45 replies to this topic

[Mike_in_the_US]

Haven't seen this topic yet and its one of my favorites. The flimsy premise is you get to pick your favorite track, it can be based on being which one you'd want to do hot laps on or which one you think makes for the bet race or even is most fan frendily.

Mine, in alll three catagories is Laguna Seca! Its fun to watch the race, it has had many fine races, and I would love to try my hand at it.

[Alfisti]

Yeah this was posted about 3 ,months agao but there are so many newbies it's worth posting again.

Laguna Seca??? You have got to be ******* me. Apart from the corkscrew there are 6 turns that are VERY SIMILAR semi flat right and left handers. It's such a boring track.

The Bathurst track in Oz where the 1000Km touring car race is held is the most amazing place i have seen. It has it's own corkscrew known as "The Dipper" but the entine track is over 6KM long ... it has a 1KM straight and the scaryest flat corners cutting into the side of a mountain you are ever going to see.

Go to my web site to have a look or better still go to www.fai1000.com.au

Of the F1 tracks... you have to love Belgium and Japan.

[Rich]

Spa (the original one) has a magic all of its own. Very high speeds, fantastic overtaking opportunities, and if you owned one of the houses on the downhill after Masta or the uphill before Blanchimont, you could watch the cars passing by six inches from your front porch.

[mono-posto]

I might get kind of ridiculed for this but I have to say Monaco.

Not because the race is really that good, but the idea of racecars blasting through public city streets at 180 mph gives me a mental orgasm.

Other real race tracks would be Spa and Laguna Seca.

[Lamont]

Gotta agree with Rich. Though I never saw any races on the track pre-1970. For Eau Rouge alone, it's perhaps my favorite.

I think in the US I'd have to go with Elkhart Lake...

[Chris G.]

Rich: THAT, is being "close to the action."

I've never heard of anyone being injured by an F1 car flying through their living room...

One thing, all the tracks seem a bit more interesting when it rains. Wonder what tracks we've never had a rain race on?

[f li]

http://cbsgi1.bu.edu/bmw/nurbcgi.html

[404KF2]

Spa-Francorchamps, even now.

[silver fan]

Of the existing tracks - Spa is well clear of anything else.

Historically - The original Spa would still come out on top in my book. Stirling Moss descibed it as beiing the same challenge as the old Nurburgring - only more dangerous. Clermont Ferrand would be up their. If you want to see a track cut into the side of a mountain then this 5 mile "Beasty" is the track for you - forget Bathurst.

[Skid Jackson]

Hot laps on the track of my choice...... That's easy! The one and only Roman Collesium (sp) of car racing The high banks of Bristol Speedway. Yeehaaaaaa!! A few runs around Monaco would be cool to. I to have a thing for cars blowin through city streets at 180 MPH!

[Peeko]

Spa, without a doubt. I'm with Mono as far as US tracks go. Elkart Lake is great.

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Ron Dennis is a Wuss

[Eric]

Monaco, Monaco, Monaco. I'm with mono on this one, the thought of driving through the tunnel at 180mph is orgasmic.

[Samurai]

It used to be Hungary, but now that Damon Hill has retired, I guess it's Spa or Suzuka.

[magnum]

Monza closely followed by Suzuka - and the old Kyalami was great.

[vroom-vroom]

Yeah - Spa! I remember the sound of a Ferrari V12 at full throttle arriving from Blanchimont, downshifting through all the gears to take the Source Hairpin, up the gears again to full throttle down to Eau Rouge, and then the whine of the engine disappearing in the distance as the car climbed the Raidillon. Oh my! I'm getting all teary eyed here. Quick, a Hakkie -err hankie.

[SalutGilles]

Spa- old or new, it's the best.

BRISTOL SPEEDWAY? are you silly? how is that good at all? That is simply ridiculous.

[Ruapuna]

Spa is the best F1 track by a long way (the only 'pure' circuit that has maintained its character). Suzuka is also good, but is actually not as good as Fuji in my opinion.

If any of you have been lucky to watch Formula Nippon you would know that for such a crowded country, Japan is very well endowed with good tracks.

[Ruapuna]

I must have been sleeping. How could I reply without mentioning Macau. As Stirling Moss said "it out-Monacos Monaco"!

[slc]

Hockenheim or Spa....hmmmm....Hockenheim.

