Valencia - the track

[Rob W]

I haven't seen much discussion about the layout of the track at Valencia so thought I'd post these pics of the layout with a bit of info.

Any ideas as to who this will suit? Looks like it'll be interesting from a Tv point of view with the bridge etc. A new Monaco perhaps?

Overview


And in detail with lap distance and predicted speeds:
Part 1:


Part 2:


See it here also on Google maps

[Steven]

Well.. no one seems to be impressed, but I look absolutely forward to this grand prix. It is likely to be very nice, sharp corners and beautifully aligned to the port. And as you said, I think that bridge passing will be impressive. In fact they are currently still building that bridge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gpeuropa/2150778243/

[Belatti]

It seems to be a very nice circuit.
I just dont like that there are countries with 2 GP a year and others that has the nearest GP 1500KM away.

Bernie could quit Catalunya (always boring races like Imola was, thanks God its over) and bring back another GP to south or central america (mmm... better south, cause there are not good circuits in Mexico.. jeje) definitively should be the old B.A. circuit number 15 (raced till 1981) with a couple of curves that only Eau Rouge or R130 would match.

http://www.autodromoba.com.ar/index.php ... Itemid=160

[Principessa]

http://www.f1technical.net/news/8033

I can understand your frustration Belatti, but Bernie just follows the trend. The European GP was held in Germany when Schumacher was on top of his game, now the GP moves to Spain for Alonso and I believe that in a year or 4, the GP will move to Finland !

[vyselegend]

It seems to be a nice track, although to make it a urban circuit on a mediteranean port reflects some lack of inspiration, don't you think? It's a bit of a Monaco copy / paste.

But I'm looking forward to it, maybe it will look totally different once there. Also, on a personal note, it's one of the GPs that are reachable from my location (within a + or - 1000 km radius.)

I'm a bit skeptical over the map's speed figures. How did they evaluate thoses?
It shows a speed trap of 323 km/h. Last years High speed tracks speed traps were:

Silverstone: 304
Bahrein: 313
Gilles Villeneuve: 327
Monza: 351

So 323 seems a tad ambitious to me...

[modbaraban]

So 323 seems a tad ambitious to me...

Fair enough, but...
anyways this looks nothing like Monaco.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-SlCa52UVs[/youtube]

[Principessa]

I think it will be a great circuit. Tomba and I are normally going on holiday to Valencia in July so we can go and watch it for ourselves. It should be nearly finished by than anyway!

I also think it doesn't look like Monaco at all. It will never have the glamour and glitter that Monaco has. And the streets aren't as narrow as at Monaco, this is a major difference in my opinion.

Thx for the video btw Modbaraban

[checkered]

I'm sure it'll

be a nice track, with the surroundings and all (Calatrava, the sea, the old city). Personally, would've given it a year or two more planning time, further study might've made it even nicer. But then again the Valencia track project pales in comparison to the truly massive urban (re)development programs undertaken in Spain during the last decades. Those have been realised with very tight schedules, too.

The bit that concerns me slightly is the bridge. In the 3D visualisation it appears with an undulating main supporting structure with some sort of diagonals attached, apparently providing rigidity, both on the sides and overhead, too. There's also armco on both sides. Such a location could be quite windy. Perhaps a cursory aerodynamical study of the structure might be prudent (if it hasn't been done already), even if it appears to be in a braking i.e. "slow" zone. Though that raises questions about the potential for someone rearending another car in the area where there are overhead structures - but to be fair, that sort of thing is to be found elsewhere, too.

As I understand it, the bridge itself is a moveable structure (allowing boats access to the marina), so there's bound to be a small discontinuity in the mechanical grip as well at those points.

[WhiteBlue]

after todays news of a test race here a bit of documentation



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1EEHTGvwGk[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdagOjuX ... re=related[/youtube]

it looks quite exciting compared to Barcelona or an oval
I wonder how the races will work out.
two bridges look really interesting for the scenery. how will they influence racing? wind?

[Scotracer]

It seems to be a nice track, although to make it a urban circuit on a mediteranean port reflects some lack of inspiration, don't you think? It's a bit of a Monaco copy / paste.

But I'm looking forward to it, maybe it will look totally different once there. Also, on a personal note, it's one of the GPs that are reachable from my location (within a + or - 1000 km radius.)

I'm a bit skeptical over the map's speed figures. How did they evaluate thoses?
It shows a speed trap of 323 km/h. Last years High speed tracks speed traps were:

Silverstone: 304
Bahrein: 313
Gilles Villeneuve: 327
Monza: 351

So 323 seems a tad ambitious to me...

Well 323km/h is the same top speed as Turkey...and the track has a similar sort of look to it.

[Conceptual]

Im very interested to see if there is an rFactor track built yet for valencia. That sim looked pretty cool, but obviously driven by a computer...

Chris

[Scotracer]

Im very interested to see if there is an rFactor track built yet for valencia. That sim looked pretty cool, but obviously driven by a computer...

Chris

http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cf ... cia%202008

Coming soon!

[timbo]

I'm quite conserned about the safety on the bridge section. I think it's quite dangerous if car gets airborne, it may contact that structure.