74 replies to this topic

[Gene and Tonic]

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/84912

Pretty interesting, I think that circuit isn't a street circuit - it looks pretty nice in my opinion. Would be hard pressed to do worse than Valencia!

[skid solo]

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/84912

Pretty interesting, I think that circuit isn't a street circuit - it looks pretty nice in my opinion. Would be hard pressed to do worse than Valencia!

Looks like Hungary

[Polle]

Indeed looks abit like 2 Hungary circuits placed next to each other, and rather twisty as well. Its time we have a new circuit on the greens and away from the city. I'm hoping all those gravel trap points dont turn into run-offs

[noikeee]

Looks like ****, 350 hairpins pasted on top of each other.

[One]

boring... now is it? twisty twisty swing your back, shoulder, toward the sun ,... lalala...

[Lights]

Oh god no.

[Hypnotise]

Looks ok it cant do worst than Valencia

[Pharazon]

thats clearly a bike circuit..

1 passing place on the whole track

[katmen]

mickey mouse,
NO thanks

[PayasYouRace]

A couple of strange things about that circuit. It appears to be possible to run it in either direction judging from the run-offs. The main straight also seems to be part of a main road or something. There also seems to be another route outlined.

Having said that, that's probably just a concept design to give people some idea of what it would be like. It's unlikely to be anything like a final design. However at 3.6 miles, just short of Monza in length, meaning that it's not as tight and twisty as it looks. Hungary is a full mile shorter.

As for the race itself. I wouldn't miss Valencia much. It looked better on paper than the reality has turned out to be. I don't know whether another Spanish race is the answer, with all the other races trying to get a look in and limited calendar space. But if it turned out to be a good race I wouldn't complain. I'll keep an eye on this.

[Avastrol]

Looks like Catalunya/Phillip Island. Great for bikes, **** for F1 cars.

[seahawk]

Do they plan it where hte old track is?

[Gridfire]

I'd rather restore one of the classic tracks we've lost than replace Valencia with this. We keep getting 'rumors' of new tracks, but I don't want to lose any more of the great tracks we're already at. I just know that all the new tracks have long and lucrative contracts so we're not losing them any time soon, mores the pity.

[domhnall]

Doesn't look great though a 2-d view can be deceptive. Does Europe really need another track though?

[Hypnotise]

Doesn't look great though a 2-d view can be deceptive. Does Europe really need another track though?

We need a race in Scandinavia

[Atreiu]

I like the idea, but oh my God, do they need a dozen slow corners?
FFS... someone give them a clue.

[Disgrace]

No thanks.

[The Ragged Edge]

2 races in Spain is 1 too many. I'll only be behind it, if they rotated venues with Valencia.

[domhnall]

I'd like to see that new Aragon track replace Barcelona. Both the world series by renault races there last year were terrific.

[noikeee]

I'd like to see that new Aragon track replace Barcelona. Both the world series by renault races there last year were terrific.

The Aragon track isn't particularly amazing... but better than anything else in Spain (except perhaps Jerez which I enjoy despite not putting great races). Weird how that country seems to build tons of circuits yet they all end up being dull.

[Rob]

Instead of having a second race in Spain, they could have one at Portimao in neighbouring Portugal.

We can't have this double standard of saying we need a "true world championship" and then having two events in Spain.

[OO7]

350 hairpins pasted on top of each other.

[Brandz07]

Instead of having a second race in Spain, they could have one at Portimao in neighbouring Portugal.

We can't have this double standard of saying we need a "true world championship" and then having two events in Spain.

exactly! and with the exception of bahrain, they have the two most boring circuits! just keep one at catalunya and give the euro gp to a decent track. not this rubbish. SAVE DONINGTON haha

[Fastcake]

It'll be better than Valencia, although that's just a concept.

More importantly, hopefully they can call this the Balearic Grand Prix, freeing up the European title for Donington.

EDIT: Seems I'm not alone

Edited by Fastcake, 01 July 2010 - 15:13.

[Rinehart]

Stick this potential race deal in the same filing cabinet as Rome, New York and Malta.

[William Hunt]

Stick this potential race deal in the same filing cabinet as Rome, New York and Malta.

Did Malta ever had an F1 project? That would surprise me, it's a tiny country.

[Brandz07]

Stick this potential race deal in the same filing cabinet as Rome, New York and Malta.

and bulgaria, didnt f1racing mag have a feature on it? or am i getting confused with somewhere else? haha

[Captain Tightpants]

I have to laugh. Everyone gets cranky at the concept of another Tilke circuit and demands someone else has a go. Well, someone else is having a go wih this one, and you're all still cranky.

