Thank you, Mr. Tilke ...

[paulzinho]

Yeah thats a fair point actually, Tilke is only doing his job but the circuits he designs are all so soulless, though that is definitely down to the demands of Bernie and Co.

Also didnt Tilke race at bathurst last year? Wonder what he thought of that place!

[twig]

"....pfft......didnt like it, the corners flowed, the gradient was too tricky, no hairpins or chicanes"

- Hermann Tilke

[Miss Hardt]

He really said that?

Just don't think I have zero respect for him. He's a decent and educated person, but he absolutely has no taste and therefore he should go there and re-asphalt the old Hocki with his two bare hands. Bernie can help him, Max too.

[Tristan]

To be honest, whilst I am no fan of the guy, his circuits are... bland-but-alright. The facilities they now have at Hockenhiem are second only to Sepang (funny, that...). The fans can see so much more of the circuit. A shorter lap also means more laps and more times that your favourite driver passes you by in the grandstands.

Put it like this - as much as I loved the old Hokk, it didn't really serve a great spectacle for those watching trackside.

But yes, the character's gone and the circuits are all kind of meging into one standard form of... mush. And it doesn't need to be that way, Mr Tilke. Shame.

[Miss Hardt]

Tristan...Hocki sounds much better than Hokk...where did you hear that word anyway?

Thumbs up for the last paragraph of your post as well.

[twig]

no, he didnt actually say that, but apparently he said he like the circuit....to the media of course.
But he did say it was up there as one of his favourites, with Spa and maybe the Nordschleife......i probably made that up, but i think he may have said that.

[jpm]

Since none of actually know what his design brief was we are in no position to criticise the quality of the design - for all we know it was the perfect response to what he was asked to create. The races haven't been bad anyway,

True Glen, I don´t actually know the design brief, but I couldn´t imagine Bernie´s told him to design a faceless, boring piece of track with one simple possibility to overtake .
And yes, the races haven´t been bad compared with Imola or Melbourne but compared with the old Hockenheimring they have.

Why didn´t they recruite former race drivers like they did while redesigning the A1 Ring. It still has got the spirit of the old track, possibilities to overtake and the safety factor was well considered.

I wish days would come back when cars were designed to fit the tracks and not the tracks to fit the cars (and Bernie )

solong jpm

[pirenzo]

Originally posted by DNQ
Speaking of the new H'ring, am I the only one that thinks every single corner looks the same and constantly has no idea where the cars are? (apart from the old bit of course, and the ridiculous 'Tilke classic' hairpin).

Yeah, i was always confusing T1 with T6 (Mercedes Bend) despite them going in different directions!
And who thinks that rail cam thing that follows the cars out of the hairpin is a total waste of time?

[bcobbus]

Anybody else remember when that rail cam damn near killed Bobby Rahal at Interlagos a few years back! I wonder who would win in a race between a Minardi and the rail cam?

[twig]

how the hell did it do that?

[pirenzo]

it fell off it's rail and landed a few feet away from him

[Alx]

yep, he was walking down the pitlane at the time, so if he'd have stopped...

[Irv the Swerve]

Actually I like the rail cam. It gives an unusual perspective on the cars and shows their acceleration really well.

Can't see what was wrong with the old Hockenheim though.

[Mattracer]

Possibly that most of the circuit ran through the forest where spectating was limited and the long straights didn't provide as much "entertainment" as exiting hairpins and chicanes with TC.

[Miss Hardt]

Then why didn't they watch the race on TV? Grrrr

[gttouring]

the stadium section is alright, and sepang is really a nice track, is it too wide? it was built to allow for a few lines to race on but that doesn't happen does it.
The rest of hocky is utter tripe. Why is tilke the chosen designer for bernie anyway? are they mates from uni or something or is he helping bernie out when that gold digger Slobica isn't around ha ha ha

[Miss Hardt]

Gold digger Slobica? Who is that?

[gttouring]

his wife Slavica

[Hamann]

Old Hockenheim was important because it was a very particular track, in which some drivers and teams had a great chance to produce good results. Now it's like any other track on the calendar and, unless there are first corner crashes like we had Sunday, not much can be expected fomr the race.

[Bononi]

Agreed. How many tracks will remain untouched ?

[Miss Hardt]

Well, for us who speak that language every day Slavica is a female name and Slobica is a nickname for Slobodan...that's what confused me....sorry.

I agree with Hamann....

[gttouring]

Slobica was a jibe- playing on the sound of Slavica and her appearance as a once used and put away wet kind of rag appearance-and as Bernie is a real prize, the girl must be looking at his pocket book