The new "Arena" Silverstone GP layout: for better, or for worse??

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adam46

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I went to the Silverstone GP in 2008. And I absolutley loved the layout of the track, I was sitting at woodcote where you could see the cars shoot through Bridge, Priory and Luffield before going flat out through woodcote and down the front straight. But the new arena layout no-longer uses Bridge, Priory and the old entry into Luffield. Will this make the racing better or make it worse?
 
Only time will tell

I would have prefered them to keep the old layout because there were some challenging corners in the last sector like Bridge and Priory.

There was possibility, I think, that they could have brought the new part around onto the old Touring car layout and then have Bridge in that way but we shall see what happens with this layout
 
The second round of the FIA GT1 World Championship on on this track next sunday and can be watched live here.

http://gt1world.com/

Then we will have a better idea about how it affects racing.
 
adam46
I went to the Silverstone GP in 2008. And I absolutley loved the layout of the track, I was sitting at woodcote where you could see the cars shoot through Bridge, Priory and Luffield before going flat out through woodcote and down the front straight. But the new arena layout no-longer uses Bridge, Priory and the old entry into Luffield. Will this make the racing better or make it worse?
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It's impossible to say until we see racing in action. However, I don't think the los of Bridge is worth crying over. Like Eau Rouge, it may have been a challenge in the past, but these days it's just flat out.
 
interludes
It's impossible to say until we see racing in action. However, I don't think the los of Bridge is worth crying over. Like Eau Rouge, it may have been a challenge in the past, but these days it's just flat out.
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And plus to be honest, i could only see a serious accident happening at bridge on a Race Bike!
 
Bridge is no big loss, but I think the new layout will make racing a bit more exiting.

silverstone-motogp-lg.jpg
 
That sucks. The Abbey corner should be much faster than that. Silverstone used to be known as one of the fastest circuits, now it's chicane here chicane there hairpin here. meh.
 
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Alex.
That sucks. The Abbey corner should be much faster than that. Silverstone used to be known as one of the fastest circuits, now it's chicane here chicane there hairpin here. meh.
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While I like fast racing, I'd prefer chicanes. It still has a couple of long straights anyway. I'd prefer to see cars racing through chicanes any day, but I suppose this is coming from a photographers point of view too. As a photo 'person' it's easier to take pictures (action packed pictures) of corners than straights. It's just...easier.
 
Chicanes are anti racing devices designed mostly to slow cars down where it would otherwise be excessively dangerous. Chicanes designed from the outset to be proper corners are a different matter such as the last chicane at the Nurburgring GP track which promotes overtaking.

The pre Woodcote chicane version of Silverstone is the best version of that track by far in my view.
 
Alex.
That sucks. The Abbey corner should be much faster than that. Silverstone used to be known as one of the fastest circuits, now it's chicane here chicane there hairpin here. meh.
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It is, actually. What PJ posted is actually the original proposal; it's since been revised. It now looks like this, nd next year Abbey will become the first corner because they're moving the pits.
 
I wasn't really impressed when I watch the Formula 2 race here, but when I look back at the map, I think it would produce a good racing. Whatever the opinions coming in, only time will tell...
 
I'll hopefully get chance to race this layout in 2 or 3 weeks time so i can tell you if it's any good or not. The sharp right, quick left at Abbey instead of a sharp left, quick right is going to make no difference for better or worse. It will just come down to whether the new section connecting to the National straight beats the old Bridge and Priory turns which were great corners. From the look of the new fast right hand kink and semi hairpin, i doubt they'll be any better. The wider approach to Brooklands, as shared with the National circuit, has always been a very 'meh' corner IMO. Because it joins the 'old' GP circuit at this point the entry is very wide and the line is indistinct. But we shall see.
 
I'm interested to know if Club will still promote the multiple-line racing it used to, especially in the wet. Now its no longer a continuous-corner, more like a double-apex now.
 
interludes
It is, actually. What PJ posted is actually the original proposal; it's since been revised. It now looks like this, nd next year Abbey will become the first corner because they're moving the pits.
Click to expand...

Ah thanks very much. That does indeed look better! I didn't mean to come across as judging by the cover but the original 'chicane' looked pretty poor to be honest. That revised version is a good deal faster thankfully. Possibly even full throttle:tup:
 
It looks like there'll be 2 seater F1 laps tomorrow, going by Jake Humphrey's twitter update, "just ate some noodles at DC's place, he's driving me round the new-look silverstone in a 2-seater F1 tomorrow." Hopefully some videos will emerge in the following days.
 