Do they plan it where hte old track is?

Yep. They're going to dig the island of Mallorca up out of the ocean, move it to the mainland and drop it on top of Valencia.

We can't have this double standard of saying we need a "true world championship" and then having two events in Spain.

How does a second race in Spain stop Formula 1 from having a "true" World Championship? Formula 1 already has coverage on every continent except Africa and Antarctica. Add a race in Russia and a race in South Africa or maybe Egypt (can't think of any other Afican nation that might be able to afford and manage it) and you've still got your "true" World Championship, even with two SPanish races.

and bulgaria, didnt f1racing mag have a feature on it? or am i getting confused with somewhere else? haha

They did, but they were relying on the government for support. The government granted them some land on the Black Sea coastline, but the organisers had been hoping for land and money, so the project was shelved.

[jonpollak]

Weren't you leaving Autosport forums?
Jp

[Cenotaph]

geez, bernie. bring it to portimão, dude. Stop with this spanish nonsense

[Captain Tightpants]

Weren't you leaving Autosport forums?
Jp

Back by unpopular demand, one showing only. You all proved my point about how a new circuit architect wouldn't make a difference - since people automatically assume that Tilke doesn't so much design as he does crap out the next circuit - and I felt the need to revel. Just clear the floor long enough for me to do the I-told-you-so dance and I'll be gone again. This place is toxic.

[jonpollak]

Back by unpopular demand, one showing only.

Yeah right....
5500+ posts in a year
You have nothing else to do.
Jp

[TurboF1]

Looks like ****, 350 hairpins pasted on top of each other.

One potentially high speed corner (second to last) and one realistic overtaking opportunity at (SURPRISE SURPRISE) turn 1. And even then the straight may be too short to draft effectively.



We don't need Hungary twice on the calender, thanks.

[seahawk]

Yep. They're going to dig the island of Mallorca up out of the ocean, move it to the mainland and drop it on top of Valencia.

I meant the current racing track at Mallorca, obviously. http://www.mallorcarennarena.com/

[stevvy1986]

Doesn't look that great. A better idea in my opinion than 2 Spanish races, would be keep 1 of the 2 tracks (unless they find somewhere better) and then have a European Grand Prix that goes to a different track in Europe each year, rather than having the European Grand Prix always being in Spain, at Valencia.

[mark f1]

That track looks terrible. I ran out of fingers counting the hairpins!

[WhiteBlue]

Mallorca certainly has some inherent advantages over Valencia. They have cheap air fares and tons of hotel capacity for a GP in the early spring or late autumn. The circuit would be a dedicated road course rather than one of the much hyped street races that were en vogue three years ago.



This is the location of the track i relation to the airport.



This is the image shown by Autosport



This is how the site looks now

The huge international airport of Palma de Mallorca is only a few miles away via an interstate like dual carriage way, the Ma19.

It all looks like having the ingredients of a money maker for FOM if they manage to induce the local tax payers into building a venue foc. Better than Valencia anyway and potentially a replacement for Barcelona/Montmelo.

Edited by WhiteBlue, 02 July 2010 - 12:24.

[PayasYouRace]

One potentially high speed corner (second to last) and one realistic overtaking opportunity at (SURPRISE SURPRISE) turn 1. And even then the straight may be too short to draft effectively.



We don't need Hungary twice on the calender, thanks.

As I already pointed out, the track is pretty long at 3.6 miles. It's all bigger than I think you're imagining it. It's actually longer than the new Portimao circuit (5.76km versus 4.65km). Both have a similar configuration but it would obviously make the Mallorca circuit's front straight pretty long.

Mallorca


Portimao


I'm not saying it automatically makes it a great track, but it's not a tiny little Hungaroring clone.

[Xpat]

Doesn't look that great. A better idea in my opinion than 2 Spanish races, would be keep 1 of the 2 tracks (unless they find somewhere better) and then have a European Grand Prix that goes to a different track in Europe each year, rather than having the European Grand Prix always being in Spain, at Valencia.

This

[Tuxy]

No thanks.

[Ferrim]

Forget about this.

There's no money in Spain to be spent in ridiculous things like this one. I can't see the Valencia race lasting for much longer, even if the event is signed until 2014. Spain will soon be back to what it -and any country- should always be: host only one GP.

It's ridiculous to think about building a track to host a very expensive F1 race when the government is making budget cuts everywhere. As a Spaniard I really hope that nothing of this goes forward, while there is over 20% of unemployment and a deep worsening of the living standards.

