bio's tracks

[werner]

Isn't there another circuit in the neighbourhood of Perth already. IIRC the Japanese GT's and F3 have had races over there.

EDIT: There were plans for a new track near Perth to host Japanese Formula Nippon: http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Austr...lia/perth.html . However it didn't work, ad now they are looking for a venue on another place in the region (Bunbury) And in the region for Australians means 200km away :-)

[bio]

OK, let me exploit the dying hours of February and submit my next one.

This one has a story. As you all know a South Korean F1 race has been a plan for a long time now. The original venue would have been the city of Kunsan (or Gunsan, depending on transcription), near a military air base. The track has never been built.

Until now . True, I left the air base alone and found another possible site, this one being in the middle of the industrial part on the west end of the town.
The site looks like this:


I used as much of the existing track-like part there as I could. Otherwise, the main aim was to create a track that's challenging enough but has fast sections, too. The result is this:



The main trackline is 4.397 kilometers (2.75 miles) long and runs clockwise (until SBF comes anyways .
There are two notable straights, the 625 meter long S/F straight and the 531 meter long upper straight. So, as it seems to become my trademark, this one is not a track of straigths either. I see 3 possible overtaking spots, the end of the two straights and the end of that long sweeper that leads to that very slow corner-combination south-east.

There are various option tracklines available and also a miniature oval track. My favourite alternative trackline is the so-called Rookies' Variant that's the GP trackline stripped of all the harder sections:


Comments and edits are again welcome.

bio

[ScotsBrutesFan]

You know you could have set this as a challenge, given that you have limited yourself to such a confined space.

I have to say that overall the shape is truely unique with a multitude of options.

For my taste there is perhaps too many esses/twisty bits in the GP layout that you have indicated.
There is also a few of bits in the the whole shape that just scream out as me as being out of place. They are...
the chicane at the top, though I could live with it since it's a genuine overtaking place. EDIT: Perhaps a double apex right hander with overtaking into the first part.
The very tight left right combination on the extreme right, above the "curl"
The very tight hairpin on the exit of the "curl" and the join to the oval track, I feel that this doesn't need to be quite as tight, yet still be an effective overtaking chance for most formula.

There are a couple of other minor changes, I'd make, firstly to exit onto the option through the long sweeping section, it leads upto a hairpin, so I don't see it needing a 90 degree corner at that point.
The other change I'd make would be to the wiggle inside the oval, the first part is fine onto the short straight, but from their I'd ignore the last little wiggle and give the final "parabolica" a straighter entry.

I've done a little graphic showing possible changes on the various sections

[AU N EGL]

Very nice edit Scotts.

I love high speed esses, and long high speed sweeping corners.

[bio]

SBF,

I think we two make a very productive couple together - and it's because we approach the same tracks with rather different points of view. My track design philosophy - if I might use such serious phrase - is that there's the track, however it looks, and the cars should somehow tackle all the obstacles it presents. Yours seems to be the very opposite: there are the cars that should be provided with a track they should and could run very effectively on. I must say your point of view is, most probably, the better. Therefore your edits on my original track layouts do, in most cases, improve quality. And I never cease to appreciate it.
The good news is that I simply cannot set my mind to work the other way - therefore I'll continue posting tracks that you'll make perfect.

A clear win-win scenario, I guess. For everyone.

bio

[werner]

This is a fantastic track. I think it's your best yet. It has it all, a few overtaking-spots, challenging corners, both slow and fast. And for the first time, I don't have anything to complain about involving stands, I can imagine every spectator at every stand can see interesting stuff. Don't I have anything witch I think can be better? Only 1 thing, the entry of the last corner. Straightening that up ads an overtakingspot, and a more challenging and faster corner.
About philosophies: yours is fine. SBF's fine to, but for different purposes. I like yours more I think. The only thing you have to do is go over your designs after you have made them, and change the biggest problems, witch sometimes are overtaking-spots, sometimes spectators, and sometimes safety. And if you are lucky, as you were this time, there are non.
A nice training would maybe be to say to yourself that you have to design a very fast track, a very spectatorfriendly track, or a tracks that exels in another area. You might discover some techniques that help you in solving problems in certain areas when designing more allround circuits. Or studying the best real-life tracks.
Anyway, great work.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by bio

