Ottawa International Raceway

[atomik99]

Hi everyone! BigMac1212 introduced me to this forum.

Racetrack layout for the fictional "Ottawa International Raceway" :

The 4.8 km (3 mile) track is designed with the spectator in mind.

The stands are positioned for maximum viewing exposure. For example, fans siting in the front stretch Grandstand can easily see a quarter mile straight right in front of them, followed by a very wide u-turn (with one of the best overtaking opportunities), leading into the front stretch quarter-mile straight, followed by turns 1, 2, and 3, and a portion of track behind the Paddock area. Compare this with many other road course tracks that offer fans sitting in the front stretch only a view of front stretch and one or two turns.

Spectators sitting in the back-stretch stands can easily see the entire south portion of the racetrack, which includes 9 turns of various widths and driver difficulty, and several straights.

The entire track also features a very wide road (narrowest 15 m (50 ft), widest 25 m (85 ft)) for many overtaking opportunities, and fast speeds.

Ottawa International Raceway has luxurious spectator seats (no benches), private VIP booths, and is completely a first-class facility with a very long pit road.

The track includes a large trackside Recreational Vehicle parking area with superb view of the course from any position. Adjacent is a tent camping area, for visitors who wish to camp during entire event weekends.

Comments and Suggestions are welcomed!

[LuiggiSpeed]

Absolute masterpiece.
Your presentation rocks,I love the graphics and the track itself makes lots of sense.

I'd like to see some run-off at what would be T4 since that would be a turn taken at triple digits and I don't see anything there but otherwise the proyect looks wonderful,the pit entrances and outs are very well.

Welcome to this forum and I think were gonna have some fun with you around.This is certainly a new standard of work.

[atomik99]

Originally Posted by LuiggiSpeed

Absolute masterpiece.
Your presentation rocks,I love the graphics and the track itself makes lots of sense.

I'd like to see some run-off at what would be T4 since that would be a turn taken at triple digits and I don't see anything there but otherwise the proyect looks wonderful,the pit entrances and outs are very well.

Welcome to this forum and I think were gonna have some fun with you around.This is certainly a new standard of work.

Thank you! I really appreciate that

You are 100% correct about Turn 4. I wonder why it never crossed my mind before, especially considering that there in nothing there but an empty field. I will add a run-off area there when I get a chance

[bio]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I don't think anyone could wish for a better debut. The track is indeed "atomik"!

Thx, BigMac for bringing him in

[ScotsBrutesFan]

It's a spectacular entrance to these forums without doubt and a very welcome one too.

Luiggi has already pointed out T4.

I wouldn't change the overall shape, but I think I'd suggest is that a bit more length is required. especially regarding the S/F and opposite straights. Namely 400m (quarter mile) is a bit short.
Also the penultimate corner like T4 would be very quick and could use a little more run off, so that would mean separating out the straights a bit more.
Alternately, the bottom right section from the exit of the infield could stretch to the right (using up the added length I mentioned) then follow the exact course you have only with a shallower penultimate curve.

In the edit below I've traced from apex to apex, then added a little length between some of them. Also as I mentioned above increased the area between the final and S/F straights to allow a little more run off for the penultimate curve.

Oh a final question, what software did you use for the design? It's very effective

[bio]

Atomik,

FYI: this much editing from SBF counts as nothing

And he didn't change the race direction - nothing short of a miracle, believe me

[werner]

I love the amount of detail. I agree with the other critisisms already given. Good job anyway, I'm looking forward to more designs.

[Iceman13]

Good job, I agree that it needs some scaling up, but other than that, I really like it!

[atomik99]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions!

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

I wouldn't change the overall shape, but I think I'd suggest is that a bit more length is required. especially regarding the S/F and opposite straights. Namely 400m (quarter mile) is a bit short.

When designing it originally, the front stretch was actually even shorter. I wanted to keep areas in front of any grantstands as short as possible (while still leaving enough room for decent speeds to be achieved). The reason being, I don't typically prefer the kind of tracks with very long front stretches where fans only see the cars zoom by for 2 seconds once every minute and hardly any passing happens. So I settled on approx 0.25 mile front stretch like Watkins Glen International, for example. This is also the reason why much of the track is condensed at certain portions. The 4.8 km total is actually more then I originally imagined it, because I wanted the fans to see the cars more, rather then have the cars off in a portion of the track where only TV cameras could see for a long percentage of each lap. So for example, if I made the front stretch longer, fans in the west end of the main grandstand would hardly see what is happening in turns 2 and 3.

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Also the penultimate corner like T4 would be very quick and could use a little more run off...

Yes, this turn bothered me as well. It may be something that I will further explore, if time permits (because I would have to radically change many of the aspects to fit a more gradual turn and/or more runoff).

Knowing about this forum now, I will definitely be posting my future track designes here for critique, while they are still in their preliminary stages of design where alterations are easy.

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Oh a final question, what software did you use for the design? It's very effective

Adobe Illustrator.

[bio]

Sounds great, just let those designs come.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by bio

Atomik,

FYI: this much editing from SBF counts as nothing

And he didn't change the race direction - nothing short of a miracle, believe me

You know I haven't suggested a Direction change in ages.

[bio]

Yeah, i couldn't help noticing. What's wrong with you? :P

[Lustigson]

Wow, atomik, that looks stunning. Great effort, both track-wise and presentation-wise. Nice to see you have your own style, too.

[bio]

Yeah, I liked it too - to have a different approach.

[LuiggiSpeed]

I don't see a problem with short straights.Long straights only test horsepower and top end,not nesessarly pilot skills. Adding 50 mts will put you on par with Le Mans,wich longest straight is 450 m(I hope I didn't screw and named the incorrect track) and Le Mans is a world class venue. AMOF, Barber Motorsports has 300m something straights and nobody complains,for as long as there's flow. If it was up to me,other than the safety issues I wouldn't change a thing.

