Club Arnage

dottore you seem to have been to a lot of circuits.which is your best.plans are afoot .brownie point to blow.anyone else?
ps cant afford u.s.

Easy - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, well its in my top 5.

oh yes, thats excluding USA/Canada/Oz and Gibraltar

would it not be easier to do a top 5 circuits and do a list from that?

I loved the old Donny circuit - not sure how much has changed since the F1 fiasco tho.

Never been to Spa, but its on my list!

F

There can be only one...

(http://www.classic50racingclub.co.uk/Charlie%20Mates/Secondary%20Pics/nurburgring67.jpg)

Can't argue with anybody so far - I'd put all three on my list even though I've never seen the Nordschleife raced on in anger.  Spa would be top of my list too, Neil, plus Oulton Park in the 60s - like so many circuits it's been emasculated over time.  Then of course, LM would have to be in my top five as it's my home and even if it has had some of the character knocked out of it - for sheer length and atmosphere it remains among the best.  Nothing on earth like being out at Mulsanne on a warm June night. :)

The Nordschleife has always struck me as being the Frankenstein's Monster of racetracks, lurking like a coiled snake in the depths of the Eifel mountains to strike at the unwary and disrespectful.

Speaking of Spa, that reminds me of some old sportscar footage of Spa in 1970 (I think) which shows Pedro Rodriguez and Jo Siffert trading paintwork in a tankslapper while going through Eau Rouge of all places. Which sounds a wee bit dicey to put it mildly. I'll go on Youtube and see if I can find it.

Here we are. Watch the early part and see how Siffert and Rodriguez cannon off each other going through Eau Rouge. Scary stuff, IMHO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uVZDq8L95I

I'm sure it's not known as Grüne Hölle for nothing!  I have been when there was no racing on but it's still impressive.

Those were the days, eh?  Glad to say I was around to see those guys at the time - although not at Spa. :P

+ 1 for me :)

Well apart from the obvious....lthe ong term visited circuit in France, I have to go along with Deb and Neil with Spa.

This year I have been out twice and have been taken by both the track and the stunning views ann scenery around the track......for those who have not been, you must tick the box before you die.....in my case it nearly happened on my first climb up Eau Rouge ;D ;D

Apart from that another track worth visiting,particulary for the Spring meeting is Prescott Hill Climb......brilliant viewing and the paddock is in an apple orchard and usually the blossom is out when the meeting is on, very quaint and a fantastic array of old and new cars competeing as well!!!

Andy

I still love Brands Hatch.
Can't comment on the rest, I don't get out much.

spa so far then about10 hour for me.not out of the question.so which meeting does anyone recomend?heh wishey if you like prescot you better try shelsy walsh its an ace and is the oldest motorsport venue in continuous use.the local town Bromyard is twined with royston vasey.i like brands donnigton and imola best so far.i like to try a new circuit,new beer,new craich etc.worst place santa pod.a cross between banger racing and car boot sale.hope ive not offended anyone.

lofty,

I've been to quite a few hillclimb tracks over the years including Shelsey Walsh....a pal of mine competes in a few championships in the southern counties at clubmans level.

For sheer bonkers, all-out lethality you simply can't beat the notorious AVUS-Ring in Berlin, used both before and after the war for major events.

All they did was pit up two hugely banked, brick-lined corners and used two stretches of dual carriageway with closing speeds of maybe 250-300mph and nothing between the opposing cars but straw bales.

Epically insane, IMHO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVUS

My top 5 :

1. Nordschleife
Epic track, stunning scenery, wonderful atmosphere ... this one is truly unique !   I could write a book about this track, its location, its atmosphere, the crowd over there (apart from the eurotrash music) ... everything is amazing around there.   Just driving towards the 'Ring is something special every time; whether you take the Autobahn (floor it ! ;D) or the small roads through the Ardennes and the Eiffel (floor it too  ;D), it puts a giant smile on your face.  All the hotels 'round the track in the small towns and villages, dinner at Pistenklause (Sabine's hotel & restaurant), you won't find it anywhere else.  Just a shame the Lindner group wants to make a fun fair of it and is increasing the prices way too much.

The track itself is truly amazing : fast, very fast and slow parts with allmost no room for errors.  Only 2 gravel traps in 20 km, all the rest is 2 or 3 meters of grass and then the guardrails.  Describing the whole track would take me too far but some of the best places to watch a race are Hatzenbach near the entry to the Nordschleife where you see the cars sweeping through the corners, Flugplatz where you see them from the top of the hill, Adenauer Forst where you're sure to see a crash, Wipperman/Breidscheid the slowest part of the track, tho whole section from Klostertal up to Brünchenn 2, Pflanzgarten where they get 4 wheels off the ground, Schwalbenschwanz with the small Karrussel, T13 at the entry of the Nordschleife ...  I'm still finding new places after several years.  And the atmosphere during the 24h ... you've got to see it to beleive it.  Also with other races like VLN people are camping at Brünchenn, sitting around the track with bbq's and beer, shooting fireworks in the air ... you couldn't be bored over there.  Also the diffence in height on the track, you have to see it to believe it ! 