SBF,

I think we two make a very productive couple together - and it's because we approach the same tracks with rather different points of view. My track design philosophy - if I might use such serious phrase - is that there's the track, however it looks, and the cars should somehow tackle all the obstacles it presents. Yours seems to be the very opposite: there are the cars that should be provided with a track they should and could run very effectively on. I must say your point of view is, most probably, the better. Therefore your edits on my original track layouts do, in most cases, improve quality. And I never cease to appreciate it.
The good news is that I simply cannot set my mind to work the other way - therefore I'll continue posting tracks that you'll make perfect.

A clear win-win scenario, I guess. For everyone.

bio

I hadn't considered it in quite that way. I think I have to agree actually, though rather than cars, I think I try to use a driver's perspective though I'm not a racing driver by any means.
Some of my original ideas are fairly wild but once I add the track width to a line or pencil & paper drawing, separate the bits of track that are too close together, then edit it down even further when I picture trying to drive it. All before I then add in the gravel etc, which often means more editing.

I will admit that as a result of this, many of my designs have become very formula. Those that are too formula for my taste don't make it to these boards.

I think by going over other people's work with the same thought processes, means that I can sometimes pick out the little things that I feel either don't really work, or could be smoothed out a little to improve the flow or create an overtaking place.
The results in some cases adding the the original design, and in others taking away from what the designer was trying to achieve.

[Yannick]

Hello bio,

the (well, ficticious) OtherWorld(ly) Series would like to expand to South Korea, and I have decided that Kunsan looks like the place to go. Is the following configuration available?

[bio]

Yannick,

sure

bio

[bio]

SBF,

I would definitely NOT considered your designs formula or uniform - at least not more than the existing real life ones. In a way all F1 tracks are uniform - but I'd say yours are not more so.

bio

[bio]

Now, that Kunsan is sold , it's time to get back to good old Europe. I thought Ireland deserves a track, too.

Hence The Racing Circuit of Cork. Situated south-east of the city of Cork, this track is built on place of an old circuit, using part of it.


The track is 5,627 kilometers (3.5 miles) long and runs clockwise. Since it's my design you probably don't bother expecting long straights - well, you're wrong - there's a 954 meter long one, just for you

I'd consider the track a rather fast one with at least 3 overtaking opportunities.

Some shorter and less tricky alternative variants are also available.



The original track design was a couple of meters longer and looked a bit more "irregular" especially the top section that followed an old dirt track. It ran anti-clockwise and had it's pitlane and paddocks by the longest straight unlike the modern version. Also, the north-western turn in the forest was considerably tighter, a very slow hairpin.

[werner]

Hey Bio, nice work. This track makes this tread more diverse than it already is. Despite it being faster than your average track, it has a feature that is typical. O mean the corner after the old s/f-straight. Tilke, SBF, and most other designers, me probably included, would have put a slow corner over there, to enhance overtaking. Not you, instead a fast and tightening esse-section follows, a bit like maggots/beckets at Silverstone. Maybe less change to overtake, but what a challenge. Does it matter? No, because there are more overtakingspots at the track.
However, it has another Bio-flaw in it. I think the placement of the underpasses doesn't make much sense. There are 3 tunnels in the forest, where there are no stands, and the most important tunnel, between the parkings at the south and the grandstand, is placed just after the fast corner after the straight. Witch means it must either be very long or the runoff is to small. And then there is very little room for the road to the grandstand, because its placed between the straight and the hairpinsection, where there is very little room.

I made a few changes. I changed the hairpinsection a bit, to make room for a stand that can oversee it nicely. I got rid of the tunnels, and replaced them by 1 large carbridge over the straight, and 2 small pedestriantunnels.

[bio]

werner,

thanks for your ideas and edits.

I must admit that these are not underpasses in the forest, but meant to be bridges I just screwed the graphics up. I put them there because there are no stands there anyway the view of which would get blocked by them.

At the end of the original S/F straight I first put a tight corner but then decided a faster one like this would serve the race better. I don't know, it was gut feeling only.

