The revised Adelaide track ?

[marcus]

ok , today was the first time I have seen the revised track at adelaide and I must say it is interesting thats for sure , the drivers seem to like it alot but I still think it is very dangerous.

my very first impression of it was bad because the first thing i saw was Radisich's crash , which was very nasty , but I was concerned about the lack of run off area there , there is none and i thought this could get pretty ugly during the race , and of course Max Wilson lost an engine there and dumped oil everywhere and poor old Steve Ellery managed to find it and had a fairly sizable shubt , and Jason bright also got caught out by it towards the end of the race.

I have no problem with the corner itself as it is a fair dinkum corner and more tracks need these turns , but the lack of run off is not good at all , I have no idea of course what is behind there and what would be needed to make some run off , but I beleieve if they want to keep the track this way they should at least give the guys a bit of room to move.

other than that i think it is an excellent additiion to the track and it is 100 times better than the old configaration but it just needs some run off.

what do you guys think ???

[Michael H]

I think it is too dangerous, too. I think tomorrow will see mega carnage, I just hope no one gets hurt. It's too fast now.

[Ray Bell]

What has changed? Which corner is it you speak of?

[Amaroo Park]

Brad Jones Roll over corner. I agree it's too dangerous and needs some run off

[Bomn]

The drivers have a choice they know what the corner is like.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by colinbond
Brad Jones Roll over corner. I agree it's too dangerous and needs some run off

I'm afraid you assume too much... I work weekends, don't see these things, I'd like to know which corner it was and what they've done to it?

Anyone?

[twig]

but considering somebody had a brake failure, or a stuck throttle, such as seton, if they were to hit the wall it would be flush, and it would be like Radisich.
If there were run off, the wall would still have to come back to the road, it could also make it more dangerous.

I know the people who designed the track obviously took into account the run off, and how to design it, the only reason it is safe enough to race on at those speeds, is that the wall is flush, but i agree, they could move the wall back a bit, from that camera view, you could see the amount of room they could move the wall back. but if they were to move it back, they would only go faster.

i am sure during the race tomorrow, we will see more action, and what cars do in a dangerous situation...we will just have to wait and see.

[twig]

Ray, they have just made the corner a long, very little breaking sweeping right corner, on the inside, as apposed to the old corner (of which the ripple strip was basically in the middle of the road), they actually have the right mirror basically on the inside wall, and on the exit, they have the car on the outside wall again. It is a very fast corner, with absolutely no run-off area or margin for error.

please could someone give us a picture

[mtpanorama]

The corner wasnt that bad, there are a lot of worse places to go off at. At least if someone does have a lose there they hit the wall fairly flush and keep moving, it isnt a hard and sudden stop. The biggest problem with Radasichs hit was when he slid along the wall and hit the opening in the wall.

BTW, does anyone remember how fast they are going thru that part of the track, i'm not sure if i heard the comentary team tell us or not. And does anyone know which contry Max Wilson comes from

[Ray Bell]

Err.... anyone got any idea which corner it is that's being discussed?

[Big Mac]

Gentlemen, the corner in question is the one linking Adelaide Straight with the old Brabham Straight.

I agree with what had been done with the corner as it certainly makes it a bloody fast for the drivers, something that is not seen that often on street tracks. BUT, the wall is too close on exit in my view, especially considering that some of the really quick boys are doing 225-230km on exit. As i am a local, i can tell you that one of the reason why the wall is as close as it is is because of the road restrictions that are in place over here in Adelaide at the moment. If the wall was further away from the exit of the corner, this would led to that road being closed for another week or so post race. The authorities dont want this.

PS - Think of what would happen if a F3 had a prang there? (Panis Canada 1997??)

[DNQ]

Yes, the entry onto the back straight...

(er, that's right isn't it? It better be, or I will be shown up as a fool )

[mtpanorama]

Yeh , i do

[DNQ]

Arghh, Big Mac, you beat me to it

It's a VERY quick corner, but to be honest, I see no safety benefits over the old corner...it's much faster now, with no run off...

[mac]

I think it is much better over the old corner.

The track is really wide on the exit, it is just that the drivers run right out to the wall to get maximum speed. You could put the wall back even more, but the drivers would run right out to it to maximise their speed.

Yes, it is VERY quick, and yes, there isn't miles of run-off, but I think it is much safer than before. If Bright or Ellery had the same problems on the old configuration, they would not have been travelling as fast, but the impact would have been much much heavier.

They've done a good job with it for mine.

[Ray Bell]

Thanks for the info gents... Maybe they should consider widening it for race days only, making that the first part of the track they dismantle after the race?

[Big Mac]

Who knows? Things work in funny ways over here.

[StuiE]

well at least it took out a HRT car
i like it

[Ray Bell]

Now there's a nice distorted comment...

[marcus]

hahahahaha

some good points there , and i dont want to think of an openwheeler crash there at all , but remember Kevin Bells Formula Holden shunt there a few years back , that was very nasty indeed and actually ripped the car in two.

I do like it , and think it is good and I guess the drivers know the risks and are prepared to accept it for what it is and someone pointed out that if there was more run off they would only take the corner faster , and I agree with that , which could lead to more problems.

[StuiE]

Thanx ray

[Tomgreen]

I thought all the drivers are racing drivers..........you can't be a racing driver and turn around and say "that corner is too dangerous" if that is the way you think then either slow down ....... or don't race. No-one is forcing anyone to race. After all a lot of those drivers do get paid to race don't they????
Motor racing IS DANGEROUS!!! You have to face the facts....you can't get huge rewards without taking risks.....i am not crash hungry but i think if all drivers moan about corners they didn't think were safe then it would take away a lot of the excitement and risks which makes racing what it is.
You have to take risks to get the rewards and everyone in the race is in the same boat..........

[racer69]

I have no problem with the corner, and actually think it is safer than the previous corner. Now if you have a crash through the corner you are more than likely going to hit side on, like Radisich, Ellery & Seton, as opposed to a head on hit which would happen with the old corner. The only problem i had with it was the gap which pushed Radisich's car back across the track, but that was fixed.

[Crash Test]

But saying that, it did injure 2 drivers... which is never good.

It's a cracker corner, but **** scary all the same. I think you'll find that Seton hit the kerb, or knicked the inside wall- bang, no way of recovering it- one written off car.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it parkland on either side of Adelaide straight? Surely they could put in a more substantial chicane thaty would actually slow the cars, as opposed to the old set up. Even better, why not bring back the old circuit configuration like they promised us this time last year. There, problem solved- and there would more than enough space for additional grandstands that Cochrane and Woods want...

[Amaroo Park]

I reckon move the event to Malalla and that will fix all the problems. Spent the money on it instead of on the street curcuit everyone in the sport would benifit