The BBC are probably filming a clip for the pre-race or pre-qualifying show at Barcelona.
We don't always get them before hand online though. Thats not to say we might not get videos from other journalists there, assuming its not just the BBC having a go.
 
By all accounts, it's been received pretty well. And Silvestone has kept a dying art alive a little longer by naming its corners and the new straight. In order they are Abbey, Farm, Village, The Loop, Aintree and Wellington.
 
[youtubehd]ixrRSx6_Le4[/youtubehd]

Brilliant. Look how quick that Abbey corner will be :eek:
 
Looks quicker than i expected :eek:

(slow clapping) Well done to James Allen/Santander for placing the circuit diagram in the area of the screen where a view of the clockwise track is most interesting. Why show us the apex of the corners when we can see the Santander logo or the back of Brundle's helmet instead?
 
(slow clapping) Well done to James Allen/Santander for placing the circuit diagram in the area of the screen where a view of the clockwise track is most interesting. Why show us the apex of the corners when we can see the Santander logo or the back of Brundle's helmet instead?
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Still a good find, though I see your point. Well done Alex. :)
 
Well today was the big day, the first proper race on the new format. There was some great overtaking and corner-speeds, but one worry was on the exit of club corner, where it now tightens, 2 cars got a penalty in the GT1 race for going wide of the line and apparently gaining an advantage. Do you think this could affect the F1?
 
I'm wondering why they didn't leave grass on the outside of Club but perhaps this is to help safety for the bikes? It seems inevitable that people are going to go wide there, I don't see what the point is in penalising drivers for it.
 
I spent quite a bit of time at the new chicane over the weekend. It's good for tin tops, but the F3 boys seemed unable to overtake there in the dry. In the wet it's the same as F1 in the rain - overtaking becomes much easier as you can take different lines. James Calado managed to pass 2 cars in one move in the wet this morning. Wet or dry, though, both the F3 and GT cars were able to pass into Brooklands, the next major braking zone after the new Arena complex.
 
Yeah, the chicane isn't really an overtake area, its more of a mistake-causing area. Its also perhaps an area to provide a bit of setup contrast, becuase its the slowest area on the track, so a car that accelerates well from low speed and has good mechanical grip will work well there but maybe not the rest of the circuit.
So I guess it really sets up the racing for the national straight (or Wellington, whatever you want to call it) into Brooklands.

At least Abbey is quite good, but I still think Club is messed up now after watching the GT1 race. I don't like it as a double-apex corner, it was better as a gradual apex.

I still like the circuit layout though, it looks fantastic to drive on and thats the main thing with Silverstone. I quite like the nice low speed twisty section, it kind of breaks it up a bit almost like Casio at Suzuka. If this ends up in Gran Turismo, there are several potential overtaking places at almost every corner. Bascially only the Copse-Hangar Straight section is the only nigh-on impossible place to overtake, which is fine because its more of a fantastic driving experience through there rather than a particularly great racing section.

I will miss Bridge and old Club though.
 
Looks very good! It's hard to get my head around the new start line position, it sort of changes the 'face' of the circuit. Should be excellent though :D

 


I finally got to drive the Arena circuit last weekend *shameless plug* and found it to be better than i expected. With the pit complex on a different part of the circuit, it will totally change how the circuit feels for races that use them and therefore have Abbey as the first turn (like ours, not all will). We also used the shallower 'historic' Club/Vale corner which is more flowing than the 'regular' version. It allows Club to be driven almost as previously, ie a single radius corner, but just with two clipping points. Abbey is quite a quick corner, but is followed immediately by a fast left hander, which has no name that i can find. The speed and line you take through Abbey dictates how wide you exit from the left hander (which is flat) and has a knock-on effect to how you then take the sharp right hand Ireland and the left hand hairpin that closely follows. Carrying too much speed through Abbey will really compromise you for the next series of turns and also compromise the important run onto the Wellington/National straight. The start of the next British GP will be fun to watch for sure!

The pit building itself is impressive, not that i got much change to look at it :dopey:
 
I think silverstone needed the upgrade to be honest, glad to see it should be safe as a race for a good while now.
 
It is now a world class facility, and still a pretty quick track. It's just a shame they couldn't keep a proper historic version of the track along side all the revisions. A fast righthand Abbey along with the old Farm Straight running under the bridge to a quick Woodcote chicane and missing out the whole Luffield Complex would be epic, and still quite doable even with all the revisions made since the late '80's.
 

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