This track only has the facilities to host NHRA drag racing, the circuit is primarily used for track days. It’d be very odd if this was a track PD went about modeling. I’ve spoken to a few local people involved in Motorsports and some has said they’re looking into a way to make it FIA grade 2 (but no timeline), and potentially host GT4, Ferrari Challenge, Super Trofeo, or maybe IMSA in Washington State, but if it were making any progress my car club would be losing their minds.
Here’s what the track looks like:
It’s also around 90 minutes away from where the GT Seattle Circuit would be, and not in Seattle. I don’t think it’s even the largest track in the state anymore, there’s also The Ridge, which is a club circuit, and Circuit of the Northwest, which is grade 2 and apparently finished construction around 1.5-2 years ago, but seemingly has no media or records if it being used. I don’t think it’s likely PD is touching any real world track in Washington State, even with the old school Seattle connection.
I am curious why there’s a few scapes in Seattle but they’re such nonchalant areas compared to what you could capture in the area. It almost seems like they’re holding back some areas due to trying to scan Seattle for a track, but to this day no new street circuit variant has been added to the franchise in at least 10 years, perhaps due to the stated detail required on modern hardware? N Northlake way is a nothingburger road and the scape on the street is even more so. Gasworks makes sense as a popular spot near U district, and Yesler is a callback to one of the roads on the track (but the scape isn’t on a section from the circuit) but also doesn’t get a great angle of the city looking north up I5. Cherry blossoms on UW’s campus, Alki Beach and West Seattle shipping yards, downtown i5 interchanges, waterfront, Le May auto museum, Museum of Flight, either Boeing campus, countless areas and plazas in Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond, scenic stretches of highway ~50 miles north and south of Seattle on i5 and east on i90 - I’m very surprised the five in game are all we have given we the had a Scapes guy out here.
I can say endless theories on Seattle’s return to the franchise, but really the lack of street circuits is probably the biggest proponent to it not being here. The next hurdle is that the waterfront is under heavy construction for new pedestrian areas and the north section of track by the waterfront may be interrupted by a new raised median that makes the boulevard too skinny.
Either way, I don’t think Seattle is likely to be the first even if street circuits are back on the cards.
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