Brands in 1978

[esorniloc]

I am about to go to Brands Hatch at the weekend to watch the CART race. I have never been there before. Did anyone go to the USAC race in 1978 and what was that race like?

How different is the track from 78 to 03?

[DNQ]

Originally the race was meant to be held on the big GP circuit back in 78, but I think for financial reasons it was scaled back to the Indy circuit (Which was called the 'Club' circuit before that race).

The Indy circuit is pretty much the same, the Graham Hill bit has been tightened up a bit, and there's been lots of small tweaks over the years, including the installation of new runoff at Paddock Bend, Mesh fences etc, lately.

Hope that helps.

[Mal]

I was there in 1978, I was 14 at the time and the memory really sticks in my mind. They were pretty slow on the corners as back then the USAC ran almost entirely on ovals which run anticlockwise, whereas Brands run clockwise.
But when they hit the straight then the turn off speed was awesome. We stood at the exit of clearways / clark curve as they hit the pit straight. I had seen F1 races at Brands but the USAC cars were in many ways more dramatic.
I will be back on monday 25 years later to see how they have changed!