9 replies to this topic

[Speed Demon]

Anyone know what's happened to Chris Balfe's site? It was originally on Cablenet then moved to GeoCities but seems to have vanished of late. Anything to do with the demise of some of the 365Corp sites?

[Gary C]

No, the 'Save the Monza Banking' site had absolutely nothing to do with the (supposedly) demise of the 365 Corporation (thank goodness!), otherwise we would probably have had a row of 'pitlane lovelies' lined up along the banking!!

[Paolo]

I'm going to say something unpopular... but gave this some thought, and I'd like to hear opinions.
I understand the importance of preserving historical places.
I understand that we all are fond of racing.
I understand that, being an italian, i should be particularly proud of the Monza bankings, and willing to preserve them .
Yet I' m not.
Very few races were held on the bankings. The track was a big mistake, and the engineers who made it failed their calculations. The foundations were moving, the size of the concrete plates forming the bankings was excessive, and the resulting vibration was unbearable by both drivers and cars.
The track has very little historical value, even if I recognize it has a nice appearance.
It's too flawed to be cured and used for modern day racing
If it's taking space that should be used for something useful (trees, for example, as we don't have many in my polluted country), I won't cry the day it will be demolished.
Italy is not America : space is precious here.
Sacrilege, I know... anathema on me....

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by Paolo
I'm going to say something unpopular... but gave this some thought, and I'd like to hear opinions.
I understand the importance of preserving historical places.
I understand that we all are fond of racing.
I understand that, being an italian, i should be particularly proud of the Monza bankings, and willing to preserve them .
Yet I' m not.
Very few races were held on the bankings. The track was a big mistake, and the engineers who made it failed their calculations. The foundations were moving, the size of the concrete plates forming the bankings was excessive, and the resulting vibration was unbearable by both drivers and cars.
The track has very little historical value, even if I recognize it has a nice appearance.
It's too flawed to be cured and used for modern day racing
If it's taking space that should be used for something useful (trees, for example, as we don't have many in my polluted country), I won't cry the day it will be demolished.
Italy is not America : space is precious here.
Sacrilege, I know... anathema on me....

Not at all, and very well said...personally, I'll add to the sacrilege and repeat something I wrote in a private group of long time racing friends upon hearing about the Save The Banking campaign - I'd like to see the banking torn down and the *original* high speed, shallower banked circuit rebuilt!


Jim Thurman

[prettyface]

Hi Paolo and Jim.
I can't find the quote -search is dead- but I think Ken Tyrrel agreed with you. I wouldn't be surprised if most people who had to deal with it for a race weekend wouldn't feel the same. Apart from a handful of events, its most memorable use seems to be the Grand Prix movie.

I agree with several of your points. However, I'm afraid that if something is ever done to the banking, it will be to tear it down and build corporate hospitality facilities for the FIA instead of planting new trees. : If that was the case, I'd rather that they left it alone.

I don't know much about the political going-ons, but it seems that it's mostly the greens that want the banking gone, and that the only reason it's still standing is because it's cheaper leaving it alone than demolishing. I'd rather that they straightened the chicanes and planted trees there. Of course, that would mean no more F1 for Monza. Damned if you do...

As exciting as it sounds, I think there's something wrong with the idea of rebuilding an even more obsolete version that would have not an original stone in it, in place of an existing one that is itself an original structure and still stands. Also, the 1920's-30's specs wouldn't offer much more over the 1950's one for racing purposes. I could be wrong, but I think it was obsolete and dangerous even in its initial form. For parades and the slow speeds of some vintage events the newer one is still good. Just by existing, it preserves the history (and layout) of the older version, and the little history the current one has.

I agree with Balfe when he says that they should let nature take its course and let it die naturally. Trees will will invade it at some point anyway. Meanwhile, it's a monument. Is there anything resembling this anywhere else? Monthlery doesn't seem to have a loop and underpass. In my eyes it's analog to being one of the 7 wonders of the racing world.

[Mickey]

There's a snippet on La Gazzetta dello Sport online about the Monza Banking today which might be of interest to you all. I guess our friend Emilio from http://www.monzasport.it will have more on it soon.

Here's a rough translation of it:

Monza, the town council thinks the banking must go.

The Monza Park Councillor thinks that "The autodrome banking degrades the park and is an insult to human intelligence. It must be demolished," explained Councillor Gianpiero Mosca, "to revive the green strip, enlarging it. Today, inside the autodrome, this strip is corroded by large areas of tar and concrete."

According to Mayor Michele Faglia, "SIAS is working on a project to revive the entire area of the autodrome. We have asked, as administrators, that one of the objectives is to understand whether the banking can be reutilized, if it could be compatible with the restoring of the historical perspective of the park, as it was intended by Architect Canonica who designed the Monza park, perhaps by dismantling only parts of it."

This is a never ending saga. Personally I'll be very sad the day the banking is demolished, if it will indeed.

[Mac Lark]

Check out Blafe and Co. on

www.pitpass.com

[marhal]

I find the Paolo´s reasons very clever . Instead to try to conserve an old piece of track with almost no history, why the people don´t oppose against the Hockenheim sacrilegy??????????. Actual F-1 has "chicanized" all the tracks, and the races are more and more boring..............

[WGD706]

I don't know if this has already been posted somewhere, but I only came across this recent photo of the old Monza banking. It was taken just this past weekend.
http://www.news-pub....r15/091203l.jpg
Warren

[paulhooft]

When I was at Monza this summer,
I saw the remains of the old Formula Junior track (corner)
just inside the Curva Grande..
This made a much bigger impression on me than the Bowl:
I could imagine monza covered with those rought stones in the past:
before the did put asphalt on the track
That was really a hard ride!!
with those cart wheel like sprung cars..
Not to think of a crash on those very hard and rough stones..
brrr...
Paul