A Picturesque Lap - Lobethal today
#1
Posted 23 January 2001 - 15:57
The reason for this is so that everyone has a chance to comment (if they feel the need) at each step along the way.
Additionally, I am going to leave room at each step for comments from the two or three or four drivers who raced at Lobethal to have a say, most of this to come from Allan Tomlinson and John Crouch when Barry and I get together with them in March.
The photos as posted will cover the individual sections of the course, with the first two being the starting area and the commencement of the long leg that followed the railway line between the Mt Torrens and Kayannie Corners, and through the town of Charleston.
First we'll start with a map of the circuit, drawn by Terry Walker in 1985/6 for the AGP book:
Then we have the first two photos:
The last stretch of the circuit comes in from the right, the cars starting the race (handicaps, remember) come in from the left, rushing away to this straight:
And this is how the cars lined up for the start, from the opposite direction, Tomlinson in the silver car on the left:
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#2
Posted 23 January 2001 - 16:19
#3
Posted 23 January 2001 - 19:08
#4
Posted 23 January 2001 - 22:22
Fines as for fast & sweeping corners....... you have no idea ;) and yes mouth watering describes Lobethal quite well I think.
#5
Posted 24 January 2001 - 00:25
Ray, i estimate the road to have been 7-8m wide. perhaps this is a little exaggerated but its hard to tell. the road in front of my place is your regular SA type country road and its 6m wide. Most of the road going over the bridges at Lobethal left a gap between the road and bridge.
Some may be jealous, i went to Adelaide on Monday and on the way down my brother asked about Lobethal so on the way home we did 1 lap. I took particular notice of that strainer post at Kayannie Corner. Indeed it has been there for over 60 years. The white ants must be treating it nicely Ray once you get to Kayannie with your photos please scan that photo out of the book. Maybe if we are lucky we can see that strainer post in one of your photos. The photo btw shows Kleinig driving close to the post in the dirt.
#6
Posted 24 January 2001 - 00:31
Of course, it wasn't all beer and skittles, some had to work at getting their cars going... this is the supercharged Q-type MG of Peter Vennermark being towed... Note the screen wire because of the grasshopper plague that was a problem for competitors in 1948.
#7
Posted 24 January 2001 - 01:22
#8
Posted 24 January 2001 - 09:20
The only passing spot would then be through the main street at Lobethal. not much really. ah well we'll wait and see i guess. Hope the thunder storms tonight don't wash anything away...
#9
Posted 24 January 2001 - 09:28
#10
Posted 26 January 2001 - 04:24
I don't think it was wider, I hope I didn't give that impression. I do think it a foot or two wider today than it was, and that the bridges are as original, but the fences moved back a little... the fences on the bridge, that is...
Anyway time for the next pictures:
...a fast right and left, nice quick esses.
Note the constant elevation changes, even small ones, that make it more interesting.
#11
Posted 26 January 2001 - 04:48
#12
Posted 26 January 2001 - 11:51
/Christian
#13
Posted 26 January 2001 - 12:18
The esses you can see is the esses where the railway gets closest to the circuit after the s/f. its about 1.2 km from the pits
#14
Posted 26 January 2001 - 20:44
#15
Posted 26 January 2001 - 21:04
#16
Posted 26 January 2001 - 22:09
This one should draw the odd comment...
#17
Posted 26 January 2001 - 22:18
Ray, do you have pictures of racecars at this particular spot?
#18
Posted 26 January 2001 - 22:20
Winner of the main event, 1948, also entered in 1940, both times driving Ford V8 Special 'Black Bess'
"There was a hump-backed bridge with a curve after it, and the spectators used to sit in the gutter on the edge of the road with their legs dangling in the gutter. If you'd lost it there you would have killed a lot of people and wiped out dozens of legs."
Allan Tomlinson
Winner of the 1939 Australian Grand Prix, also entered in 1940, both times driving a highly developed MG TA offset single seater Special
Comment to come...
John Crouch
Drove an Alfa Romeo in the AGP in 1939
Comment to come...
Maybe someone can get some comments from Tony Gaze, who ran there in 1948?
#19
Posted 26 January 2001 - 22:22
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#20
Posted 27 January 2001 - 16:17
This is the Barrett Monza when it pulled off to the side after fuelling up off the line... not a good start, but he made up a lot of the time later.
Two things to note here... first is the size of the crowd, second is the lack of trees. All the photos seem to show more trees than were present in 1939.
