So what makes a good racing track?

For me, I like tracks with hotels that are close (or a decent coach on site), paved paddocks, friendly staff, modern buildings, wifi and mobile phone coverage.

 

Hahaha! Spoken like someone who spends a lot of time at tracks... Yep, I hear you!

 

That's funny. I've just finished up at Pau on Race (WTCC) 07. Geez, what a tight circuit, but satisfying when you beat Colciago, Muller and other legends!

It depends so much on the sim. Laser-scanned tracks like Suzuka in GT4 and VIR in iRacing really do "flow" as well as the original, but I have yet to drive a sim Road America or Road Atlanta that evokes the same response...

A good racing track has a nice balance between fast sweepers and slow corner complexes that are NOT artificial or tortured in their concept or execution. Of course, all the great tracks have corner complexes like Eau Rouge, Spoon Corner, Turn 8 in Istanbul, South Bend at VIR, Turn 12 at Road Atlanta, Diving Turn at Lime Rock, Rainey Curve at Laguna, Turn 2 at Mosport, the first turn at Brands GP, etc. I don't particularly care for driving (although I won my first race there) Barber Motorsports Park, but Scott's rFactor rendition is simply awesome, and has helped me teach others how to win there...

It's like a woman. Everyone has different tastes...

 

It's very subjective. As a racer i've been to a a few tracks and when I was with the ALMS safety team, I've been on quite a few others around North America. Mosport, Road America and perhaps Watkins Glenn are probably my favorite drivers tracks. High speed flowing tracks, driving thru the trees, its easy to imagine Mark Donahue or other racers of the era coming up behind you.

For the off track entertainment, Trois-Rivières in Quebec wins hands down. The french accented women, the parties, the way the whole town caters to the racing events, is incredible. There are other tracks that compare but for me, thats the place.

 

For me, there absolutely must be technical turns that challenge the driver. Elevation changes. Good opportunities for passing. But, most importantly, there MUST be at least one or two "balls-in-the-throat" corners to separate the men from the boys.

CW

 

You want to do it again.

 

Bathurst and the 'Ring come to mind.

 

Interesting you should say that. My opinion, listening to Alan Wilson, the current "flavor of the month" track designer, is that his definition of "technical corners" are NOTHING I want to have anything to do with. His Gingerman renderings, his abortion consisting of the Carolina Motorsports Park Turn 12-13 complex (mercifully and recently-fixed by Brian Smith and Jochen Tartek) and his absolute violation of Lime Rock Park's entry to No Name, Climbing Turn and West Bend in Skip's new rendition are all what he calls "technical" corners.

Now if you mean Turn 5 and Turn 6 at Watkins Glen or Wagon Bend at Summit Point, now that's a corner! Places where people who are overtaken inhale sharply when surprised by an overtaking driver... I think that's what you mean, not some "fiddly" slow, first-gear artificial chicane...

I was looking at my data from South Bend (Turn 10) at VIR and marveling that I was going 126 mph at the entry and over 102 mph at the the apex! This is in a car with a 128 mph terminal velocity! What is simply indescribable is that it is not only a blind brow but a passing opportunity as well. Now, that's a proper corner!

 

Clean bathrooms near my pit area. Cute chicks in cutoff shorts.

I won't even raise the issue of decent food, that's wishful thinking under the best of circumstances.

 

Pete,

Did you make it to the NASA event at VIR the last weekend in March?

 

A good quality race track is one with a variety of radiused corners that include elevation changes. It must have at least one long straight and ideally have several good quality passing zones.

 

I usually just bring my wife for that.

When I'm racing, I'm on the most bizarre diet that track food doesn't matter. I do sometimes go for a burger after it's all over--and sometimes a beer (gotta love VIR!).

 

Smooth asphalt with good, consistant grip.
Plenty of run off room
Fast turns.
No bumps

 

Nah! Maybe next time...

 

I love GTR2...

 

It depends on the cars being driven. If it's a carting track, it will be shorter and tighter than a full size track. If it's for a small area, you may get a 1/4 or 1/8 mile oval.

I like wide tracks with elevation changes and a wide variety of turns, the more unstable the car, the more fun it is.

I like some of the newer F1 track a lot and I like old Spa, 'Ring and Silverstone because they have similarities as the new ones.

 

Interesting thread. I can second a bunch of things here, in particular elavation changes - I'd put WGI, Road Atlanta and Infineon at the top of my list and all feature corners that are to some extent blind and require committment.

Can I add "weather"? Lime Rock in particular seems to have a micro climate of its own and always seems to rain at some point when I'm there. Call me a wimp, but I personally prefer hanging out at the track when its not raining.

 

+1 Nestled in the hills...

You're no wimp. I've been backwards at the top of third gear in a dedicated sports racing car on No Name and didn't hit anything! I can laugh about it now...

AFA driving in the rain, some tracks are really pretty good for that. While I don't wish for it, it is a competitive advantage for me. The changeable conditions are the one I don't like.

OTOH, some tracks stink in the rain... I just remember Summit before the last paving... Whew...

 

You tend to find that the circuits people find favorable are those that were laid out across certain terrain, bending, rising, dipping to meet the landscape. Most modern circuits don't create any passion because they are paved over a relatively flat are and were designed on a computer. At best, they are gimmicky and favor ammenities over the road layout.