September 1, 2010

Austin GP track, what do you think?


Click on the green overhead map for a detailed view.
(Austin Statesman)
end of post

18 comments:

  1. I can't wait to drive it! :)

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  2. Typical tilke.

    straight, hairpin, straight, hairpin.

    Funny isn't it that 2 of the most awesome tracks, Suzuka and Spa, don't have this feature at all, but overtaking is still quite possible.

    Having only one person design F1 tracks is just crazy, one man can only be so creative.

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  3. For $200,000,000 they could have built a mountain and draped the track over it. 133 feet of elevation change is not enough. Also, I think it is running anti-clockwise, as suggested by the arrow on the pit straight, and the deflection barriers at the marshal posts.

    And that big triple radius bend before you get back the the paddock and grandstand area is almost identical to Turn 8 at Istanbul Park.

    If Tilke ever loses his job, who's going to miss him? I guess Bernie'll have enough tracks to last him by then...

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  4. I think if you look at this image you get a better idea of the circuit.

    http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/dynamic/00530/elevationmap_530513c.jpg

    Initially I thought it looked pretty Tilke-ish, but after looking at the profile of the circuit with elevation I think it looks pretty sweet.

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  5. It looks better with the elevation, but anyway with such a big space available and such resources a much better job could be done.

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  6. @McQuick Well, Spa does have that, the Camel straight end, in tight chicane and the there is a tight chicane that was the bus stop, not to mention La Source...

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  7. I think my buddy and I need to try and set up a concession stand that sells chicken and waffles.

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  8. I saw the comment about the elevation change. The track looks like nothing special, but I don't have enough experience or knowledge to say for sure.

    What I do know is that elevation change makes the racing more interesting to watch.

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  9. @A Train - thanks for that, it does look a little more promising seen in 3d. I'm guessing that the gradients are exaggerated, though - that hill to the first hairpin looks mighty steep.

    We can dream, we can dream...

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  10. @Porschephile: Given that the images have a Tilke trademark, which conveys their official nature, I'd be surprised if the gradients were not accurately depicted. All the better for us. I've loved elevation change ever since I cut my teeth at Road Atlanta.

    For some frame of reference, elevation delta (in feet):

    Istanbul: 149
    Oschersleben: 75
    Suzuka: 131
    Fuji: 125
    Laguna Seca: 180

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  11. With the exception of the T12-T15 complex, it looks very natural to me! Only change I would make would be to just add a high speed kink between T12 to T15 and make it a balls fast left hander!

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  12. always dreamed of a "split"
    hairpin, drivers could choose to exit right or left then run 1/3 -1/2 mile down and merge back , Austin is a great area great town, so much better in every respect to Indy it will more than make up for a mediocre design

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  13. This was made by someone on another set of racing forums, but it looks copy and paste from other tracks to me!

    http://i55.tinypic.com/jtnuw2.jpg

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  14. @Jonathan

    based on this comparison I think the new design is very nice. I am sure that we all might think a better design could have been chosen but I bet there were also certain restrictions and this is certainly quite an interesting layout.

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  15. Plenty of opportunities for Vettel to crash into people though. Sure it'll be fine.

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  16. @AC Damn, completely forgot about La Source. But I can't agree with the other two though, I don't regard chicanes in the same frame as a hairpin simply because it creates more than a single area for overtaking/defending.

    Tilke almost never puts in such features though, its usually a straight - hairpin - straight.

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  17. Clearly, I'm not the only one who noticed this:

    http://www.alliedstudies.com/ED586/stjacksonwilliams/6th%20Grade%20Website/Clipart/microscope.JPG

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