#21
Posted 28 January 2001 - 03:15
Another fast corner... and closing in on the village of Charleston.
#22
Posted 28 January 2001 - 03:21
John Crouch: comment to come.
#23
Posted 28 January 2001 - 13:32
I should change that 100 km/hr sign to 130mph/hr Nice fast stretch this. I wonder if the Charleston pub had a drive-thru...
#24
Posted 28 January 2001 - 22:26
Charleston came and went really quickly on a flying lap that is for sure.
#25
Posted 29 January 2001 - 11:38
Want some more pics, ever closer to that pub?
#26
Posted 30 January 2001 - 11:16
well if the road is 6m wide, then the bridge is about 7m. maybe this photo solves the track width riddle. Its interesting they never made this section of road straight. It has a lot of small kinks. No wonder they had a pass on the right (or was that left) rule would have been hard to pass a car or similar speed.
#27
Posted 30 January 2001 - 12:27
#28
Posted 30 January 2001 - 22:25
And the boozer doing a great trade.
#29
Posted 31 January 2001 - 01:59
Somewhere here Crouch reckoned he had to drive over the spectators' feet to force them back so he could take his line... that might be for the left hander coming up next, it's got a Speed Advisory sign of 75kmh on it, but they went through there flat...
#30
Posted 31 January 2001 - 07:05
The corner after Charleston was i think, the tightest corner from the pits to Kayannie Corner section of the circuit.
#31
Posted 31 January 2001 - 07:28
Here it is:
#32
Posted 31 January 2001 - 23:58
#33
Posted 01 February 2001 - 00:02
This sharp rise took the cars over a crest, just before the braking area... down the other side:
#34
Posted 01 February 2001 - 00:37
Hang tight folks the stretch from Kayannie into Lobethal is quite amazing! Goofy smile on the face stuff.
#35
Posted 01 February 2001 - 01:37
Note that the downhill rush to the braking area after the crest takes in yet another kink to the right... this is the only photo which shows that, a bit of a shortcoming in my coverage overall..
Anyway, to satisfy other needs, here's a picture of Tim Joshua, and all the body language says he's in the braking area... note the absence of foliage in the background!
We have more photos to fit in from this point on, including the one that Jamie is pleading for... coming soon!
#36
Posted 01 February 2001 - 13:11
#37
Posted 01 February 2001 - 13:30
You can see here how the road drops slightly to the river, then climbs the hill opposite, heading towards Lobethal township.
And, as requested by Jamie, but necessarily added anyway, Kleinig rounds the corner. Again, note the lack of trees in the background.
#38
Posted 02 February 2001 - 13:06
#39
Posted 02 February 2001 - 13:10
Then on the quick run up through a couple of kinks, with the undulations that would have made the high-speed run a little bit more than ordinary...
Just to show that photos are deceptive, here's another, just over that little hump in the right hander that leads to the final stretch up the hill:
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#40
Posted 03 February 2001 - 11:12
#41
Posted 03 February 2001 - 11:27
Looks innocent enough, but you get airborne here...
And although it's a bit poor and maybe hard to see, after that left kink in the second pic, you're heading into the esses with a lot of speed to wipe off...
#42
Posted 03 February 2001 - 14:10
#43
Posted 03 February 2001 - 14:24
#44
Posted 03 February 2001 - 14:47
Of course, I can't speak for Bernd, except to say he's in the same time zone.
Are you converted yet, by the way, or are you hanging on until we get to the real drivers' section?
#45
Posted 03 February 2001 - 15:24
And yes, I think I am converted, awestruck as well seeing those pictures of a very FAST and demanding road circuit. How wonderful it would be if the 2001 AGP would be held there instead of Yawnbourne!
#46
Posted 04 February 2001 - 02:06
Yeah right! JV would smile and go balls out until he met his maker courtesy of a 50FT Gum Tree. The rest of em would huddle into a little mothers meeting and refuse to drive!
#47
Posted 04 February 2001 - 16:35
#48
Posted 04 February 2001 - 16:42
#49
Posted 04 February 2001 - 16:44
#50
Posted 05 February 2001 - 06:52
Hmmm. seems i shall have to go back and take a camcorder. Bernd you are the first to receive a copy...
BTW, back to the Klenig photo rounding Kayannie, that corner post that you can see... it's over 60 years old. You can see it in Ray's modern circuit photo. I like the way the drivers had to hit the dirt to cut the corner to take the racing line. Great stuff