What's your favourite track... and why?

[Lustigson]

Hey guys, I just had a bright moment and thought of a new thread on a subject, I think, we never touched. And it's quite simple at that, too!

Just tell me (and the others) what's your favourite track... and why?

[Flaming_Wuzzle]

The Nurburgring Nordschleife, because, to me, it offers a challenge that no other track can bring. That, and it's horribly addictive to drive.

[crozier74]

Hmm, that's a tough one.

But I suppose the obvious one wins- The Nurburgring Nordschleife. How such a racetrack can actually have been designed (and built for that matter) is beyond me.

Other mentions:

Favourite current GP track - Spa
Favourite street track - Macau
Favourite British tracks - Oulton Park, Brands Hatch, Knockhill

[the_royksopp]

Well, of all tracks i'd say the Nordschleife.

But of the tracks used or usable for modern day top racing, i've probably got this top three:

Spa-Francorchamps,
Laguna Seca, and
Sepang.

[pirenzo]

Goodwood, Brands Hatch, Spa, Le Mans, Nordschleife and Suzuka have all got to be up there. I'd probably have to go for Goodwood, it seems to be the least bloody, the least fear-inspiring. Its just a great drivers track.

[ethone]

Spa - Because the turns are sweeping and nice to drive. And because of Eau Rouge.
Elkhart Lake (Road America) - Because of style and the environment. It's in a wonderful forest with just as wonderful turns.

[lj79]

Spa - viewing, scenery and gradients
Sebring - no fences, great weather
Oulton Park - beautiful parkland. Knickerbrook (Hissy's) is still an ace place to watcn late braking and its only a couple of miles from home

[Chaynes321]

well ... i only really watch f1 these days so i would have to pick from them...

silverstone is awesome, last few years has brought great races, plus i love copse corner ... i use it in a lot of my fantasy circuits

spa - eau rouge / blanchimont --- nuff said

suzuka - is just unique, 130R is still an awesome corner, plus i enjoy the first sector upto the hairpin

[mac]

A few points.

For me, Nurburgring Nordschleiffe is just too long, demanding, narrow and somewhat unsafe for a modern racing circuit. As a tarmac rally stage, or a single car flat-out drive it is unparallelled - but as a racing circuit, it's not quite there.

Spa is my favourite track because of its mix of high, medium and low speed corners, long straights and plentiful passing opportunities. It is wide enough, has good passing opportunities at La Source, Les Combes and Bus Stop, Eau Rouge and Blanchimont are still awesome and the section from Les Combes all the way to the back straight is fast and rhythmic.

Suzuka is a brilliant driver's track, with fast corners that require precision and rhythm. But as a racing circuit it falls behind Spa.

As far as newly built tracks go, Sepang and Bahrain are the best. Both have good racing characteristics and a mix of corners. I don't know why I like Bahrain, but I just like its quirky nature.

As far as out-and-out street circuits go, I think St Petersburg and Surfers Paradise are among the best, but I just love the romance of Monaco - plus I don't know of any other circuit that punishes a driver as much.

I also think Mexico City is a blast.

And you've all forgotten BATHURST. Long straights with passing opportunities at the ends, the kink leading into The Chase and there would be few pieces of road more challenging than the run from The Cutting to Forest's Elbow - Reid Park, McPhillamy Park, Skyline and The Dipper.

And another contender I would like to throw in from Down Under would be Phillip Island for it's mix of different corners it requires a bravery not unlike Bathurst and a rhythm not unlike Suzuka.

[the_royksopp]

Well, i wanted to keep the list short, so i left out a number of good tracks - Suzuka, Brands, Elkhart Lake, Bathurst, Mexico City and so on.

[the_royksopp]

And for street circuits its gotta be LB and Surfers.

[Aysedasi]

Le Mans.

Nowhere else really matters to me these days......

[Alonsomania]

might sound odd,but our local race track (for historic motorcycles).
They drive around 1 meter in front of you,amazing

[Purist]

Just curious, does the Solitude Ring have any motorcycle events anymore (I know cars haven't gone there for some time.)?

[Purist]

Mac, you hit the nail on the head as far as saying what the Nurburgring was designed to be: long, serpentine, and demanding. It was designed to be challenging, like the area mountain roads, which I'm sure back in the 20s were not of a standard that we would expect nowadays. Also, cars back then were narrower, so the width then wasn't as big an issue. Of course, now it probably can't be widened for various reasons. On my all time list though, the old Nurburgring is barely beaten out by the track Gurney called "the grandaddy of high speed road courses", the old Spa-Francorchamps.

Suzuka and the unblemished rendition of Fuji are awesome. Some other greats for me are Mosport, Road America, Mexico City (with the old hairpin, Espiral, and Peralta), Brands Hatch, and Kyalami before it was effectively destroyed. Jeez, Le Mans should be on here. It is one of the few long circuits left, but it has lost a great deal due to "safety concerns".

Mac, I don't agree with you about the new circuits, but that's for the other thread, so I'll discuss those there.

[Chaynes321]

oh Shanghai for its architecture and the "snail ... straight ... hairpin" section at the end, looks great on TV

[Alonsomania]

Originally Posted by Purist

Just curious, does the Solitude Ring have any motorcycle events anymore (I know cars haven't gone there for some time.)?

Historic Revival Races

[the_royksopp]

oh Shanghai for its architecture and the "snail ... straight ... hairpin" section at the end, looks great on TV

Which makes it a great circuit?

[Chaynes321]

no ... just 2 reasons why its one of my favouites ( read the thread heading)

[Lustigson]

Here's an (unofficial) list of our favourite tracks. I haven't heard a whole lot of why's yet, though.

1. Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium: 7 votes
2. Suzuka, Japan: 5
3. Brands Hatch, Great Britain: 4
4. Nürburgring (Nordschleife), Germany: 4
5. Le Mans, France: 3
6. Mexico City, Mexico: 3
7. Road America (Elkhart Lake), United States: 3
8. Bathurst, Australia: 2
9. Oulton Park, Great Britain: 2
10. Sepang, Malaysia: 2
11. Surfers Paradise, Australia: 2
12. Fuji (old version), Japan: 1
13. Knockhill, Great Britain: 1
14. Kyalami, South Africa: 1
15. Laguna Seca, United States: 1
16. Long Beach, United States: 1
17. Macau, China: 1
18. Mosport, Canada: 1
19. Phillip Island, Australia: 1
20. Sakhir, Bahrain: 1
21. Sebring, United States: 1
22. Shanghai, China: 1
23. Silverstone, Great Britain: 1
24. St. Petersburg, United States: 1

[mac]

Now that would make one hot championship!

[Purist]

You can say that again!

BTW, I'm working on putting one of my old designs into Photoshop, so hopefully in the next week I can have it posted.

[the_royksopp]

Jyearh! That'd be awesome!! .

[Jam35]

For me, there's only one Ain Diab. It comes at exactly the right point in time between the craziness of the Nürburgring Nordschliefe and the dull tracks we have to-day. As far as modern F1 tracks go, my favourite has to be Monza - it's the only place that still feels like a racetrack. As for current street circuits, I wish F1 would give up on Monaco and go to Pau instead (or maybe re-start the Birmingham Super Prix ;-)).

[nickyf1]

Istanbul park

it is a real drivers circuit!
and its modern.
good combo!

knockhill too, because its unique.