http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/10/video-first-f1-onboard-laps-of-yas-marina-circuit-abu-dhabi/
Ho hum. Another track out in the featureless desert that looks like it was built on a giant parking lot.
Typical Tilke with just one or two fast corners. The big question is when Alguersuari or Grosjean crash in the tunnel kink leaving the pits on lap 2 or three what do they have down there to instantly remove a car with broken suspension to avoid a major traffic jam like some of the Monaco Loews hairpin crashes we have in the past seen blocking the entire track: a camel? What if another car that has to stop there waiting for the stricken car to be removed stalls? Have been concerned about that since they started talking about this tunnel and now that I see it has much more of a kink in it the danger of that is very real. They have a small parking zone just outside the tunnel curve but can it contain a two truck and an F1 car? seems too tight for that. Just my two what do they call it over there...dirhams? best regards, Marc
Sam, it's quite clear Bruno Senna wasn't pushing hard, and he had a passenger on board. But with those F1 cars, it will be entirely different. Anyways, i think it's too early to tell if it'll be a great, or a good circuit. Or boring. I see a mix of Singapore slow corners, one particular corner that reminds me of Turn 8 at Turkey, and a but of Valencia style. That pit exit .... rather unique i would say.
We'll have to see it in full speed, this one was boring as hell. The track looks "clean and new" but not really exciting, and almost no spot to overtake.
+1 Also, it seems to me that the track could have had more crests and gradients to make it more interesting. The vast majority of it is as flat as a pancake. I want to see tough to handle gradients like the hill in the braking zone out the tunnel into the chicane in Monaco... like Eau Rouge at Spa or even going downhill into to Spa's Rivage... far too many of the modern circuits are just flat. If F1 is to be exciting, we need to try to give the drivers a challenge with compression into dips and loss of traction over crests to really set apart the best F1 drivers from the average pack. It's like Tilke has never heard the word 'gradient'. All the best, Andrew.
Boring - a go-kart track in a sandbox. Stark, sterile also come to mind - not impressed. Pit out looks like a parking garage exit. Carol
Is that REALLY pit out? My God, I thought that was some sort of path to get from an off-track garage area. That is going to be a disaster...and I have to imagine bogey times in the pit lane would have to be pretty high (even if this video is at slow speed.)
God, where are the tracks like Spa? The facilities at this new place look great, but what a yawner of a track. Feff
The pit out is definitely 'interesting' but what I like about it is how it blends into the track. Cars exiting the pits will be on the outside of the corner and hopefully out of the way of faster traffic.
We do have a couple of tracks in the US that would be very exciting(Road America, Leguna Seca) Suitable tracks not being in existence is not the issue. The issue is who has the money to pay for F1 one to grace them with its presence. Mark
+1 on the "bizarre" pit exit - Sure looks like a one stopper..... But, as Brian said, I think it's really too early to say what it'll be like "in action". I'm at least prepared to keep an open mind - Sure, it's no Spa or Monza, and it's another architectural "masterpiece" from Tilke, but maybe he's learning...... Incidentally, this was JA's response to someone who said "flat and boring": Let's give it a chance? My 02c, Cheers, Ian
That's fair, it will be interesting to see in the context of a Grand Prix. Watching the video again, I could certainly see an elevation change from the s/f to turn 3, but the 18 meters appears to be calculated from the lower pit area, not the actual s/f line. In terms of overtaking, I suspect that there will be a few places that will lend themselves to good opportunities (just guessing but going into turns 8 and 9 and the 11, 12, 13 complex look like promising areas.) One things for sure, it is unique and should look very cool during dusk.
We should all stop crying over elevation changes. Its a dessert! what do you expect? 2-4 and 15-17 will bee fun to watch at speed in an F1 car. 11-13 are totally useless. Just put a kink the back straight and tighten the approach to what is now 14 and call it 12. I dont agree with the Tilke belief that a really slow chicane before a long straight will create a passing opportunity at the end of the straight. There seem to be several unused chicanes that could create more flow. And that pit out is an accident waiting to happen. On cold tires and a dusty track going into a tunnel. I bet someone will be sideways and stalled with a missing wheel and no way for the crane to reach you. Just move the pitts to the other side of the straight and the will have improved pit in too.
For as much as event organisers charge for F1 events and as much as it pulls in from sponsorship and TV viewing, I expect them to move dirt around to build elevation changes. Yep... that's a certain disaster. All the best, Andrew.
Ermm fair point. Seems a fruitless exercise, as interesting as it is, it makes me wonder why it was done like this. I'm not knocking the track till I have seen a race on it.
I enjoyed watching the video.... Thankfully, we have another race in the Middle East -- now if we could only get another one in Asia!