Guess I did +500 laps on the Grüne Hölle myself, and I've still got some sections where I'm not sure what line to take.  Best times were around 8.50 minutes (bridge to gantry), could be faster but at this moment it's fast enough.  Hope to increase the budget again next year and get the track-car back on the road, I need a Jahreskarte again  ;D.  Top parts to drive on are the section from Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz (full throttle), diving into Fuchsrohre (scary stuff) and the compression getting up onto Adenauer Forst; braking hard at Breidscheid up into Bergwerk where Lauda had his crash; the long fast sweeps at Kesselchen and Klostertal; diving into the Karrusel, fighting the balance of the car through Wipperman and Eschbach before getting into Brünchenn where there's even a massive crowd at the Touristenfahrten during the weekend; Pflanzgarten where you can get your 4 wheels completely loose from the ground (scary stuff again) ...  it never ends  ;D

2. Le Mans
No need to say something about this one I guess  ;D.

3. Francorchamps
Love the track, but not anymore in it's new layout.  I'd rather have it like it was about 10 years ago ... entry at Eau Rouge was much tighter and not that easy to take flat out, gravel traps at most corners instead of an ocean of asfalt like now (Raidillon, Bruxelles, Pouhon, Blanchimont, exit of La Source), the old bus-stop chicane ...  used to be so much more exciting than nowadays.  This year at the 24h race, I got bored by 11 pm on Saturday, something that wouldn't have happened a few years ago.
It's still high on the list 'cause I love driving on it.  Getting through Eau Rouge, fighting with your car not losing too much speed getting up the Raidillon; swearing everytime you get into Bruxelles, a corner with maybe 50 ideal lines and very hard to find the right braking point; being on the edge at Pouhon (the big double lefthander) where I got into the guardrails once; going into Stavelot full throttle, car completely over the curbs and nailing it through Blanchimont 1 before slightly touching the brakes at Blanchimont 2, stupid new chicane  >:(, breaking as late as possible for La Source and then pushing down the old start/finish onto Eau Rouge again ...  Kicks ass every lap  ;D.

4. Brands Hatch
Think it was 1992 when I got there the first time for the Formula Ford Festival, and fell immediately in love with it.  Great overview to watch a race, amazing place to take pictures even without credentials.  Atmosphere is always great too and easy to get there from Belgium (in distance only 50 km further from my place than te 'Ring).  Paddock Hill & Druids is always packed with action and the back section of the GP layout reminds you a little bit at the Nordschleife; up and down with a few great corners.  Drove a trackday on it 3 years ago in the rain, tricky conditions but great track to drive on.  Through Paddock Hill and then chasing down up to druids is one of my favorite sections ever.

5. Paul Ricard
Only went there for the first time last year, but everything ticks the box over there.  Beautiful location in the mountains, 20 minutes from the côte d'Azur, unique with all the colored markings on the track ... Minor point is that you've only got a small part of the track that's accessible for the public, but the scenery makes up for that.  Hardly seen a track that's so clean and well-maintained, one on the list that I want to visit every year.


Still go a big "to do" list ...  it's gonna take me another 20 years to see them all I guess  ;D

1. Has to be Le Mans
2. Spa
3. Sebring (I know it's not in europe, but the access to the public is unsurpassed at this track)
4. Zandvoort, racecars, beer, beach and sun
5. Montreal, again, not in europe, but the F1 event on and around track is really something special.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Osterreichring... Fabulous setting, fabulous track!

Saw Gilles go round the outside of Mansell in '81 GP at what was then known as the Bosch Curve - a memory that will stay with me for a very long time.  Anybody familiar with the circuit will know why - brave!

Well my top three seem to be very popular
1)    Spa
2)    Le Mans
3)    Brands Hatch

Nurburgring was wonderful 30 years ago but it is now a test track for rich kids rather than a real race track so can't put that on my list.

Went to Cadwell Park a few weeks ago to watch bikes, parts of the circuit were imo fantastic. Although how the hell they race cars there with a track that narrow i've no idea ::)

Le Mans for the whole all encompassing depth of the place
Rowrah as the first place I ever watched a race
Oulton Park as, although it's been changed a bit, it still has a bit of the feel of yesteryear about it
Brands GP  for much the same reasons
Bathurst for the sheer spectacle of the place

yea can see that about Oulton Park, still stuck in a bit of a time warp, which is nice (and only a few miles from me)

but why no Spa? ???

And let's not forget Dundrod for anyone brave or barmy enough to race cars there:

(http://esben.tipple.no/images/blog/trackmaps/dundrod50.gif)

Not been there yet?