3 replies to this topic

[Ray Bell]

All too often, it seems to me, that the circuit is underrated when it comes to considering the factors that contribute to good racing.
In this day of antiseptic circuits, we should perhaps reflect on the great drives and where they took place.
Nuvolari at the Nurburgring is often mentioned, and there have been some classic drives at Spa, including that of Sommer that featured in Motor Sport a while back.
Monaco - who could forget 1961 and the Moss/Ginther race, or - was it 1982? - that race where they all fell over on the last lap. Brands Hatch engendered some heroics, Pescara must have been lovely!
All of these I speak of without any personal knowledge (except for Monaco), but in our backyard there are a few.
Bathurst's Mount Panorama gets all the kudos these days, but it pales (IMHO) against Lobethal, and was only slightly ahead of Longford. The other day I looked at Middle Ridge for the first time, a circuit of public roads that looks most uninteresting on the maps. But it has its features, some very tricky corner approaches that would have been fairly hair raising in the Cooper T51s and Ferrari 625s that raced there.
Not forgetting that one of the good things about racing history is that many circuits were public roads, and are thus often still accessable for modern day dreaming.
Phil Hill spoke of the 'old Elkhart Lake' with some affection - what was it like?

[Dennis David]

I'm amazed at the hillclimbs they used to do in the 30s, especially the Großglockner in Austria. Having driven that road at 30 mph my palms were sweating imagine being Hans Stuck and racing up the hill in an Auto Union! One time because of fog at the top the organizers wanted to race halfway up and then down! Even the bravest of drivers blanched at this prospect.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Marcel Schot]

The Grossglockner? Racing? That's a suicide attempt by my standards.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, hillclimbs are not to be forgotten. That beautiful video of the Peugeot rally car at Pikes Peak says it all!
As for downhill runs on hillclimbs, that's exactly what the esses at Bathurst are - it's a hillclimb in one direction, part of a race circuit in the other. Sort of like a couple of corkscrews at Laguna joined by a faster mid section.