2010 Korean GP track rendition

2010 South Korean F1 track shown in new pictures on official website

6 April 2009 by Keith Collantine

We’ve had a glimpse before of South Korea’s F1 track, which is due to hold its first Grand Prix next year.

But now the official home page for the 2010 South Korean Grand Prix is live, complete with new pictures of the Jeonnam track.

The circuit was designed by (all together now&#8230 Hermann Tilke, who is not far off having a total monopoly on F1 track design.

The Jeonnam track is 5.4km long and has the usual Tilke mix of over-taking-friendly sharp hairpins plus a couple of quick corners. It’s not clear from the diagram if it has much in the way of gradient.

Here’s how the race organisers describe the circuit:

The most notable characteristic of the Jeonnam Circuit is the fact that it has been designed as two inter-changable tracks; the F1 track (5.6km) and the permanent track (3.04km).

During ordinary occasions, such as domestic automobile races or motorcycle races, the northern part of the circuit (3.045km, in the shape of a hat) will be used. But during international motor-sport events, such as the F1 Grand Prix, an elongated track (heading towards Yeongam Lake) will also be utilized, extending the total length to 5.6km. In the past, several circuits within the country have made short-courses by temporarily blocking certain track areas.

But the Jeonnam Circuit is the first course to actually be designed as a dual-structure from the beginning. The Motegi Twin Ring Circuit of Japan has also attempted to combine an “oval course” with a different “general course”, but the Jeonnam Circuit is the first track in the world to have combined 2 different F1-standard-sized courses.

Another characteristic of the Jeonnam Circuit is its racing direction: counterclockwise. Only 2 of the 17 circuits listed on the 2007 F1 Calender (Turkey and Brazil), have been designed in this manner. The Jeonnam Circuit would be the only counterclockwise track located in Asia. Since most drivers are used to clockwise-direction tracks, the Jeonnam Circuit will serve as a unique, but challenging, experience for the world’s best racers.

The Jeonnam Circuit also has two separate sets of pits and paddocks (a facility used for storing and inspecting race cars) for the general track and the F1 track, respectively. This is an unprecedented feature in the world. By having 2 different pit facilities, the Jeonnam Circuit is able to offer sufficient space for other “support races”, which are also held during the F1 Grand Prix period. In addition, the 2 pits will allow larger parking room for the F1 race cars.

The Jeonnam Circuit has combined all the strong points of other famous tracks, such as Monaco and Indianapolis. The marina section, which is located in the southern part of the F1 track, offers breathtaking views of the nearby ocean. The Jeonnam Circuit will become the first permanent track in the history of F1, to have the ocean in the background. Within the marina section, a radial-shaped town (closely resembling Monte Carlo of the Monaco Grand Prix) will be constructed. This region will be developed into the greatest motor-sports cluster of the East.

See more pictures of the complex on the official site.

*** Stolen from another forum.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/04/06/2010-south-korean-f1-track-shown-in-new-pictures-on-official-website/

 

North Korea?


Seriously, it looks good. Korea is about dead last on my list of countries to travel to, but the rendering looks a lot more interesting than e.g. Bahrain or China.

 

You read my mind Andreas!

 

Track looks nice. Looks like there are a decent amount of over taking possibilities. The problem with these tracks is their is no passion attached, just a slab of asphalt. Tilke makes great racing tracks, but they need to be more than that. Try and re-create a Spa or Monza or Monaco.

I was just reading up on him. Other than Monaco and Spa, essentially every track in the F1 calendar has had some work done by Tilke on it. We really need to be careful and make sure that F1 does not be completely Tilke-dominated because it will be like the same track over and over again each week.
Long straight, HAIRPIN, Long straight, Hairpin.

 

To me, every Tilke circuit sucks. Every one of them looks like each other. Other than Istanbul, Tilke's design is nonsense. I will never forgive him for destroying Hockenheim.

 

While I agree in principle with what you say, don't forget that he is "only" the architect. Architects work within parameters given to them, financially, designwise and space wise. The castration of the Hockenheim straights was done by the owners of the place because they needed the money from selling off the land. Why did they need the money? To feed the evil dwarf. Blame him.

Why do so many Tilke designed race tracks look the same with the same set of corners? Because that's the race organizers and the FIA's way to assure that the cars never get too dangerous in fast corners. The times of the glorious parabolica are over. Average speed are the rule, not because Tilke loves them so much, but because that's what his customers demand.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Tilke fan either, but he showed the world in Turkey what he is capable of if the customers give him ample space for turns and money to do elevation changes.

