Valencia urban circuit pictures

[Principessa]

Hi there, i would just like to know..
from the photos i have looked at, it seems that from the grand stands,
one can only see the track through the horrible fencing that has been put up.
i know it is necessary, but surely it can ruin the viewing of the race for the spectators??

Well yes, the fences are quite annoying, but it's the same at Albert Park. We believe the grand stand that they were building up near the bridge will be the best to sit. You can see the cars coming from the bridge and take the straight line that follows. When we were there, during the races, there were only 3 grandstands open. The rest is still being build.

About your comments that there are no buildings and no reference points, that's not the case in my opinion. There are quite some beautiful harbour buildings around the circuit. I'm looking forward to this one. I don't understand the negativity of you all.

[Steven]

I hate to be so negative here but... I watched that recent GTS race and when I tuned in I though it's St Petersbough street circuit (USA) or something like that - i.e. typical American street course. The track is completely flat and boxed, all you see on the TV screen is concrete and tarmac 90% of the time. Yuck! The reason I hate Sakhir is not the layout, but its dull and monotonous landsape (desert in that case). It's the same with Valencia. I expected to see some nice buildings around, but it seemed the track is in the middle of nowhere.

Also the track is quite fast and tight. Most of the overtaking attempts ended in crashes or at least some minor contact. I guess it may turn out to be more dangerous than Monte Carlo for the F1 cars.

I'm not sure if it's that fast, but slowness isn't a good thing though. Monaco is a disaster for overtaking, partly because there are no serious straight lines. At least there are a couple at Valencia, sometimes with nice corners at the ends.

Obviously I'm not sure how it might look on TV, but to me it's a nice setup. If anyone was expecting a race in the middle of the streets, then you must go back to the 50's to see that scenery.
For current F1 standards, an urban circuit is already dangerous, so fences are put up everywhere. I'd rather have a fence that holds the tyres instead of having it fly on my head when I'm in the grandstands

Btw, at Spa, the track is surrounded with fences too, so if you want to take pictures you just have to know there the good seats are. I would recommend every view on a slower corner as you can see the cars coming over the fence then.

[ziilman]

Principessa, im not trying to be negative... in fact im am trying to find all the positives about this track. I am going to the race and have been following the progress and construction since it started. I am so excited for this race. Ill be sitting on grandstand T18 at turn 12, at the end of the long straight after the bridge. Ive been told it will be one of the best grandstands at the track. Whats your opinion on this? Also, do you know if it is possible to see the final turn and the pit lane from this grandstand? it looks that way from the circuit map.

[Principessa]

Well, I believe that you have picked one of the best grandstands as you will see the cars slowing down to enter the little chicane. That part of the circuit was closed when we were there, but we saw them building up your grandstand while we were sailing out of the harbour. I believe that T12 and T19 will be a nice grandstand to be seated as well, T8 and T5 as well. The grandstands at the long straights are no good in my opinion as you will just see them flashing by true the fences. We were at T7 during the races last weekend and you couldn't see a lot.

[Saribro]

About your comments that there are no buildings and no reference points, that's not the case in my opinion. ... I don't understand the negativity of you all.

On TV, you don't get the see any buildings or reference points, just grey track, white blocks and silver fences. It may be better when you're actually in the stands, but most spectators will be TV-viewers.

[Principessa]

I'm sure the more professional camera people from F1 will make a nice race of it. You can't compare F3 with F1 in my eyes.

[Principessa]

Might be a strange question, but I've just thought of it. A circuit that has never been raced on by F1, do the teams have that circuit already in their simulator? Can they already test out the circuit in a realistic way in the simulator without having the proper data?

[vyselegend]

It is funny you ask this, Fernando gave a rather targetted answear in this interview:

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... /8193.html

Q: Are you looking forward to Valencia and how do you prepare for it?
FA: I am really looking forward to Valencia, and I think we all are! It is Spain, it is summer, so we will all enjoy and it will be a big party time for Formula One. In terms of preparation I watched some videos from Formula Three and what I have seen is that the circuit seems to be very well prepared, even though there is still some work to do before Formula One arrives. But it’s not like a normal street course. It seems very wide, more like an American type of street circuit. Unfortunately we do not have any simulator with the ability of simulating this kind of course. Luckily I had a friend at the Formula Three race in Valencia who did a lap in a normal road car with a camera. But unless you run with a Formula One car, most of the things are useless. For Valencia we need to maximize the Friday practice when we arrive there, as this is the only way to improve.

Btw, thanks for sharing the pics and your impressions, I hope you two had some good time there.

[Principessa]

Well thanks for the answer.

Fernando said that they will enjoy 'summer' in Valencia. I think they will be sweating like pigs. It will be at least 38°C in Valencia, so horribly hot in the car.

[modbaraban]

Perhaps someone can pass this link to the poor Fernando.

http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cf ... %20Circuit

[Principessa]

Mmmm, doesn't this only count for a videogame?

[Steven]

Actually, I read in Diario AS that Ferrari are using telemetry from the Ferrari Corse GT team to try and learn at least a little bit of the circuit before heading there

[Scotracer]

Yes but rFactor is a simulations that pretty accurately models F1 so it would be of some use to at least get to learn the layout of the track. It took me about 50 laps to get used to it - it's not the easiest to learn.

[modbaraban]

Tune to MotorsTV right now to see the replay of a GT race at Valencia!

[jddh1]

looking at that circuit map and the prices, wow, seems a bit steep for me. Well, compared to Canada and Indy at least.