The SwissGP has undergone a huge upgrade, and a name change!
New ownership has come in and revitalized the track. Now called the BernRing, the picturesque circuit carves its way up into the mountains and then down through the village of Burgistein, passing the famous Burgistein Castle along the way. The BernRing is located approximately halfway between the city of Bern and Lake Thun in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland.
The current iteration of the track features significant elevation changes, a long sweeping turn giving a gorgeous view of the area, long straights, hairpins for overtaking opportunities, and some fast corners to nail.
Once a mainstay of the European Formula 1 calendar, the track has made several changes in the name of safety over the years, most notably the addition of the chicane at the top of the hill in sector 1, which was added in the mid-1980s. Following the tragic events of the1994 San Marino grand prix, a second chicane was added prior to the final corner to reduce top speeds down the final straight and onto the start finish straight. Despite these improvements, the track and event as a whole were struggling to keep their place. The relatively remote location, as well as dated facilities, limited grandstand capacity, and unconventional pit lane all contributed to waning local and foreign interest. The track was dropped from the calendar after the 1999 race.
While still being used for other racing series, the popularity of the track continued to decline into the 2000s. The track was sold to new ownership in the mid-2010s.The track’s new owners hatched an ambitious plan to return the track to its glory days. A comprehensive renovation plan was put into place, including replacing the existing grandstands and adding significantly more capacity, particularly along the start/finish straight and into Turn 1. The pitlane was also re-done to run parallel to the start finish straight, which resulted in new pit buildings, track facilities, and moved the grandstands closer to the action. Several other renovations included modern screens to improve spectator experience, new sponsors for the track, and improved gravel traps, runoff areas, and barriers to increase the safety of the track.
Despite these improvements, The BernRing faced an uphill battle to return to the F1 calendar. A return date of 2022 was targeted by the owners but seemed unlikely to outside observers. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. The owners jumped on the opportunity, offering up the BernRing as a venue for the Swiss Grand Prix to return, taking the place of one of the many races cancelled that year. While no fans would be able to experience the race, the teams and organizers had a firsthand look at the improved BernRing. After a race enjoyed by fans and drivers alike, an agreement was reached between F1 and the BernRing for the Swiss Grand Prix to stay on the calendar for years to come.
You can now drive the renovated circuit. The track has returned to mostly its original layout, with the second chicane going into the final corner still present*, but unused in the GrandPrix configuration.
(*There is a relatively untested ai line called "fast_lane.ai.CHICANE" in the ai folder of this mod that can be used to race with the chicane layout)
Updates include, but are not limited to:
Custom Shaders Patch is highly recommended for this mod.
- Pitlane moved to be parallel with start/finish straight
- New garage, pit buildings, grandstands
- Hot-air balloon and helicopter now fly through the air
- Re-done advertising boards throughout the track
- More accurate tree placement and models
- Flattening of some bumps, including slight re-profiling of turns 6 and 9
- Replaced all walls, barriers, tire walls
- Updated replay camera placement
- Fully working start lights
- Working spectator screens throughout the track
- Overall visual refresh
Take it for a spin and let me know how you like it!
