Porto

simon drabble · 11 Jul 2005, 06:29 (Ref:1352253)

any tententhers there back yet? I understand there were some question marks as to the safety of the track - was it alright on the night?

Marcel ten Caat · 11 Jul 2005, 06:32 (Ref:1352254)

Saw some of the historic races via satellite tv. Narrow track with many incidents.
I've never seen so many (classic) cars hit the tyres or barriers (or both).

simon drabble · 11 Jul 2005, 06:55 (Ref:1352259)

I was told it was quite dangerous - I am pleased I didnt go now! How did you manage to watch it - what channel was it on? Can you recall who won the Sportsracer race?

Marcel ten Caat · 11 Jul 2005, 07:30 (Ref:1352268)

Broadcasting channel was SIC TV from Portugal. A quick browse on google shows this:

Quote:

Services:
Uplink facilities, playouts, camera crews, production facilities, footage bank, studios, news footage, programme sales.

Guess it was a satellite feed instead of a regular tv-broadcast.

simon drabble · 11 Jul 2005, 07:41 (Ref:1352276)

that is a shane so its unlikely to be repeated on eurosport etc..
but from what you are saying it sounds like restorers are going to be busy
anything serious or just dented cars? is it worse than Pau?

zefarelly · 11 Jul 2005, 09:23 (Ref:1352357)

we where chatting to people at Dijon who where going, some of them with fantastic cars, I hope they didnt get them smashe dup.

sticking my neck out . . .as usual . . . it appears that, like car shows, every Tom Dick and Harry is having a go at historic racing events, some of them perhaps don't have the tracks or infrastructure to do it that well. I guess its a commercial market so we can pick and choose where we go to get our dents!

Rob29 · 11 Jul 2005, 09:28 (Ref:1352364)

About 60 secs of the Spanish GT race was on Eurosport 'Motorsport Weekend' last night.Certainly no margin for error on that circuit-wil be booking my ticket for next year!

SFonseca · 11 Jul 2005, 11:09 (Ref:1352430)

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon drabble

I was told it was quite dangerous - I am pleased I didnt go now!

You lost a fabulous event with thousands of spectators...

simon drabble · 11 Jul 2005, 12:30 (Ref:1352516)

with much bent machinery it would appear from Stranger's post!
I was very tempted as it was billed to be a great meeting and I have many frds who went but family committments kept me at home (as has happened at Dijon as well ;-( )
However I am not keen on bending my car which is why I give Pau a wide steer as well - its a long way to go to damage your car...

john ruston · 11 Jul 2005, 14:02 (Ref:1352631)

We went, we looked,we did three laps then put cars back in trailer.The people were superb but I dont see much fun in breaking cars for no good reason .The circuit needs to be rethought before to many people will return

**Peter Mallett** · 11 Jul 2005, 14:09 (Ref:1352639)

Was it based on the old fifties GP circuit?

If so were the tram lines still there? Before anyone asks my grandfather told me about them.

Rob29 · 11 Jul 2005, 15:54 (Ref:1352738)

According to a chap who lives in the town and posts on another forum,only a small part of the old circuit is used and the tram lines had been removed-forthe race-don't know how the trams manage! Contary to british humor,trams are the transport of the future in many places,not the past.
The brief TV clip should be on British Eurosport again at about midnight tonight.

zefarelly · 11 Jul 2005, 16:32 (Ref:1352781)

is it a 'what happens next' clip ?

If it was anything like Aintrees effort then I'd give it a very wide berth, theres more chance of bostik opening up a knackers yard and glue factory there than ever seeing the GP race circuit restored

Rob29 · 11 Jul 2005, 16:50 (Ref:1352800)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefarelly

is it a 'what happens next' clip ?

If it was anything like Aintrees effort then I'd give it a very wide berth, theres more chance of bostik opening up a knackers yard and glue factory there than ever seeing the GP race circuit restored

Nothing like Aintree,this circuit is lined with concrete walls and debris fences.Very safe for spectators and stands look fairly close-paradise for the likes of me,but I would not recomend it for anyone with a valuble historic car. Hope they can make it World Series Renault next year as a double header with Bilbao,where I will be next weekend.

SFonseca · 11 Jul 2005, 18:07 (Ref:1352847)

Boavista Circuit is perfect for close racing and fantastic for spectators. Like any other street circuit, you need "courage" to drive on the limit. If you have afraid to crash your car you should stay at home. Motorsport is dangerous everybody knows. Anyway, I respect the opinion the other forum opinions. Boavista isn't Monaco, Pau or Macau but it's the first year of circuit's new generation. The circuit is going to be rethought for 2007 Historic Festival of course.

Rob29: Next year, Boavista will host Spanish GT Championship, Spanish F3 Championship, Copa SEAT Léon, Campeonato Nacional de Velocidade, Open de Velocidade, Troféu Datsun 1200 and National Classic Racing.
Trust me, it will be very funny

**Peter Mallett** · 11 Jul 2005, 19:36 (Ref:1352904)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob29

According to a chap who lives in the town and posts on another forum,only a small part of the old circuit is used and the tram lines had been removed-forthe race-don't know how the trams manage! Contary to british humor,trams are the transport of the future in many places,not the past.

Ah it seems you misunderstood my post.

