Jump to content


Photo

Well Albi blowed


  • Please log in to reply
61 replies to this topic

#51 simonlewisbooks

simonlewisbooks
  • Member

  • 2,118 posts
  • Joined: January 02

Posted 31 January 2012 - 14:21

One from the archives....

Posted Image

Arthur Dobson in ERA GP1(?) at Albi in 1939. Is this the bit of road which has now become a playing field?

One bit of Albi trivia ; ex British F3 front runner (in the 1 litre screamer era), Mike Watkins, was manager at a supermarket near the track for many years.

Advertisement

#52 LittleChris

LittleChris
  • Member

  • 3,704 posts
  • Joined: April 01

Posted 31 January 2012 - 21:29

Yep Simon, that's the bit of road under discussion.


Wenoopy, the original circuit did indeed extend further west.

See here for how the track changed over time. I guess the reason for the new S/F area built for the 1934 races was to enable construction of the grandstands which may not have been possible / desirable with the previous layout

http://cal.circuit-a...que/les-traces/

#53 Catalina Park

Catalina Park
  • Member

  • 6,769 posts
  • Joined: July 01

Posted 01 February 2012 - 07:05

The "binged.it" aerial shot is taken at a different time of year, when grass growth was green rather than the dusty brown of the Google shot, and there appears to me to be an interesting curved patch of grass of a slightly different colour just in front of the Tower. Could this be the path of the original corner? If the track had been dug up and grassed over, the soil/subsoil and hence the grass growth might be different, even 30+ years later.

I also noticed the curved patch of grass but I am a bit doubtful about it being the old corner, To my mind it appears that the playing fields have been built up about a metre or more in that area.


#54 wenoopy

wenoopy
  • Member

  • 648 posts
  • Joined: January 09

Posted 01 February 2012 - 09:38

I also noticed the curved patch of grass but I am a bit doubtful about it being the old corner, To my mind it appears that the playing fields have been built up about a metre or more in that area.


On the "jmfangio.com" site, a 1949 photo shows a bank of about 2 metres height several metres back from the pit wall, maybe at the edge of the football pitch. Other later photos show a "standing room only" crowd filling the whole area, apparently leaving only a minimal space for pit crews and gear. Not sure if this was a larger bank in later years, or perhaps a temporary grandstand.

All of these photos are credited to "Albi et ses Grands Prix...." - it might be quite enlightening if someone had a copy. I suspect I may have looked through a copy in a specialist shop a few years back, but the price dictated that it wasn't ever going to be a "got to have one" book.

The "Motor Racing" 1955 Directory and International Who's Who, put out by the English monthly has a circuit diagram of the shorter Raymond Sommer circuit which includes a rectangular area labelled "pits" in the vicinity of the sports fields. Probably this should be the paddock.

Stu


#55 Ray Bell

Ray Bell
  • Member

  • 80,056 posts
  • Joined: December 99

Posted 01 February 2012 - 10:11

That Fangio and Ascari start photo is a stunner, Michael...

Thanks for digging that up. And thanks for the insight into the workings of your mind, Barry.

#56 Barry Boor

Barry Boor
  • Member

  • 11,546 posts
  • Joined: October 00

Posted 01 February 2012 - 15:24

:blush:

#57 taylov

taylov
  • Member

  • 624 posts
  • Joined: February 05

Posted 01 February 2012 - 15:34

Here's a commercial postcard of the ?1949 start.

Taken out of the control tower window, perhaps?

Tony

Posted Image



#58 Tim Murray

Tim Murray
  • Moderator

  • 24,592 posts
  • Joined: May 02

Posted 01 February 2012 - 16:52

What a great photo. 1949 indeed - front row Fangio (8), Bira (14) and Farina (12). :love:

#59 LittleChris

LittleChris
  • Member

  • 3,704 posts
  • Joined: April 01

Posted 01 February 2012 - 23:19

Think I posted this on the You Tube thread sometime ago but no harm in posting again.

80 years of racing at Albi.



Footage of circuit begins at 1 min 28 and includes start finish area and the Cafe de la Terrasse ( previously owned by Jean-Maurice's grand uncle :up: ) in St Juery.

At 3 min 35 - 40, there's footage of the curve ( La Renaudie I believe it may be called ) where Wharton and Ambrosini came to grief.

At 4 07 the film shows cars exiting Montplaisir corner

At 5 28 the film moves from the Les Planques circuit to La Sequestre autodrome

Advertisement

#60 neiltipton

neiltipton
  • New Member

  • 15 posts
  • Joined: July 14

Posted 12 January 2016 - 22:22

Apologies for bumping what is now a very old thread, but I thought you might like a final resolution to this question - or at the very least a contemporary aerial photo or two...

 

First off, these images are from the excellent http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr which, once you've got the hang of how to use it (it's far from intuitive, even with a smattering of French), is a goldmine of historic aerial pictures.  I've just spent an evening pasting together multiple extremely high-res photos to create a full circuit layout, based on a 1948 aerial survey.  Here's the completed image:

 

albi_110.jpg

 

Secondly, here's the shorter Raymond Sommer circuit - which shows more clearly the pit area and grandstands - from 1955:

 

albi_111.jpg

 

Fascinating - hopefully this might help clear up some of the previous questions when compared to the modern Google Earth images!



#61 Macca

Macca
  • Member

  • 3,725 posts
  • Joined: January 03

Posted 13 January 2016 - 10:33

Brilliant - those two houses with dormer windows to the left of the grandstand on the lower picture can be clearly seen on Google Earth, giving the location of the pits straight - it's definitely under the tennis courts and the left-hand part of the industrial building just north of them. The grandstands were apparently built on what is now a lane giving access to the rear of the houses.

 

I wonder what the French is for "I remember when this was all fields....."

 

 

Paul M



#62 neiltipton

neiltipton
  • New Member

  • 15 posts
  • Joined: July 14

Posted 13 January 2016 - 20:00

Brilliant - those two houses with dormer windows to the left of the grandstand on the lower picture can be clearly seen on Google Earth, giving the location of the pits straight - it's definitely under the tennis courts and the left-hand part of the industrial building just north of them. The grandstands were apparently built on what is now a lane giving access to the rear of the houses.

 

I wonder what the French is for "I remember when this was all fields....."

 

 

Paul M

 

In fact, when you look closely at Google Earth, you can still see that one half of the underpass is still there, providing further proof of the above.