British Grand Prix 2010

[RickD]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leic ... 499078.stm

Surely they need to concentrate on the track first?!?

 

[teabagyokel]

This is the track used in 1993...

Can they use the infield on their own land without planning permission?

Alternatively, the Old Hairpin could be straightlined and the new track rejoin at McLeans?

I don't see why we should change the track to be fair, I mean an F1 track seems to be worthless nowadays unless the lap time is somewhere between 1m15 and 1m40...

2008 pole position times-

AUS - LH - 1m26
MAL - FM - 1m35
BHR - RK - 1m33
ESP - KR - 1m21
TUR - FM - 1m27
MCO - FM - 1m15
CAN - LH - 1m17
FRA - KR - 1m16
GBR - HK - 1m21
GER - LH - 1m15

Nurburgring - 1976 - OLDER - 7m06 (JH)
2001 - OLD - 1m14 (MS)
2002 - NEW - 1m29 (JPM)

It seems that (with the exception of Spa) if a track is to be in F1 it has to have a certain lap time. I would prefer that each track was more significantly different, and that tracks that did not meet this profile were not dropped (Austria - 2003 - MS - 1m09) or butchered (Germany - 2001 - JPM - 1m38). Even the biggest time on the grid - Spa - has been reduced from a 3m28 lap (JYS - 1970) to a 1m45 (KR - 2007) and that is not all explained in the differences in cars...

I can see why you'd shorten a lap, but I can't understand why you'd lengthen one...

Can someone smarter than me explain, please?

 

[Galahad]

Phew! Let me have a go.

Using your very helpful map, the plan for the circuit is as follows:

1) New pits and paddock complex to be built on the inside of Starkeys Straight
2) The Esses will be bypassed, creating one long curved straight from Coppice down to the Melbourne Hairpin
3) Coming out of the Melbourne hairpin, instead of turning left at Goddards to join the current start-finish straight, the track will go straight on for a short distance, past where the current Esses are, then will curve around to the left in a long gentle curve back to rejoin the Wheatcroft Straight roughly where Goddards is now - essentially a short infield loop.

Mercifully the section from Redgate to Coppice will remain unchanged.

As for the length issue, the only criterion from the FIA is that it must be 4km at least, which the current Donington only just manages. Why would you lengthen it? Well, traffic is an issue on short circuits, particularly in qualifying, blocking becomes a severe problem, as well as cars being repeatedly lapped during the race. The current F1 cars could lap Donington in about 1m06 or 1m07, which is a pretty short time really.

I do agree with you about the lack of variety in circuit length in F1 now though. The big old road courses were too difficult to marshal effectively, problematic for TV and often a bit dangerous, hence the old Nurburgring, Spa and Hockenheim have all been shortened.

 

[Brogan]

2) The Esses will be bypassed, creating one long curved straight from Coppice down to the Melbourne Hairpin

That's a relief.

I was looking at the map and thinking there's no really long straight.
As it is, there'll now be a very high speed section going straight into Melbourne which should provide for some overtaking opportunities.

 

[Galahad]

Indeed so Brogan. Coppice will be a very quick corner in an F1 car, so the cars will be doing pretty high speeds by the time they get to the (downhill, bumpy) braking zone for Melbourne.

Plenty of action there, one imagines.

 

[teabagyokel]

I'm not sure the old Hockenheim was too much of a problem... it was about as dangerous as, say, Monza...

I see what you mean about stewarding, but I think that one long track might spice up qualifying...! (Imagine qualifying at old Nurburgring with today's quali format!)

 

[Galahad]

I think the final straw for the old Hockenheim was the protestor getting on to the track in 2000.

The organisers realised the difficulty of having to actively steward the fans, as well as the cars, around a track of that length and with relatively open access.

It's such a shame when idiots spoil things for everyone else.

 

[cider_and_toast]

You can never legislate for the determination of idiots. Remember that bloke at Silverstone and I think he was the same guy that grabbed the Mararthon runner at the olympics.

It's always the way that the stupidity of one spoils the enjoyment for everyone.

My great regret is that in shortening Hockenheim cars now no longer pass the spot where Jim Clark was killed. That part of the track is now just an anonomous strech of road as apposed to being a race track.

 

[teabagyokel]

He was the same guy who grabbed the Marathon runner at the 2004 Olympic Games.

He's an Irish priest, named Cornelius Horan, who is protesting against sports taking place on a Sunday. The Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima was given the Pierre de Couterbain award for sportsmanship in addition to his Olympic bronze.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2004_Summer_Olympics_-_Men's_marathon

He was also caught before invading the 2004 Epsom Derby. He was also caught by the Germans at the 2006 World Cup before a pro-Hitler protest...

He predicts the end of the world!

Lets hope we won't be seeing that pillock ever again at a top sporting event.

I love the story of the people who went to the bookies and backed the end of the world to happen at a range of ridiculous odds! Even if it does, boys...

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

Phew! Let me have a go.

Using your very helpful map, the plan for the circuit is as follows:

1) New pits and paddock complex to be built on the inside of Starkeys Straight
2) The Esses will be bypassed, creating one long curved straight from Coppice down to the Melbourne Hairpin
3) Coming out of the Melbourne hairpin, instead of turning left at Goddards to join the current start-finish straight, the track will go straight on for a short distance, past where the current Esses are, then will curve around to the left in a long gentle curve back to rejoin the Wheatcroft Straight roughly where Goddards is now - essentially a short infield loop.

Mercifully the section from Redgate to Coppice will remain unchanged.

GM's right there, there was a good pic of how it would look in the BBC but it has dissaperead.

 

[Speshal]

Phew! Let me have a go.

Using your very helpful map, the plan for the circuit is as follows:

1) New pits and paddock complex to be built on the inside of Starkeys Straight
2) The Esses will be bypassed, creating one long curved straight from Coppice down to the Melbourne Hairpin
3) Coming out of the Melbourne hairpin, instead of turning left at Goddards to join the current start-finish straight, the track will go straight on for a short distance, past where the current Esses are, then will curve around to the left in a long gentle curve back to rejoin the Wheatcroft Straight roughly where Goddards is now - essentially a short infield loop.

Mercifully the section from Redgate to Coppice will remain unchanged.

GM's right there, there was a good pic of how it would look in the BBC but it has dissaperead.

Do you want to see?

Do you? Do you reeeeeaaaaaly?

Guess who's designed it?????

Yes it's that nice Herr Tilke

http://www.donington-park.co.uk/files/p ... r_plan.pdf

 

[veravista]

It would be brilliant if Donnington could hold it, but it won't, I just can't see how.
a) No, it hasn't got planning permission and this is more difficult for them because parts of the circuit are in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and so there is a bit of a conflict there.
b) They will also have millions of complaints from affluent Castle Donnington which is just down the road. They are very influential and committed to 'saving' their village.
c) They will need direct access to the M1 no access from the M42 southbound and because the main road runs past E. Mids airport and they can't effectively shut that down for 3 or 4 days. At the moment it takes several hours to clear the bikes at the Moto GP - be worse with double the cars! The Highways Agency have also said that no new junctions will be built on that section of the M1.

I could go on but I'm off for a beer!