Well,maybe I would built it in Puerto Rico,come to think about it....

[bio]

Well, Luigi, as far as I know, most riders don't really like Le Mans... Not because of the short straigths, though...

[atomik99]

Thanks Lustigson

Originally Posted by LuiggiSpeed

I don't see a problem with short straights.Long straights only test horsepower and top end,not nesessarly pilot skills. Adding 50 mts will put you on par with Le Mans,wich longest straight is 450 m(I hope I didn't screw and named the incorrect track) and Le Mans is a world class venue. AMOF, Barber Motorsports has 300m something straights and nobody complains,for as long as there's flow.....

Agree 100%. I'm not a fan of long straights either. I'll leave that to the drag strip designs

Speaking of which, anyone know of road course tracks that have drag strips incorporated into them? I know Infineon Raceway has one that fits the layout very nicely (portions of the track are used by both events).

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by atomik99

Speaking of which, anyone know of road course tracks that have drag strips incorporated into them? I know Infineon Raceway has one that fits the layout very nicely (portions of the track are used by both events).

All circuits in PR have that and frankly it's a PITA for various reasons ,I think there's a post somewhere around that I explain all the hindrances of such feature,though I belive,that if propperly executed it is indeed a cost saving measure.

I like a design in wich you can do drag and circuit simultaneously, for what I designed the Arecibo Track,featured hare:

[TilkeWannabe]

Oh MAAAAAN!!!

Kudos x10 for that! That's sooo good. I'm definitely green with envy looking at all the detail put into it. The bottom part has a Rio de Janeiro look to itHow long did it take to create and are you a beginner at Adobe Illustrator? I don't wanna seem like a copycat but I will want to try out this new wonder program and soon!

Oh and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you round.

[Purist]

Off the top of my head, Heartland Park, Portland, Sears Point, Seattle, Spokane, and Brainerd all have drag strips incorporated.

Actually, I've heard quite a number of complaints about Barber from fans of top-tier car series and amateurs who drive high power cars. Plus, GM stopped doing road car testing at Barber because they said it's too twisty and slow. Miller has also gotten a fair few complaints from the ALMS crowd.

With all that bloody gravel, I don't see why the Dunlop Curve at Le Mans even "needs" a chicane (not that I think chicanes are ever really warranted).

[atomik99]

Originally Posted by LuiggiSpeed

I like a design in wich you can do drag and circuit simultaneously, for what I designed the Arecibo Track,featured hare:

Very nice! I especially like (what I assume to be) the south-west portion of the track. Perfect area for some grandstands.

Originally Posted by TilkeWannabe

Oh MAAAAAN!!!

Kudos x10 for that! That's sooo good. I'm definitely green with envy looking at all the detail put into it. The bottom part has a Rio de Janeiro look to itHow long did it take to create and are you a beginner at Adobe Illustrator? I don't wanna seem like a copycat but I will want to try out this new wonder program and soon!

Oh and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you round.

Thanks! Hard to say how long it took because I changed around the original circuit many times before deciding on the final layout. I also worked on it often for a few minutes, or half hour at a time... It's also the first time I've created a complete landscaping design with buildings, complete paddock etc. That all took a while, but I'll be re-using much of it on other tracks to save time.

You should definetely check out Illustrator if you can. It's my favorite program I've been using it for about 5 years.

Originally Posted by Purist

Off the top of my head, Heartland Park, Portland, Sears Point, Seattle, Spokane, and Brainerd all have drag strips incorporated.

Thanks for that list. Portland is very nice.

[johntt]

Originally Posted by Purist

Miller has also gotten a fair few complaints from the ALMS crowd.

OT: Whats the ALMS's problem with Miller?

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Purist

Off the top of my head, Heartland Park, Portland, Sears Point, Seattle, Spokane, and Brainerd all have drag strips incorporated.

Actually, I've heard quite a number of complaints about Barber from fans of top-tier car series and amateurs who drive high power cars. Plus, GM stopped doing road car testing at Barber because they said it's too twisty and slow. Miller has also gotten a fair few complaints from the ALMS crowd.

NASA SE stopped going to Barber this year. Something about the Pit Nazis and parking between lines, going OFF onto their beloved GRASS and loosy food at the facilities for a banquet PLUS all around not nice track managment ppl.

[TilkeWannabe]

@atomik99 - At school, on the Apple Mac computers, It's possible to use Adobe Illustrator and I have a blank document already saved for future use. On the flip side, I've never used it before, so hopefully I can learn quickly because I haven't got it at home and there's 5 weeks left before I finish school for good.

[Purist]

Johntt, Miller just has the one long straight, and a heck of a lot of those long, medium-speed turns. So even running the perimeter circuit (~45 seconds faster a lap compared to the full course), average speed in mph is only marginally faster. For it's length, it's pretty slow, and there is an awful lot of the lap where you can't do much in the way of actual racing, unless you can afford to resort to NASCAR-like tactics.

As to Ottowa, I would agree that the larger scale would help. For comparison, the front straight at Watkins Glen is more on the order of 1/3 of a mile instead of 1/4 (~1800ft vs. just ~1300ft). More powerful cars really need at least that third of a mile to get a good run, and really, a respectable "straight" for the more serious stuff should be at least half a mile.

I don't think really long straights are essential for a good or even great circuit; look at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Lime Rock, or Brands Hatch for evidence of that. Then again, a lot of my favorite circuits do have substantial straights: Road America, Mosport Park, Interlagos, and Bathurst for example. Also, out of my own designs, my favorites tend to have long flat-out runs. I find that often with the ones that don't, they just seem too tight and busy over the whole lap.

Overall, I'd say I like the layout of Ottowa.