[midgrid]

Plans for F1 race at Mallorca still progressing

Mid last year, it emerged that Llucmajor, a short drive from Mallorca's major Palma airport, was the likely site for the project, which would replace the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

[...]

The head of the Balearic racing federation and mayor Jaume have already met with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, and F1 event guru Philippe Gurdjian has reportedly also been involved.

"Ecclestone was enthusiastic and encouraged us to pursue the project," said federation president Agustin Arbex.

He also revealed that September 2012 has been earmarked for the inaugural race date.

Well, 2012 sounds unrealistic, given how far in advance the Austin project is for a début event in the same year.

Edited by midgrid, 05 January 2011 - 16:03.

[Atreiu]

"Ecclestone was enthusiastic and encouraged us to pursue the project," said federation president Agustin Arbex.

Question: when will Bernie ever NOT be enthusiastic about someone wanting to pay his fees and join the club?

[FlatOverCrest]

At what point do these circuit owners wake up and smell the coffee?

It is clear that Bernie dines at the table of the future race organiser that affords him the finest wine (read cash, etc here).... and hey presto, they get their track on the F1 circus. Then a few years later after Millions and Millions of invested dollars, some of these tracks are then told, "Terribly sorry..... but Wang Dong Hole has just built a new circuit and we wish to accept their dollars now, so unfortunately you no longer have a place on the F1 calendar!".

I have to give it to Bernie... I dont think I know of a single other person that can make corporations dance to such a riddiculous tune! In fact one of the few other great corporate bear tamers was also a 'Bernie'...although Mr Madoff went down a slightly different path when he made HIS customers dance...

However.. Mr Ecclestone has possibly embarked on his most dangerous dinner dates yet with the likes of Mr Putin! I think it is fair to say, that Russia has a greater chance of being on the F1 calendar long before Majorca does... and probably will be on the calendar for a very longtime too!!!

[Disgrace]

How is Spain supposed to afford this with impending German bailout? And the circuit still looks rubbish.

[mgs315]

Love the location, I can combine it with a piss up in Magaluf! After all, if Lewis won't come to Croydon, at least he'll be near the Spanish equivalent.

[Peter1123]

I don't know why people rip on Valencia so much. I understand it doesn't have the most exciting of races, and neither does monaco or singapore for that matter, but if you ever race on the track in any sim it has a very good flow to it and I actually found it to be a very cool circuit with some tight turns, high speed straights, and the last sector has very cool on the edge high speed turns, plus very little run off with the barriers. It can be an intense circuit.

[Gyan]

I don't know why people rip on Valencia so much. I understand it doesn't have the most exciting of races, and neither does monaco or singapore for that matter, but if you ever race on the track in any sim it has a very good flow to it and I actually found it to be a very cool circuit with some tight turns, high speed straights, and the last sector has very cool on the edge high speed turns, plus very little run off with the barriers. It can be an intense circuit.

Yeah, after playing it on F1 2010 I've actually started to like Valencia.

[noikeee]

Mallorca

Ugh, I had already forgotten about this. On paper that has got to be the worst circuit proposal I've ever seen, anywhere. Certainly worse than Valencia. The only thing that could maybe almost save it would be if they planted hills even higher than Portimão's and then I'd still not be too sure about it.

[Hole]

How is Spain supposed to afford this with impending German bailout? And the circuit still looks rubbish.

The only rubbish stuff around here is your remark that there is an impending bailout related with Spain. We have our problems and a real state bubble, but our debd is still lower than that one from the UK, The Netherlands or France. Oh, yeah, also than Germany. It is not that we are indebded because spending in the public sector (actually we've been running surpluses for many years).

I guess going and reading real info and data about the issue is too much of a pain and instead it's better to keep on swallowing the infos given by anti-euro medias or speculator tabloids. But sorry if this burst your bubble but a bailout of Spain is far from likely. Just hear what your hearmans and the ECB said about it.


About the track, I actually don't care really much if it go ahead or not. To be honest I support that track that was going to be built in Madrid for F1 near Pinto or that one from Aragon. I just hope Spain always keeps at least 1 GP, I'm happy with that.

I don't know why people rip on Valencia so much. I understand it doesn't have the most exciting of races, and neither does monaco or singapore for that matter, but if you ever race on the track in any sim it has a very good flow to it and I actually found it to be a very cool circuit with some tight turns, high speed straights, and the last sector has very cool on the edge high speed turns, plus very little run off with the barriers. It can be an intense circuit.

Because Valencia is not in the UK ;)

Edited by AdamKOR, 06 January 2011 - 03:46.