Valencia

[cameraman]

25 turns?
Racing around and through shipyards?

This is going to be different:eek:

[Gnam]

Link to Track map and video around virtual track: http://www.valenciastreetcircuit.com/map.html

3.4 miles long, and some of those turns are just kinks. Similar to Melbourne I'd think.

[cameraman]

My oh my, 26 very large grandstands with ticket prices between 195 and 480 Euros.

Bernie must be in heaven.

[RusH]

I did the real lap on the site. Three times.

You ain`t fooling me, that`s a Champ Car race....aMplIFied :gomer:

http://www.valenciastreetcircuit.com/video-real-lap-valencia-street-circuit-gp-europa-f1-youtube.html

[Insomniac]

That looks like the kind of track you'd see in a video game.

[diamond dave]

smashing:thumbup:

[Michaelhatesfans]

I did the real lap on the site. Three times.

You ain`t fooling me, that`s a Champ Car race....aMplIFied :gomer:

http://www.valenciastreetcircuit.com/video-real-lap-valencia-street-circuit-gp-europa-f1-youtube.html


It's a longer version of Belle Isle.:thumdown:

[cameraman]

It's a longer version of Belle Isle.:thumdown:

Oh please:rolleyes: Show me the large asphalt run off areas or the 200 mph straights or any part of the track at Belle Isle that is that wide.

Take at look at the GT race on the track a week or so ago

http://www.wikio.co.uk/video/350444

P29gbyKKx5Q

I just hope Bernie's camera locations, crews & director are a lot better.

[Michaelhatesfans]

It's wider, but put the F1 cars on there at speed and suddenly your runoff won't be so impressive. Anyway, I was referring more to the character of the place, which was perhaps unfair. With that in mind, I should have compared it to Phoenix.

Sorry, but the place does nothing for me. F1 was always my refuge away from concrete and catch fencing. Maybe it will produce the best F1 race since Dijon 79, but I just think it's completely lacking in character or soul.

[opinionated ow]

The only way this will be anything other than bloody awful is if it rains....:irked:

[Methanolandbrats]

Yuck. What a POS track. Runoff? All I see is blind corners and many of the corners use a wall for an apex. :yuck: MHF is right, it does have a hideous, Phoenix like quality to it.

[Accipiter]

Here's another in-car lap from an F3.

LAzqDuWNa2M

Looks like crap to me.

[High Sided]

smashing:thumbup:

:thumbup:

[Methanolandbrats]

Here's another in-car lap from an F3.

LAzqDuWNa2M

Looks like crap to me. I hope they budgeted for many, many cranes.

[Gnam]

Montreal is pretty tight and it puts on a good race. However, the Valencia circuit was designed by Tilke, so it's already handicapped. Bernie should use Champ Car's "Taking it to the streets" slogan and have the winner lay down some donuts on his victory lap. :p

[Michaelhatesfans]

Montreal is pretty tight and it puts on a good race. However, the Valencia circuit was designed by Tilke, so it's already handicapped.

But at least at Montreal you can see some grass and/or trees every now and then, and you don't get claustrophobia from watching the onboard shots.

I watch those onboard shots from Valencia and I keep waiting for Darth Vader and his wingmen to slot in behind.

[nissan gtp]

looks like crap from the incar, a race in an industrial park. no trees, just warehouses

hopefully it will look nicer from the race feed

that bridge looks real narrow, and the right hander at the end it tiiiight. I predict carnage there

[TrueBrit]

smashing:thumbup:

I agree 100%


That looks like that could be fun!

[rabbit]

Don't make me bust out 'bird's classic Street Circuit Manifesto post! :thumbup:

[ilferrari]

The circuit is a throwback to all the mediocre street circuits of the 80s and early 90s. Eccletard and Tilke have really outdone themselves.

[Lux Interior]

This race only happened due to alonso winning the championship. He's not going to now so I predict this will be a one off.

Course looks boring.

[cameraman]

He's not going to now so I predict this will be a one off.

It is sold out. Not IRL sold out, really sold out.

[mueber]

It is sold out. Not IRL sold out, really sold out.

...and that's what matters most.

[cameraman]

To Bernie, it is the only thing that matters.

[SteveH]

I am really looking forward to this race. Should be fun to watch.

[Wheel-Nut]

Watching practice this morning the track looks nice and wide and smooth.

[Andrew Longman]

There are very some nice corners.

I just wish it was a bit more picturesque and had more elevation changes. The bridge is cool, but the tunnel in LV was more fun.

Doesn't look to be many viewing areas outside the grandstands either.

Will make for a good race though I think

[Methanolandbrats]

Seems a bit on the dangerous side since you're always turning and there is zero visibility on some very fast corners. I sure hope nobody spins and is sitting sideways on the track :eek:

[Robstar]

Hopefully enough length in the track that it shouldn't be too hard to see before it gets too close...

[NismoZ]

So, Massa is the #2 guy?:confused:...:thumbup:

[SteveH]

There are very some nice corners.

