Mantray Oval

[MrTTraces]

Ok folks here's a new one!

The oval track is called 'Mantray' and is 2 miles long.

Location wise I'd like it to be in Blackpool England.

Problem is, I couldn't think of a decent infield track or grand prix / national track. Anyone got any ideas?

[Lustigson]

Hmm... interesting. Not a tri-oval, nor even a quad-oval, but a quint- or penta-oval.

Would be nice if it had a good road course inside, too. Should be possible within a 2-mile penta-oval.

[Alwaysfirst]

I like the concept... what about this as an idea for the infield road course?

[Lustigson]

I was thinking of something like this:

[duke_toaster]

The FIA would not deem it an oval - 5 turns.

[Alwaysfirst]

Well it's ok but I strongly dislike the taking all of the banked corners out of the road track. Just because F1 apparently hasn't been able to do it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. And, frankly, if you don't have the banked corners than it is mostly just another twistly little circuit, even if it does have long straights. See Indy for a prime example of this, even with one banked corner.

[chemhead1]

Originally Posted by Alwaysfirst

Well it's ok but I strongly dislike the taking all of the banked corners out of the road track. Just because F1 apparently hasn't been able to do it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. And, frankly, if you don't have the banked corners than it is mostly just another twistly little circuit, even if it does have long straights. See Indy for a prime example of this, even with one banked corner.

I'd really consider Indy an "okay" example of an oval's infield/combined road course utilizing the banking of the oval. I'd like to say that California Speedway 2 mile superspeedway in Fontana really shows this a lot better, albeit the actual infield circuit is a bit twisty, but a hit with the club racers.


The automobile road course (once used for Grand-Am)



The Motorcycle road course (also used for the JGTC exhibition in 2004)

The banking on the pit "straight" actually makes for exciting overtaking, even on the outside as I was witness to when I was at the JGTC race. The Grand-Am guys went all the way from the exit of Oval T4 through Oval T1/T2 and went about 1/3 down the back straight before actually going in the infield. Made for some interesting slipstream battles and late braking into the 90 degree left hander.

[Alwaysfirst]

I'd agree that Fontana is better than Indy, though it still isn't a good road course IMO. But I have to wonder how Indy can be seen as an OK roval course. It's just dead boring & such a shame when there is such obvious room & potential for something so much better. The same also goes for Fontana in a way. There is still a lot of room for improvment.

[Yannick]

That tiny right-left chicane leading onto the straight in the infield of Fontana feels a bit pointless somehow. But so do the 2 hairpins in close succession of one another in the infield of Indy.

[chemhead1]

Originally Posted by Yannick

That tiny right-left chicane leading onto the straight in the infield of Fontana feels a bit pointless somehow. But so do the 2 hairpins in close succession of one another in the infield of Indy.

It looks really awkward, and frankly, it is. There's a strip of grass extending from the infield grass of Oval T4. So that explains the abrupt early turn to the right.

As for the right-left, well, it's just an issue of space. Here's how it really looks like:

And seeing that they'd rather not have the cars build up too much speed before the banking (especially with Grand-Am's layout), it's not exactly logical to eliminate the right/left and replace with a left sweeper to the oval. And just extending the entrance to the turn to make it a 90 degree left to the banking wouldn't work either, as during the races they use the area between the fencing for the oval and the track for marshalls behind a tire wall. (and I believe they also park a safety vehicle there as well)

EDIT: I just realized which turn you were referencing Yannick, and yeah, it just seems, well, weird. Although, like the entrance to the oval, it's a little inaccurate, it's pretty much just a patch of open lot with curbs, pretty low so drivers tend to cut into it frequently.