IIRC. The tramlines were the reason that Mike Hawthorn spun out of the 1958 race and the reason why Sir Stirling Moss had to go to his defence and confirm that Hawthorn had not transgressed. This act of sportsmanship gave Hawthorn the crown.

Now someone much more clever than I will come on and say that it wasn't this incident nor was it these two drivers!

But you get my drift.

simon drabble · 12 Jul 2005, 06:24 (Ref:1353204)

SFonseca you seem to miss the point - you talk about courage being required to race - i dont know what car you race but I think its a given that you need courage and in the case of histrics often more courage than for the modern stuff. However we take a calculated risk when we race. If the risk is too great its then dangerous. If a circuit is not up to the mark then its dangerous. My biggest problem with Pau was not the walls and lack of run off (before transmission failure we were actually leading the race when I last went there) but the ineptitude shown by the marshalls and recovery trucks, the driver of the truck did £6 000 damage to my car by not securing it on his truck and then trying to drive the truck like a race car. Clemont Ferrard has some walls (at the end of the first straight for example) but the track is safe. I didnt go to Porto but I heard reservations last week and it seems that these have been borne out. Historic racing can be very exciting without it being a contact sport. Maybe the answer is to look at the criticisms and decide whether its feasable to address them. I presume from your comments that you are something to do with the circuit. Good luck as I think everyone is keen to see an old track brought back to life, just we want it to be safe so drivers can enjoy it too!

Peter Horsman · 12 Jul 2005, 07:22 (Ref:1353233)

Morning Simon. I'm just back from the GP thrash, and heard there that at Porto, there was more than just cars broken. Legs too.

**Peter Mallett** · 12 Jul 2005, 07:26 (Ref:1353237)

Is there anywhere reporting this? Marcus Pye was going down there instead of the BGP.

simon drabble · 12 Jul 2005, 07:36 (Ref:1353253)

Hi Peter - how did your race go? I had real fun doing that race last year although two spinners after bridge in front of me slightly unnerved me as I had just sold my car when I did it!
broken cars is one thing - broken legs something else altogether and I am surprised of SFonseca's laissez faire attitude bearing that in mind - which races were they in?

zefarelly · 12 Jul 2005, 08:32 (Ref:1353299)

broken legs isnt fun ! neithers broken cars come to think of it

when we went to Aintree for what was essentially demo runs, it was obvious a few people wanted to have a go and see what the circuit was like, despite the appaling state of the surface the general lack of preparation from all aspects was what put me off more, you can change your line round a corner if the surface has broken up, but if you spin on discarded fencing materials etc you can't avoid large steel gate posts, cocc walls etc, so you have to drive to the conditions.

I guess the other factor is that some people want to win at all costs and can afford regular body shop bills, some of us can't

I can see from the grids in the Top Hat series which people and which cars like certain circuits, and we'll make our own decisions accordingly.

Peter Horsman · 12 Jul 2005, 08:51 (Ref:1353311)

Slightly off-thread (apols), but had brilliant time thanks, Simon. Oil pipe came off qual lap 2, but allowed to start mid-grid (P20) with single qual lap time. Finished P8, class P1. Big trophy, big head etc. 17 going brilliantly after post-Spa rebuild. Great racing throughout field. No prangs, lots of dualling/overtaking. P1 Walker, then Hardman then Harps. Showed bored GP spectators what racing should be all about!

simon drabble · 12 Jul 2005, 09:04 (Ref:1353325)

you seem to have got to grips with your 17 pretty much straight away so big head with some justification! Dodd seems conspicious by his absence in top table - walker Hardman and harper would havemade good viewing as they dont hold back (given the choice between BGP and Porto I would have taken your choice regardless of how good Porto was! I think Spa 6 Hour would be the only race meeting to tempt me away from Silverstone GP circuit (especially on a tarty meeting;-) ) I presume you will be there for the 30/31 July Classic

SFonseca · 12 Jul 2005, 10:06 (Ref:1353367)

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon drabble

Hi Peter - how did your race go? I had real fun doing that race last year although two spinners after bridge in front of me slightly unnerved me as I had just sold my car when I did it!
broken cars is one thing - broken legs something else altogether and I am surprised of SFonseca's laissez faire attitude bearing that in mind - which races were they in?

I agree with you Simon, broken cars is one thing and broken legs something else. Anyway, Monteverde was unlucky and was the single injury of three-days event. If the track was so dangerous, why would FIA let you race?
The track is safe enough. I understand perfectly classic cars drivers concern about their cars and "the fear of the grey walls" but we had twenty races and how much cars (more than three hundreds of cars were in Paddock during the weekend) have been heavily damaged?

simon drabble · 12 Jul 2005, 10:20 (Ref:1353377)

I dont know the answer to that and of course you have to seperate over enthusiastic driving and dangerous tracks. I am merely stating the view from several of those that went (and comments made here) thta there were probably more accidents than one would expect. I recall at Charade 2 years ago there was only one accident - it was a lunch time drive around by some local driving club and someone trying to impress his passenger stuffed his car into a wall. All the racing went off without serious incident.

We are all keen for your event to be a big success but if the drivers (who compete all over the world) say its not safe you need to listen and address otherwise it will be hard to see it being a future success. And in that spirit I very much look forward to being able to race at your event next year....

Look at Spa - the reason that is such a phenonomal success is because its exciting but safe. I do agree with you however that one man crashing 2 cars would look a little careless...

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