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The 'lost' Brno circuit


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#1 angst

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Posted 02 October 2005 - 14:08

I hope someone can help me. I've come upon references to a proposed circuit at Brno from the seventies which was described along the lines of it putting Spa to shame. There is, apparently, a track map in the control buildings at the current Brno circuit.

If somebody could post a link to any info on this circuit I would be very grateful.

Thanks in anticipation.

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#2 David McKinney

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Posted 02 October 2005 - 14:26

The only proposed circuit at Brno in the '70s, as photographed in the present control tower, was a reduced version of the older course, and did indeed put Spa to shame.
I'm sure it's all been discussed here before - have you tried 'search BB'?

#3 Ray Bell

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Posted 02 October 2005 - 17:51

Have you seen this photo?

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...and this map has also been posted before:

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Edited by Ray Bell, 10 December 2012 - 11:20.


#4 philippe7

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Posted 02 October 2005 - 19:43

Yes indeed , the shortened version of the classic Brno circuit has been used a couple of times for the Czeckoslovakian Grand Prix....I perfectly remember the (rather bitter and desperate...) comment in the French weekly Moto-Journal when the new track was first used, around 1975 , which went along the lines of : "they put a lot of money into building a new section which shortened the track and avoided a couple of villages , but they built this new section just like a copy of Spa* : long ultra-fast curves....lined whith armco ( guardrails ) all along .... :rolleyes:

* the old Spa, of course....

#5 HistoricMustang

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Posted 17 December 2008 - 23:23

Henry :wave:

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#6 philippe7

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 07:07

Henry, this is the "new" modern, "artificial" Brno currently used by Moto GP . The one this thread is about is the one appearing as "1975-1986" in the page linked below
http://www.silhouet....acks/brno2.html

#7 just me again

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 09:05

Originally posted by HistoricMustang
Henry :wave:

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Maybe this is the new Brno circuit, and not comparable with the old circuit, but it is still way better than most/all Tilke circuits, haven been there and watched DTM.

Bjørn

#8 philippe7

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 10:40

Originally posted by just me again
Maybe this is the new Brno circuit, and not comparable with the old circuit, but it is still way better than most/all Tilke circuits, haven been there and watched DTM.
Bjørn


I agree a 100% :up:

#9 Duc-Man

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 12:14

I just looked with Google Earth. It seems that the old pit/paddock area is still there. So seems to be most of the original track.

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The dark line on the road seems to be the pit wall and the paddock is now obviously used by some companies.


That whole story reminds me on Reims. I was there around 1993. It was sad to see what time did to the place.

Frank

#10 alfredaustria

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 12:33

Oh yes: The old pit-area still exists - in a very bad shape. When you go from the new "masaryk-ring" to the city of Brno - and you are NOT using the highway - you are driving on the old race-circuit and passing the pits. It seems that the time stood still on some parts there....

#11 Duc-Man

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 15:54

Masarykring, that rings a bell. I had to pull out the book 'Autodrome: The Lost Race Circuits Of Europe' by S.S. Collins & Gavin D. Ireland that has a charpter about the track. It has a brief history and some pictures of the track today in it.

Ouch! It really hurts to see the state of what's left of a place where history was made.

Now for something completely different: has somebody posted somewhere a inboard video of the old track (in it's different variations)? There are just a bunch of clips from the new track on youtube.

Frank

#12 lil'chris

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Posted 18 December 2008 - 23:36

Nearest I've ever seen to an onboard are youtube clips of a GPL rendition of two versions of the old circuit as used from 1949 - 63 and 1963 - 74 ie before the new section was built from Kohoutovice down to immediately before the pits ( which can be seen at the top of the photo Duc-Man posted earlier ).

Having never visited, I can't vouch for the accuracy, but some GPL renditions ( eg the Allam bros version of Reims ) are very accurate )

Am looking forward to a rendition of the full old circuit used in the 30's but think it might be a while :D

Details of the various layouts on Darren page

http://www.silhouet....acks/brno2.html

GPL 1949 - 1963 rendition

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=I_6ZLOEKA_s

GPL 1963 - 74 rendition

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=NVKI7HdNTJc

#13 Mark A

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 15:28

The various Brno layouts.

Orange is current circuit.

The red car is at the point shown by Duc-man above for the pitlane of the old circuit layouts.
Red is 1930-37
Green & Red 1949-63
Cyan & Red 1964-74
Yellow & Red & Cyan 1975-86

Posted Image

#14 bradbury west

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 19:21

In the days when Walkinshaw was in Euro Touring Racing with the SD1 there was a wonderful photograph of him thundering across a wooden bridge through the forest, rather like the legendary bridge at Longford, Tas. about which Mr Bell enthuses. Sorts the men from the boys
Roger Lund

#15 fines

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 19:46

Oh... I never knew the new circuit is INSIDE of the original one! That's a nice touch. :D

#16 ex Rhodie racer

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 20:09

I raced on the (from Veselka) green, blue, red, yellow, red version, which was the last one in use before the circuit was moved to the permanent track that exists today. It was approx 13 km´s long and was very, very fast. The surface was fairly smooth, but lacked any sort of grip. Quite enjoyable though.
Massive crowds of up to 250,000 which made for a great atmosphere.

#17 HistoricMustang

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 21:32

Originally posted by Mark A
The various Brno layouts.

Orange is current circuit.

The red car is at the point shown by Duc-man above for the pitlane of the old circuit layouts.
Red is 1930-37
Green & Red 1949-63
Cyan & Red 1964-74
Yellow & Red & Cyan 1975-86

Posted Image


Great work Mark! We all need to continue documenting the old ones.

I will do my best to get more up here at TNF.

Henry :wave:

#18 Nick Wa

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Posted 19 December 2008 - 22:19

I wish that I'd had that map 40 years ago then I could have sampled the back section! But now seeing the number of combinations perhaps I'd still be there enjoying a few Walter Mitty moments! Just traversing the front straight (in the wrong direction for the prewar version) gave the wrong impression though all those quick flicks must have been interesting in the big Mercs & A-Us.
Funny what one just stumbled on in old days only realised where I was when the pits flashed past in the dusk, like when suddenly driving across a lot of paint on the road which turns out to be the Solitude starting grid or white painted plain trees flashing past announced you were now on the Mulsanne straight.

#19 RASmit

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Posted 31 July 2009 - 07:24

I hope someone can help me. I've come upon references to a proposed circuit at Brno from the seventies which was described along the lines of it putting Spa to shame. There is, apparently, a track map in the control buildings at the current Brno circuit.

If somebody could post a link to any info on this circuit I would be very grateful.

Thanks in anticipation.


I think that I know which proposal you mean. I've seen a photo of the map. It was posted on the forum on Daniel Kings Racingcircuits.net [copy of the website is still online, but the forum is offline].
I think it's this one:
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#20 RASmit

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Posted 11 October 2009 - 15:48

Found it!!
This is the picture of the proposed circuit that you can find in the pit-building.
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Next to scale is the 'cardinal direction'. The 'S' pointing left stands voor 'Sever' which is Czech for North.

Edited by RASmit, 11 October 2009 - 16:15.


#21 LittleChris

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Posted 11 October 2009 - 20:50

Well found RASmit, though sadly the layout looks rather Tilke-esq

#22 LittleChris

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Posted 31 July 2012 - 23:01

You can now "drive" all of the permutations of the old Brno circuit on Google Streetview. :clap: It may take you sometime though....