[Spring-Heeled Jim]

Monaco!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mikette]

Canada in the rain and the old Kyalami for me (even though the new Kyalami circuit is really fast and interesting!)

[tifosi]

Imola before they castrated it. That track seemed to provide good racing in the past. SPA now with Monza a close second. If nothing else you gotta loave Monza for the enthusiasm of the fans. One of my favorite moves was a few years back when Nigel Mansell went around the OUTSIDE of the parabolica in a Ferrari, everyone said it was physically impossible to do that, kinda like looing a helicopter.

[OssieFan]

Bathurst is a real favourite of mine, I drove around there in a road car once and I must say to take a race car around would be bloody exciting.

As for F1, I have a soft spot for the old Adelaide F1 circuit (partly because I live near it!) which is thankfully still operating due to the V8 race and the Le Mans race.

OssieFan

[h2fan]

It's got to be Spa, followed by suzaka.

Rgds,

H2fan

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H2FAN

H20 = Water, H2F = Champagne

[OssieFan]

Didn't Nelson Piquet say that Monaco was like trying to ride a motorbike in your loungeroom?

[man from martinlaakso]

I think, that Spa as a track is the most challenging. However, the weather is often problematic there, so my favorite track now is Suzuka. Of course the latest success of MH on that track gives an extra plus to that track in my mind. Sepang is also a very good track.

[Peeko]

tifosi, you're thinking of Mexico 1990, the curve Peralta.

Ossiefan, he did say that. either a motorbike, or just a regular bike.

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Ron Dennis is a Wuss

[BRG]

Cadwell Park

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BRG

"all the time, maximum attack"

[Smooth]

Road Atlanta, just cause it is 45 minutes away, and I have done track days on my Motorcycle, as well as two weekend classes put on by Panoz Racing, who are based there.....

As far as F1 tracks, the old Nurburgring was what F-1 and daring were all about! I love watching Monaco as well.......

[harbin]

1. I agree with most people on this board that Spa is my favorite. I love those hills, the part of the track that is usually a public road, the changeable weather, and the way the big trees prevent the track from drying up quickly after a rainstorm. I have a tape with an in-car shot of HHF in the Williams in 1997, going around Stavelot and foot-to-the-floor through the top gears around Blanchimont up to the bus-stop, winding out the Renault to 17,000 rpm. The trees fly by in a blur. Awesome.

2. Monza is cool, too. Maybe I'll be ridiculed, because it seems to be mostly a long narrow straightaway and there isn't much passing, but Italy in September and all those tifosi are fantastic. Plus the cool old banked track....

3. Monaco. Not much racing, but what a locale -- it's hard to believe how narrow the streets are when you actually go there. I just got a book with pictures from old races in Monaco -- they were racing over street car tracks in 1929, and of course there has been the occasional crash into the harbor....

[madmac]

I'm with most others so far....Spa, Just gimmie one go at eau rouge...

[Gohan]

Spa, without doubt for the modern and the "old" version.
Closely followed by Monza...

[Ellen UK]

SPA
Monaco
Imola (pre-Senna crash)
Montreal
Monza
Sepang

[Vercertorix]

The new and the old.

1. the original Spa
2. the new Spa
3. the original Ring
4. Reims
5. the original Imola

[!!ManumissioN!!]

All Taken together

1. Old Spa
2. New Spa
3. Osterreich Ring
4. Suzuka
5. Sepang

[Mike_in_the_US]

Alfisti,

Have you been to Laguna Seca? If not I can tell you it has more elevation change than shows up on the tube. Watching a race on TV is very deceptive because it does not show that aspect well. It makes those VERY SIMILAR turns all actually quite different. A fast setup is not easy to acheive.

Even the first turn (Andretti?) with its long lead-in straight is very much misleading because of elevation change, you cannot see the entrance to the turn from even the start-finish line about halfway through the straight due the fact that there is 30 or 40 feet of hill in the middle, I wonder what the G-load feels like?

Also as a fan it is a very excellent track because you have access everywhere and almost any angle of viewing. I personally will never forget watching JV getting his CART championship trophy there nor the image of Zanardi putting that unbeliable pass on Herta at the end of the race, what two years ago now. That track is more than just "the Corkscrew" but maybe you just have to be there.

Spa looks great on TV and so does Elkhart Lake. I also like Road America and Portland International. However I do miss the old Riverside International, watching the IMSA race was a kick and the NASCAR trying to do the twisty parts was always good for a laugh.