And last but not least: Tilke's pit building and grandstand designs are breathtaking. While the tracks look all alike he at least made sure that each one of them has a signature style pitlane and/or grandstand. In those designs you see that the man does have some imagination.

 

Ever been to Spa? Hello!!!!

That's assuming the race will take place before the Abu Dhabi GP next year. Since the calendar hasn't been defined yet, it is a bold statement. Personally I expect the Abu Dhabi race to happen before the Korean GP.


Just looked up the renderings on the Korean website and have to say the buildings/grandstands/pitlane look fairly generic. Hopefully that's only due to the early point in the timeline and not the final design. Otherwise my previous comment about North Korea suddenly becomes a bleek reality.

 

Unfortunately, in today's world, that's the pudding in the pie. Especially F1, where amenities are the priority. It's understandable why restrictions have been put into place, but they stopped designing tracks in conjunction with topography a long time ago, and that was a mistake.

 

Evil Dwarf

Yeap, i gotta admit he has some great grandstand designs. But still, it's not about the speed, but rather the 'feel' of the circuit. Spa is just awesome, so is Monza, and as much as i hate to admit it, Monaco. Bahrain...goodness boring as hell.

The older circuits just seem to have the 'flow' in them. Boring yes, but great to race on.

 

Part of why Bahrain is so boring, is the lack of any environment. It is the friggen desert. A pile of sand.

As far as flow goes, try the tracks on "F1 Championship Edition" for the PS3. You're quite right, that Shanghai and Bahrain are about the worst tracks when it comes to flow.

Also the hairpin turns at Hockenheim and Magny Cours (a Tilke TM) are horrible when it comes to driveability. Another horror is the first chicane in Monza after the s/f line. Close to undriveable.

 

I still play F1 2006 on my PS2. Is F1 2007 or 2008 out yet on PS3?

BTWs, Monza on F1 2006 is pretty mad. The kerbs are really tricky, and after blasting at 340 km/h at the main straight it really gets difficult at the 1st chicane. A time penalty is pretty common, especially after overtaking a car.

it's a pity F1 2006 doesn't have Spa. I have yet to 'drive' an F1 car at Spa. I only mastered the circuit thru Ferrari Challenge Game.

 

I can easily run through Monaco, Monza, Australia and most of Spa in my head, each lap is like an adventure.

For most of the Tilke tracks there are no features on the track so you lose focus of where the cars are and reminds me of NASCAR, going around and around.

Simple solution: Run the cars on the Nordschleife on the Nurburgring

 

Get yourself F1CE and play it before the race and you'll be so familiar with the track that you'll know instantly where the cars are. While boring, the Tilke tracks do have distinctive features.

That makes absolutely no sense: Because you can't memorize/visualize a track of 3 kilometers length you think it'll be easier if you replaced it with 14 km? Hello!

I have played the Nordschleife a lot and know it fairly well in my head, but there are still so many corners where I could only approximate the location on the track.

 

I've played my share of racing games and while driving at Bahrain and China and Mayalsia I get the feeling I am in a dessert or in the middle of nowhere. There is just asphalt and run off and grandstands. At Monza, I feel like I'm going somewhere on each lap which provides excitement. Monaco is great too.

I know the Tilke tracks okay, but they don't create any excitement when racing there so I almost always race at Monza or Spa or Imola or the Nordschleife.

That's just me being weird, maybe I just like trees.

 

My statement was a little confusing, what I meant to say is I get somewhat bored watching the Tilke tracks because it just seems like a repeat lap after lap. I watch F1 for excitement and even though the Tilke tracks improve over-taking, my favorite race is the one with the least overtaking Monaco.

I love the Nordschliefe since every corner is exciting and its adventure to just finish the lap.

 

It's not weird, I feel the same way too. There are no visual stimuli around the tracks, neither in the game nor IRL. In addition I find the Chinese track layout a total mess with their approach to mimick a Chinese letter.

Oddly enough one of my fav tracks is Hungaroring: To me it has a wonderful flow and it does feel like a simple gokart track.

 

Tilke can be blamed for a lot of things, but his track layouts provide for a lot of action. I rather take a boring Tilke track with a load of overtaking than watch a parade at a traditional "natural" track like Hungary...