About the hairpin section - I guess your version - a slower first one and then a relatively faster second that leads to the SF straight is a better solution than my original idea - a faster first one and a slower second one.
The inclusion of the new stands is also. It means more income - and, hey, can it be bad?

Also, thanks a lot for your comment on the Kunsan one - I somehow failed to read it until now. Sorry and thanx for what you've written.

bio

[Lustigson]

Holy crap, bio, that's one helluva track. Very, very fast, I imagine.

By the way, I really admire your general track shapes. Good out-of-the-box thinking.

[bio]

Lustigson Fellow,
thanks for those kind words. They are most welcome.

bio

[shambles]

Fantastic, you've really come along a hell of a lot since you're first designs here.

[bio]

Thx, shambles!

bio

[bio]

Well, time to leave the Old Continent and travel to the New World, isn't it?

Most of my tracks are on flat site so there isn't much altitude change involved. This time I was to find a venue where there is a helluva merry-go-round throughout the track - and after looking for some time I found a good place, near the city of Courtenay in British Columbia, Canada. Forget that it might be a National Park or something - when did it stop us, huh?
I found some altitude maps so I could see more clearly how exactly altitude is changing. Here's the site:

There's a lake south-west and you can see that it's really hilly a place.

The track:


It's 5,048 kilometers (3,155 miles) long and runs counter-clockwise. I also wanted to include a really long straight, however uncharacteristic of me - so there you have that 1,300 meter (0.8 mile) long S/F straight that is really part of an existing highway - of course closed during races



Let's take a virtual lap.
After the start and the 650 meter long and flat straight there's the T1, a really tight left hairpin - a good overtaking opportunity. After the hairpin the ascent begins (From here the track goes up and up until T6, another hairpin, halfway trhu the track). A faster right sweeper and then an even faster left sweeper comes that leads to a midspeed chicane (might be a good spot to overtake) and then the second hairpin, again a left one. This is also the highest part of the track. From here the track descends.
After the hairpin an esses combo comes that leads to a rather tight right hander. This corner is the entry to the last section that is basically a combination of three straights connected by two chicanes, the second one considerably faster. This set of straights leads us back to startline-level and to the last turn of the track that is a mid-speed right hander. This leads to the S/F straight.


The rather uneven nature of the site made it hard to place parking lots but I tried my best Since especially the hillside stands would be hard to get near by car I figured there would be a special high performance shuttle minibus service that could take some of the spectators to their stands.
Also, since the track is basically on a hillside the vision range of the stands might work differently (and certainly better( than with flat circuits. Especially the stands by the upper section have a much better view of most of the track.

Finally, here's an elevation map of the track with the usual color code:

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Only have a moment...first glance it looks very Hungaroring

[Lustigson]

Fuji-esque.

[bio]

FBS,
OK, put Hungaroring on a hillside and reverse the race direction - and then you're there

bio

[bio]

Lustigson,

can you really see any similarity between that one up there and this:

Because I can't really - except, maybe, for the dominating S/F straight. But that way it also resembles the Barcelona circuit - it has a long one, too.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

As I said my first thought was Hungaroring, that was without clicking a link to view the circuit properly, so had no idea of direction at that point.
.... And NO I'm not suuggesting changing it either.

Looking at your options, I'd probably change the GP layout a touch to the graphic below.

There are 2 very minor changes I'd make though, in the upper of the highlighted areas, there is perhaps one to many of wiggles and how it joins the hairpin option. I'd try to smooth that a little if possible.
The lower highlighted area the very gentle esses I'd smooth into an arc, this would still allow the option chicane though that would need reprofiled slightly.

Overall Very nice.

[bio]

SBF,

the upper highlighted area is OK, but I'd not smoothen the lower one - that's a rather steeply descending section, that's exactly why those two chicanes were put there - to reduce downhill speed. The alternative line was really put there for special downhill events

Any special reasons for choosing the longer sweeper in the top section instead of the original route?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

I felt there would be more chance of overtaking coming off the top sweeper onto the straight and braking into the top left corner, rather than coming off the T3 sweeper onto a very short straight and chicane.

Also with the wiggles after what is originally a hairpin(top left corner), the chicane before it seemed a bit much too.
Almost like infield of High Rock in the other thread.