I just wish it was a bit more picturesque and had more elevation changes. The bridge is cool, but the tunnel in LV was more fun.

Doesn't look to be many viewing areas outside the grandstands either.

Will make for a good race though I think


Yeah, I like this track. It's a bit more industrial that I imagined. But the racing should be good. Or I hope.

[opinionated ow]

Watching practice this morning the track looks nice and wide and smooth.

Surfers looks wide on TV too. It isn't.

[oddlycalm]

After watching both the GP2 race and the F1 race I'd have to say that the track itself is fine. Attrition from crashes was low in both races and none of it was due to the track. Bourdais commented that the track was nothing like street races in the US as the surface was excellent, runoff zones were generous and the track was very fast.

Very little overtaking in the F1 race though. If not for the Ferrari incidents it would have been a complete snore. The crowd was clearly not an F1 crowd, it was an Alonso crowd.

oc

[opinionated ow]

After watching both the GP2 race and the F1 race I'd have to say that the track itself is fine. Attrition from crashes was low in both races and none of it was due to the track. Bourdais commented that the track was nothing like street races in the US as the surface was excellent, runoff zones were generous and the track was very fast.

Very little overtaking in the F1 race though. If not for the Ferrari incidents it would have been a complete snore. The crowd was clearly not an F1 crowd, it was an Alonso crowd.

oc
To their credit they did hang around.

[Methanolandbrats]

Kimi's career is over..............he's gonna get fired. Bob did a fine job. Nice track if ya like parades. The Scuderia is a mess.

[trish]

I still can't believe they hired Kimi to begin with. It never seemed like a good fit to me.

[Lux Interior]

I think Kimi just made a mistake. I think he still wants one more championship before hanging it up.

[Methanolandbrats]

I think Kimi just made a mistake. I think he still wants one more championship before hanging it up. I don't think it will be up to him when he "hangs it up".

[indyfan31]

I still can't believe they hired Kimi to begin with. It never seemed like a good fit to me.

Yeah, I'm sure Ferrari is regretting all of 2007: hiring Raikkonen, the WDC, the Constructor's Championship, not consulting with Methanolandbrats ... :rolleyes:

[Lux Interior]

Kimi is a typical Finn. I still suspect that he will be in demand, unlike Montoya who was running into Kimi in his last days at McLaren.

I say he will leave on his own terms. :thumbup:

[Methanolandbrats]

Yeah, I'm sure Ferrari is regretting all of 2007: hiring Raikkonen, the WDC, the Constructor's Championship, not consulting with Methanolandbrats ... :rolleyes: You'd miss the point if it sat on your face. I WAS a huge Kimi fan, he's lost it and his teammate is thrashing him. Ferrari is a mess and they will be making changes.

[Chaos]

Alonso?

[indyfan31]

You'd miss the point if it sat on your face. I WAS a huge Kimi fan, he's lost it and his teammate is thrashing him. Ferrari is a mess and they will be making changes.

And you're talking out of the wrong orifice. I don't recall Massa getting fired for sliding off the track at every other turn earlier in the season.

[mueber]

I rather enjoyed the race.

The track’s better than I thought, and everyone drove professionally, thereby avoiding massive carbon fiber debris fields. Good work on all counts.

[JohnHKart]

I enjoyed that track alot too... Something cool has happened since I started driving karts again a year ago...I'm enjoying every race, every lap no matter what it is, even when it's "boring" like this race and cup @ Michigan.

[indyfan31]

I rather enjoyed the race.

The track’s better than I thought, and everyone drove professionally, thereby avoiding massive carbon fiber debris fields. Good work on all counts.

It was actually fun to watch, the track is fast, my only complaint is the very last turn which I think slows them down too much before the front straight.

[Michaelhatesfans]

Not to take away from various orifices and sitting on one another's faces, because normally I'd encourage that sort of thing, as you know...:cool:

But was I just tired, or is Ferrari not using a lollipop on their pit stops? Kimi took the blame for it, but I thought it was odd that there wasn't a lollipop (at least not one that I saw on the video?).

[cameraman]

They have some new fangled lighted version of the lollipop. It has three lights on it, the driver is supposed to go when the third light goes on, Kimi when when the second light lit. Oooops.

[Michaelhatesfans]

Thanks, didn't see it. I didn't think that they were just relying on the radio.

[Insomniac]

Watched the race. It's a nice track, but they either need more equal cars or more cars on that track. Very little passing. Might've been helpful to have some CART style FCYs. :gomer:

[cameraman]

Nah just invert the grid but don't tell them that you are going to do it until after the quals:D

[Insomniac]

Nah just invert the grid but don't tell them that you are going to do it until after the quals:D

Or go back to single car and have them qualify in order they are in in the driver's championship. :)

[indyfan31]

Kimi's career is over..............he's gonna get fired.

Ferrari keep Raikkonen until 2010 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7612545.stm)