Sao Paulo Track Circuit Revealed

[DanicaFan]

Well, they finally revealed the track layout at Sao Paulo, the season opener in Brazil. This was supposed to have been released in Decemeber. It is a 2.6 mile, 11 turn circuit.

[broadrun96]

I know street courses have limited potential from the start but that tracks seems a little lacking. Is it broad enough throughout to allow passing or will it be a tight procession until pit time?

[Alwaysfirst]

It seems to be fairly wide from pics that I've seen...and a 0.9 mile straight can't be a bad thing

[nickyf1]

Much better than I feared. Aslong as there is less ovals on the calendar im happy!

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by nickyf1

Much better than I feared. Aslong as there is less ovals on the calendar im happy!

Total opposite. They need more ovals..Bring back Milwaukee, Richmond, Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.

[NaBUru38]

Those are three decent overtaking spots if runoff areas and width are ok. Btw, note that the official race name is São Paulo Indy 300.

More short ovals and a second superspeedway, same or less cookie-cutters to me.

[broadrun96]

Go for the ultimate short oval, bring the Indy series to Bristol.
But glad to hear the track is wide and has run-off, sounds like it could make for a good race. The 'Honda Overtake assist' should make the braking at end of the straight fun for the fans, not so much for the crews though.

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

Total opposite. They need more ovals..Bring back Milwaukee, Richmond, Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.

I agree

[Purist]

Depends on the ovals, as we really don't need any more 1.5-mile affairs. If anything, we need fewer of them. I'd say that two of the 1.5-milers need to go, and then put Milwaukee, Phoenix, Michigan, and Pocono on the schedule.

As to Brazil, I'm interested to see just how some of those corners turn out. Hopefully some of those 90s will be like Turns 3 and 4 on the New Orleans Superdome street circuit (1992-1995); they were roughly 90-degree curves, but much more open than normal intersection turns.

[nickyf1]

Yeah, we need ovals, but not a whole calendar of ovals, especialy with todays indycars. We need Road America, THATS what we need.

[icemachine]

I wouldn't mind seeing the Toronto race alternate between Exhibition Place and this new circuit - its apparently got the greenlight from both local and regional councils

http://www.cdnmotorspeedway.com/index.html

[davyboy]

I've visited Sao Paulo quite a bit and know where this is. I take the Av. Marginal Tiete when I'm coming from the airport to downtown. Its an incredibly busy highway that runs alongside a river which is permanently undergoing some sort of dredging works [funded by the Japanese] and that absolutely stinks ! The surface of that road is horrendous, so I imagine they'll need to excavate and relay it fully. Sao Paulo's a fantastic city though and I'm sure the large Brazilian representation in the IRL will make this a brilliant party event !

[mountainstar]

Well the FIA International Calendar was updated a few days ago and again this race still is not on it. They better get cracking.

[Purist]

Broadrun, Bristol would be suicide for Indy Cars. Just think of the results we saw these guys have at Dover, and Bristol would be worse. It's too short, the banking means they can carry crazy speeds for such a short lap, and the concrete surface will cause havoc at those speeds with the cars in such tight quarters to one another.

I've seen a slightly different version of this new track proposal someplace else; I just hope that this is the layout they go with. And, of course, I'm still praying for no chicane on the back straight.

[Quintin03]

Originally Posted by Purist

I've seen a slightly different version of this new track proposal someplace else; I just hope that this is the layout they go with. And, of course, I'm still praying for no chicane on the back straight.

I can assure you that the map seen in the first post shows what the track will be like during the race. No chicanes will be added unless there isa need for it. Currently there is no need so you need not worry.

[Purist]

Given that it's the most recent posting I've seen, and that it's on the series' official website, I'll take this as a good sign for the circuit layout.

Here's something you guys might want to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKbRL...eature=related

[Chatters]

The map drawn in that video has a chicane in the middle of the straight...

[Yannick]

The Sao Paulo street track looks better than expected. For my taste, it's a little too much on the stop-and-go side of things, but that can be challenging as well. Too bad that they have decided against running at Interlagos because that is one of the best track layouts in the world and would not have wasted the money spent on a temporary course in the same city.

As far as the relation of ovals VS road circuits VS street circuits goes, the loss of Milwaukee is really tragic, and I think there are too many street circuits on the calendar right now.

[Purist]

Interlagos won't happen because of F1. F1 doesn't want another significant open wheel series at that track, and ICS wouldn't want to have their cars directly compared to F1 machinery.

[NaBUru38]

They will, Purist, because USF1 tests at Barber. Anyway, the Brazilian IndyCar race had to be unique and a new street circuit is perfect, whereas Interlagos is used for pretty much any decent circuit racing series there (except the WTCC).

[Purist]

NBU38, there's a big difference here though, because if ICS ran at Interlagos, far more people would be comparing the two series. ICS doesn't have the following it used to, but still, the number of people who are going to know about the USF1 testing is infinitesimal compared to the number who would be comparing FI and F1 if they both RACED at Interlagos.

Yannick, there are 17 races on the schedule: 8 ovals, 4 street circuits, 1 airport circuit, and 4 road courses. I don't think the number of street circuits is out of whack. If anything is, it's the lack of road courses and the glut of 1.5-mile ovals. Laguna Seca should be added in place of Sears Point (since they're only using the motorcycle circuit at Sonoma). Then, they should put in Portland and Road America.

There is no suitable road course replacement for Long Beach. The sportscar fans do NOT want the added catch fencing and other stuff that would come with Indy Cars at Sebring (to replace St. Petersburg) or Mosport (to replace Toronto). Therefore, I don't see any good way of eliminating the current street circuits.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Purist

if ICS ran at Interlagos, [...]

True. I just said that we will have a small comparison.

Originally Posted by Purist

Laguna Seca should be added in place of Sears Point

Agree.

Originally Posted by Purist

they should put in Portland and Road America

Joining the ALMS late August date, were it me. But since 2008, Portland has hosted Nascar West Series races and few more stuff, so I doubt that they are capable of attracting the IndyCar.

Originally Posted by Purist

I don't see any good way of eliminating the current street circuits.

You are thinking about replacing venues. Yannick is thinking about dropping venues entirely. I believe that the Long Beach GP is the second street race after the Monaco GP, that Toronto is a classic too, that Florida deserves keeping a seaside street race, that a South American race will have more coverage if held at a street circuit than at an old circuit, and that there should be a street race on the Northeast: Baltimore.

[madman16]

Brazil track layout looks pretty good. Not sure with the start finish line though.

Bring back the Gold Coast. I miss my Indycars down under. Definitely bring back Laguna, Road America and Milwaukee.

I think we all know why DanicaFan wants more ovals, Wouldn't have anything to do with her inability to turn right would it ???

[Purist]

The start/finish location takes advantage of the already present grandstands for the Sambodromo (at least 30,000 seats). It would be far more work to clear the land and set up stands for a start/finish area alongside where the pits are going to be. Also, the pits and that section of track are some distance apart, so mass viewing would hardly be ideal there anyway.

[madman16]

That makes sense then. Just looking at the track map it didn't really look like the ideal position.