Oval racing in Europe?

Edited by kayemod, 20 June 2012 - 12:34.

I think you're more or less correct. If you want true ovals, the only ones I can think of offhand are Rockingham in England, Lausitz in what used to be East Germany, and the one on the roof of the FIAT factory at Lingotto just outside Milan.

Sitges-Terramar, Monza, Miramas, Montlhéry ...

Edited by Nev, 19 June 2012 - 16:37.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what oval circuits existed and continue to exist in Europe? I'm sure there were/are some, but damned if I know about them. Always seemed to me that Europe is the home of road/street courses to the exclusion of just about everything else.

There are Ovals in the UK that are not used for racing. Millbrook and Leyland for instance.

Mallory Park if you take a short-cut past the Devil's Elbow?

How do you define a "true Oval"? Are there any? Does an oval have to be ovoid (egg-like)?

http://www.oasces.com/

No-one seems yet to have mentioned shorter courses as used for banger racing, speedway motorcycling etc. Some of them at least must fall into the oval definition, and there must be scores

No-one seems yet to have mentioned shorter courses as used for banger racing, speedway motorcycling etc. Some of them at least must fall into the oval definition, and there must be scores

I suppose (at a stretch) the pre-war Avus track might be classed as an oval....

Interesting. I wonder if stock car racing will transplant to the Occident any better than US football. They've apparently found at least a niche, though.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 19 June 2012 - 19:24.

No-one seems yet to have mentioned shorter courses as used for banger racing, speedway motorcycling etc. Some of them at least must fall into the oval definition, and there must be scores

I suppose (at a stretch) the pre-war Avus track might be classed as an oval....

No-one seems yet to have mentioned shorter courses as used for banger racing, speedway motorcycling etc. Some of them at least must fall into the oval definition, and there must be scores

I think you're more or less correct. If you want true ovals, the only ones I can think of offhand are Rockingham in England, Lausitz in what used to be East Germany, and the one on the roof of the FIAT factory at Lingotto just outside Milan.

I'd let it in, but it fails on FB's "two large turns" stipulation.

Oval tracks in Britain and Europe? There have been hundreds, mostly small ones, lots still exist but check out my website
DEFUNCT STOCK CAR TRACKS
for details of a over 140 that no longer function/exist, and what's become of them.

Many were also speedway and/or greyhound tracks, others were purpose built - there was one such bespoke track at Neath in Wales surfaced with crushed coal (seriously!) and some were at best oval...ish (check out Gelsenkirchen in Germany for a perfect example).

David, I did in post #7

What about board tracks? In the US in the 20s and early 30s they were quite the rage. I'm guessing there were a few board tracks in Europe as well.

That's quite a website.

So "oval" racing, at least in the UK has been fairly vibrant. It's interesting how road racing the the Formula series have almost totally obscured the history and reality of European oval racing, except for the specialist.

PS--What about board tracks? In the US in the 20s and early 30s they were quite the rage. I'm guessing there were a few board tracks in Europe as well.

'Just outside Milan' ? It's actually in the city of Turin ....

No, since Brooklands and Montlhery are the only European ovals that either pre-date or were concurrent with the U.S. board track era, there was no motivation for the creation of large board ovals there.

Incidentally, why is the shorter layout at Brands Hatch called the Indy Circuit? It isn't an oval nor does it (to me) seem to resemble the Brickyard very much. Is it perhaps because it was the layout used when the USAC cars raced at Brands in 1978? Was that layout called something else before Rick Mears and his buddies came-a-calling?

It was named the "Indy Circuit" after the USAC Indycars came over in the 70's. Before that I think it was just called the "Short" or "Club" circuit.

It seems to be consistantly referred to as the Club Circuit in the old MSA Blue Books prior to the USAC visit.

And even the USAC boys were disappointed that they didn't get to run on the GP circuit instead.

It seemed such a disappointing decision at the time. We used to feel cheated if the F3s were on the short circuit; surely the Indy cars were worthy of a run on the GP track? I used to think the F5000s were wasted on the short circuit too.
Was it a commercial decision by John Webb (?) who, unsure of likely crowd size, preferred to group all action and spectators in the Brands bowl, rather than risk spreading them too thinly out in the country? Imagine, it could have happened to the BOAC 500/1000; Pedro and the others would have become dizzy....
I could understand the choice of track for the Indy cars if the short circuit hadn't included Druids, the tightest corner of all. The GP circuit would have let them stretch their legs a bit.

Depends on what you're looking for...

Large, and historic, ovals have been covered well. Short track oval racing has been held in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. Pretty much since the late 1940's/early 1950's. I also believe there has been short track oval racing in Scandanavia. Quite a short track oval scene in the UK and the Netherlands.

Edited by Spaceframe, 20 June 2012 - 10:58.

Cars raced at Hockenheim as early as 1938. The circuit was described as a shortened version of the course used for motorcycle racing (since 1932), so I don't know if the car circuit would have been oval...

It seemed such a disappointing decision at the time. We used to feel cheated if the F3s were on the short circuit; surely the Indy cars were worthy of a run on the GP track? I used to think the F5000s were wasted on the short circuit too.
Was it a commercial decision by John Webb (?) who, unsure of likely crowd size, preferred to group all action and spectators in the Brands bowl, rather than risk spreading them too thinly out in the country? Imagine, it could have happened to the BOAC 500/1000; Pedro and the others would have become dizzy....
I could understand the choice of track for the Indy cars if the short circuit hadn't included Druids, the tightest corner of all. The GP circuit would have let them stretch their legs a bit.

I don't think it is ever used as such, even for karts but there is an oval layout at the Three Sisters circuit near Wigan (or if Rob's driving, just outside Bolton):