I also miss the old Long Beach Grand Prix track when they ran the F1s up onto I think Ocean Blvd. A friend of mine has this really cool picture of Rigazzoni catching air on the downhill to Shoreline. You can see the entire bottom pan of the car in amazing detail.

[Turbo]

My favorites are Road America, Road Atlanta, and Laguna Seca. I also like going to CART races at the Cleveland airport and the Milwaukee mile oval. Of existing F1 tracks, Spa and Monza are my favorites, and I also enjoy Monaco, Hockenheim, and Sepang. Bathhurst looks awesome on TV, but doesn't have enough runoff for F1 (probably too undulating also). Philip Island is my favorite motorcycle circuit.

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Bring back slicks and turbo!

[Mosquito]

I guess this is gonna be futile, but mine is ofcourse!!!! Spa and Imola with the original Tamburello corner.

I couldn't help but viewing EXACTLY my feelings posted by Tifosi (Thanks!!!
>>
Imola before they castrated it. That track seemed to provide good racing in the past. SPA now with Monza a close second. If nothing else you gotta loave Monza for the enthusiasm of the fans. One of my favorite moves was a few years back when Nigel Mansell went around the OUTSIDE of the parabolica in a Ferrari, everyone said it was physically impossible to do that, kinda like looing a helicopter.<<
1000000% procent agree!!!! I just have to close my eyes just to review it behind my eyelids. (it WAS an overtaking manouvre: Berger wasn't it?)

And in that same race, he did VERY cool overtakings through the famous Tamburello corner!!! I think Mansell was born for that track!!!

Cheers

[harbin]

Mike_in_the_US:

I agree that it's fun to watch the NASCAR people try out road racing. One of the (many) drivers who crashed out at Watkins Glen a few years ago walked away with a smile, saying that none of them had any idea of what they were doing. Hilarious! And they apparently call either Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon "Nigel Mansell," since he's the only one that wins on the road courses (I can't remember which -- shows you how closely I follow NASCAR).

I think it would be fun to have one of the F1 races held on an oval, just to see them out of their usual element.

[JayWay]

Mike,

That pass was BS,Zanardi cut the apex, people overrate it so much.

[Chris G.]

Jayway: That pass is rated highly not only for the physics of it, but mostly because someone was willing to throw away 2nd place right at the end.

Running a car over those bumps, picking up dirt and grass and holding position, seems to warrant a pretty steep rating.

It wasn't illegal because no one thought it would be tried. That kinda says something too.

No, it wasn't the best pass in the world, but it was damn good.

[Keith Steele]

Road America and Milwaukee are my favorite tracks. I've never been to any of the F1 circuits so I can't judge them. Nring in GPL looks pretty sweet though. Chris, Zanardi should have been penalized for gaining a position off of the racing surface. However hard it may have been, he wouldnt have been able to accomplish it without leaving the track. Chip's boys have had their share of good luck with the officials over the years. It would be interesting to see what Paul Tracy would have gotten away had he been signed on with TCGR. Sour grapes? No just a little tart.

[Byrellium]

The old spa. The current spa is cool because of the flat out corners, eau rouge for example. Suzuka is 2nd in my book.

[Byrellium]

The Zanardi pass on Herta was bs? Did he cheat or use a line which herta couldn't have? He had the balls to try a move that could have broken his car or caused him to spin, but he made it stick. Herta is a driver that when he is pushed can be forces into errors easily, he is more concerned about what is behind him than the track in front of him. That is why he has no drive this year. He sucks! Just ask Bobby Rahal.

[busternuck]

All I can say is that a track never looks as good on TV as it does in person. TV just doesnt do justice to the real scale of things at the tracks - I have only been to Donnington, Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Silverstone and of course Sepang.

So in terms of Best of Where I've Been - it would be a toss up between Silverstone and Sepang - mainly because both are spectator friendly.

The Best from What I've Seen On TV - Spa and Speilberg (Austria).

So two scales of criteria - if I had to watch at the tracks I'd pick a spectator friendly track - but if TV is the way to go - Spa and A1 looks the most outstanding.

[Daemon]

MT PANORAMA BATHURST is without a doubt the BEST raceway around. You just have to see it to beleive it. You want elevation changes, you got it, all 600 feet of it. Fast Corners, slow corners medium corners, esses large straight and excellent atmosphere. Now if only they could race F1 there. If any of you are visiting Australia in november, don't miss it...