Original Race Tracks vs Current Layouts

"Rainbow" (rainbeaux) 10/10/2014 at 12:43 • Filed to: None

3

21

Show me some of the original layouts of famous race tracks! Here are two to get you started:

Road Atlanta, as you can see, originally didn't have its famous turn 10 chicane. That was added later due to safety concerns related to the relatively sharp turn at the top of the hill coming directly after a massive straightaway, and being under a bridge nonetheless, so there was absolutely no runoff before hitting a solid concrete wall. It was just a recipe for disaster, so they needed to slow everyone down.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, likewise, had a dangerously fast corner just past the start/finish line. It was even more daunting than the Corkscrew for many drivers, and as such, a new section was added.

What other tracks have been changed, either in the name of safety or for any other reason?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:47

0

Lime Rock

Sweet Trav > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:47

1

Silverstone has gone through some changes, cant find graphics though.

Rainbow > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 12:50

0

Wait, did they get rid of half of the track?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:51

0

Yeah, it ran up into the mountains.

nermal > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:54

2

Summit Point Jefferson just got a new addition this year - Starting @ T4 on the map:

Rainbow > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 12:55

0

Huh. That's pretty neat. So is the original track still up there, just falling apart?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:58

0

Kinda

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 12:59

1

I hope so. I live pretty close to Limerock. I'm going to go trespassing... er, I mean, on a legal exploration.

Rainbow > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) 10/10/2014 at 13:06

0

Heheh, one of my biggest hobbies is exploring abandoned places. Just bring a camera, and if anyone confronts you (which will not happen. Seriously, people never seem to care.) just tell them you're a photographer and you'll get a warning at the very worst. It's surprising how little police and property owners care about trespassing.

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 13:18

0

A couple of friends and I used to do that all the time. My favorite was an abandoned "insane asylum" (it was old enough that it was actually called an insane asylum). We were there for a while, and when we came out there was a cop hanging out, drinking his coffee, parked next to our cars. He asked us what we were doing super casually, and my friend who had brought his camera said we just wanted to take some pictures. The cops reaction was just an "Okay. Hope you got some good shots" and he got back in his car. No biggie. I was super surprised.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 13:18

0

Yowza. I had no idea.

Rainbow > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) 10/10/2014 at 13:24

0

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. The only time I ever encountered a cop, I was climbing out of the window of a warehouse and he just told me to move my car. (I was apparently blocking the trail out to some power lines.) Not even one comment on the whole trespassing thing.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 13:24

0

Looks more like it ran into the infield.

burntartichoke > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 13:29

1

I've got pictures of cars that took the old turn two at Laguna Seca too fast and rolled, I'll have to dig those up when I get home.

tromoly > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 15:17

0

They never built the Mountain extension, they cleared the path for it but never paved it.

tromoly > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 15:17

0

They never built the Mountain extension, they cleared the path for it but never paved it.

tromoly > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 15:21

0

Mid Ohio.

Old:

Current:

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 10/10/2014 at 15:23

0

Nope

tromoly > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 15:24

0

Sebring.

Old:

Current:

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/10/2014 at 15:56

0

What you have there, is a very cleaver piece of digital urban legend. The track has always been its 1.5 mile layout. The layout you describe is a proposed but never built ~3 mile version. Here is some copy from Race Department's Historic Gran Prix website. The track was built by Frank Vaill with the help of John Fitch (one of my personal heroes...)

Lime Rock is situated in North West Connecticut, near the state lines to the West with New York, and to the North with Massachusetts. It is built on an old gravel pit and farmland owned by local farmer Frank Vaill. The history goes that his son, Jim, got an aerial photo of the property and drew the layout on in white paint, saying that 'You could tell just by looking at the photo where the track would have to go…It was dictated by the terrain.' One of the oldest motor racing venues in America, it opened in 1957 with Jim's original 1.53mi/2.46km, 7 turn layout, but the RDHGP will be driving the proposed - but never built – 2.93mi/4.72km Mountain Circuit.

If it was ever built, it would look like this...

Dusty Ventures > Rainbow 10/10/2014 at 17:02

1

Old Monza:

Current Monza:

Bonus, drivers showing how steep the banking on the old Monza circuit was: