20 replies to this topic

[BRG]

I was prompted to ask about this after watching the recent BTCC races at Rockingham, which used the roval track inside the original oval track there.  'Rovals' are road courses within (and utilising part of) an oval race circuit.  Other examples include the Indy GP track, the tracks at Laustizring and Oschersleben, Motegi and Daytona amongst doubtless many others. 

 

But what was the first such track?  Was it the Campbell circuit at Brooklands?  I thought of Montlhery but that was built in 1924 as both road and oval from the outset (and the road part is outside the oval,although that is really splitting hairs!).  Or were there any rovals before these?

 

And incidentally, as side issue, I see that the Lausitzring has a 'long' circuit of 11.3km as well as the oval and roval tracks.  Has this ever been used for racing?  This is post-2000 but might just scrape into TNF territory...

[LittleChris]

And incidentally, as side issue, I see that the Lausitzring has a 'long' circuit of 11.3km as well as the oval and roval tracks.  Has this ever been used for racing?

Not sure if it's been used for actual racing but I think this is the variant of the circuit that Michele Alboreto was doing Le Mans testing on when he suffered his fatal accident.

Edited by LittleChris, 04 September 2016 - 21:12.

[Vitesse2]

Brooklands Mountain Circuit preceded the Campbell Circuit. And early sketches of Indianapolis from 1909 show a never-built roval.

 

[D-Type]

How about Monza?  It dates to 1922 and I think it had the oval and the road circuit from the outset.

[Robin Fairservice]

I believe that the present concrete oval was not built until about 1955.

[Allan Lupton]

How about Monza?  It dates to 1922 and I think it had the oval and the road circuit from the outset.

It did, but only a lightly banked oval - as Robin says the High Speed oval was much later.

We had a long thread on it here

http://forums.autosp...-monza-banking/

[Roger Clark]

Wasn't the 1922 Monza banking approximately as steep as Indianapolis? In 1934, a version of the circuit was used with the road section wholly inside the banked part.

[Ristin]

 Other examples include the Indy GP track, the tracks at Laustizring and Oschersleben, Motegi and Daytona amongst doubtless many others. 

Sorry, I can't provide any answer to your question. But may I kindly point out that Oschersleben does not belong on this list as there is no oval track at Oschersleben?

[chunder27]

I think most American decent length oval tracks have a road course in the middle, it would make sense.

 

Some are used for bike racing in AMA Superbike, I know that. Pikes Peak for one. Didn't Rio run CART races? That track must have had road coarses, as would Calder or Oran in Oz.

 

I don't think there are any real ovals in Europe other than Laushitz and Wreckingham.  What about that old place in Spain? Montherley maybe too?

 

Than you are into test tracks like Millbrook, Nardo etrc.

Edited by chunder27, 05 September 2016 - 10:06.

[RA Historian]

I think most American decent length oval tracks have a road course in the middle, it would make sense.

It is a fair statement to say that. Off the top of my head I know that there were road courses in the ovals at Michigan, Texas World, Ontario, Fontana, Rockingham, Talladega, Charlotte, Texas Motor Speedway, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Newton, Kansas, Atlanta, and more that I am missing.

 

Tom

[Rob Semmeling]

1937 Brooklands (Campbell Circuit) (UK)
1954 Milwaukee Mile
1959 Daytona International Speedway
1960 Marchbanks Speedway
1964 Phoenix International Speedway
1969 Michigan International Speedway
1969 Pocono International Raceway
1969 Texas World Speedway
1969 Alabama International Motor Speedway (Talladega)
1970 Ontario Motor Speedway
1971 Charlotte Motor Speedway
1978 North Carolina Motor Speedway
1990 New Hampshire International Speedway
1993 Atlanta Motor Speedway
1996 Homestead Motorsports Complex
1996 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
1997 Pikes Peak International Raceway
2000 Lausitzring (EuroSpeedway) (Germany)
2000 Texas Motor Speedway
2000 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
2001 Nashville Superspeedway
2001 Rockingham Motor Speedway (UK)
2002 California Speedway (Auto Club)
2013 Kansas Speedway

[BRG]

But may I kindly point out that Oschersleben does not belong on this list as there is no oval track at Oschersleben?

Oops!  Don't know why I thought it was an oval. 

[Michael Ferner]

I think most American decent length oval tracks have a road course in the middle, it would make sense.

Not only decent length ovals - recently, I researched the Atlantic Boulevard Speedway in L. A., a midget track of one fifth of a mile length, which was rebuilt into a "road circuit" of half a mile for two races in early 1936. And, of course, don't forget the "Targa Florio" road course at Ascot Speedway, first used in 1924 - long before Brookland's Campbell or Mountain circuits. And wasn't the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup race in San Francisco run on a "roval", too?

[JacnGille]

1969 Alabama International Motor Speedway (Talladega)

 

I wish they still ran IMSA races there. I never missed the Six Hour races way back when.

[Claudio Navonne]

Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina:

 

Edited by Claudio Navonne, 06 September 2016 - 08:38.

[Arjan de Roos]

Interlagos is often overlooked as having an oval, so its for sure a Roval, but originates from 1938 only, with the oval ring being build/completed around 1955. Were the Brazilians set for a Internapolis?

[chunder27]

Did Buenos Aires not have an oval aswell? on that track they used for F1 and GP.  And I also seem to vaguely recall the Hermanos Rodriguez venue might have had some sort of oval aswell praps?  But I might be getting confused with others.

[DCapps]

And wasn't the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup race in San Francisco run on a "roval", too?

 

The athletic track used as part of the circuit for the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize for the ACA Gold Cup events in San Francisco was also used for at least one and possibly more stand-alone events later that year. As part of the event for the cups, the track was covered with a planked-board surface which was then removed afterwards, the subsequent events being held on the one-mile track using a packed-dirt surface thanks to it being used for track and field events as part of the exposition.

[BRG]

Did Buenos Aires not have an oval aswell? on that track they used for F1 and GP.  And I also seem to vaguely recall the Hermanos Rodriguez venue might have had some sort of oval aswell praps?  But I might be getting confused with others.

If you mean the 'Autodromo Municipal de la Cuidad de Buenos Aires', it has/had many configurations (nine in all, I think) but none of them was a true oval.  The outer circuit was a tri-oval but had a arm with a hairpin on it. 

 

Mexico City has an oval but which came first, road course or oval, I do not know.

[Cavalier53]

Does Miramas qualify (home of the 1926 Grand Prix de France  with one of the 3 participating Bugatti's winning, says Wikipedia)?

[Lee Nicolle]

You can go the other way with Calder in Victoria, the oval was used at times as part of the road circuit which was external to the oval.

AIR here in SA has also incorporated integrally its half mile 'bowl' as part of the road circuit.

Both Calder and AIR also use the straight for drag racing too, always an interesting scenario when it rained.