff_44

And, it needs to be built in a location which is passionate about cars and racing. To build it in a country which does not have a taste for racing yet (read: China, other parts of Asia, eastern Europe) so Bernie €¢¢e£$tone can make a dollar is a tragedy in and of itself.

Aha, so you say building a track in a country where there already are a bajillion other ones is fine, while building one in countries where there aren't too many yet is not? Interesting idea... Maybe you ever thought of this giving those countries a bigger chance to get into motor sports more?

bio (an Eastern-European)

[werner]

I think succesfully building a motorsportsculture does not start with a mind-blowing track that suits formula-1 cars once a year, but is way to expensive to run some national amateur or semi-pro races. the money that is needed to built 1 F1-track you can built 3 decent tracks, making it possible for more people to race. From there you grow a knowledged fan-base that eventually will want to visit bigger events, and is willing to pay more for that. When that point is reached, a state of the art venue should be considered.