Longest straights?????

[Miss Hardt]

I don't know if this belongs here,but what tracks have longest straights and which straights are those?

[upstart]

There were very long straights on some of the circuits shown in the Shell films from before WWI. Dieppe is one I think. I know the longest in Australia was at Victor Harbour for the 1937 Australian Grand Prix. Today there are not such long straights but there was always talk of the straight at Paul Ricard being long. Mulsanne was 3 miles before the chicanes but it had a kink in it.

[TimD]

Most of the great straights have been emasculated now, in the interests of - well, I'm not really sure what.

The Mulsanne straight at Le Mans now has chicanes in it which conveniently allow for roundabouts into modern industrial developments. The organisers say it's to reduce overall speeds, and increase safety. Racers, such as Derek Bell will tell you that there is more strain placed on cars and drivers through the heavy braking and cornering, than there was in a quick three-mile blast.

Upstart is quite right. Mistrale at Paul Ricard was a long way. I would also mention the glorious, undulating Crowthorne Straight at Kyalami, now not only curtailed, but with a housing development built on one end of it.

[alfasud]

Targa Florio sports car race used to have a very long straight in the 1960's and 70's. Not sure if anyone can tell me the lenght as a web search says 6 km in some documents and other figures elsewhere. Could all be correct I guess, as the circuit changed from year to year.

[Peter Mallett]

There were three long straights at Reims.

[Dan Friel]

There's some long starights at Bathhurst. and some bits of Thruxton are sort of straight - the quickest track in the country (UK) of course.

[Chris Griffin]

I suppose Bruntingthorpe doesnt count really does it! ;-)
Hanger straight at Sliverstone is a fair run, as is Snetterton's Revett straight. Talking of revs or running out of them, apart from the above, the approach to Thruxton chicane could also count.

[Tony Harman]

In the UK at Club level I am pretty sure it is still Snetterton Revitt(nee Senna) straight, used to be the Norfolk straight before they plonked the market on it and lost half a mile of track. You can't really call the run down to the chicne at Thruxton a straight.

[THR]

think snet has the longest striaghts, donny's straight is also a long way!
but thruxton has the most flat out driving, only two lifts in the whole lap in a single seater!!

[upstart]

Originally posted by Dan Friel
There's some long starights at Bathhurst. and some bits of Thruxton are sort of straight - the quickest track in the country (UK) of course.

Are you Victorian? Bathurst's main (conrod) straight used to be 1.125 miles but now is only about 2/3 of that. And when one looks at circuits like the Targa Florio I think it might pay to look at the closing stages of the Mille Miglia course. Also there were long straights at Pescara. Again in Australia the Leyburn circuit had three straights of one and 1/3 miles each.

[paulzinho]

Le Mistral used to be over a mile long and both that and the Mulsanne succumbed to the FIAs dumb ruling that straights couldn't be more than a mile long.

I think theres a test facility at the Lausitzring with a long straight, Michele Alboreto was killed there last year on it after a puncture flipped his car.

[Miss Hardt]

Lenghts please?

[EERO]

Avus, let's not forget Avus!!!

[MichaelC]

The two straights at the unbutchered Hockenheim must have been getting on for a mile too??

[upstart]

Originally posted by MichaelC
The two straights at the unbutchered Hockenheim must have been getting on for a mile too??

I think you would agree that the original Hockenheim straights were much longer perhaps two miles if you looked here:

http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/hockenhe.html

[Miss Hardt]

Originally posted by MichaelC
The two straights at the unbutchered Hockenheim must have been getting on for a mile too??

Please,be gentle to the poor little thing...it suffered a lot.

[upstart]

Yes it did commencing when the Autobahn was built across one end and it had to be amputated.

[Miss Hardt]

It was too big!I liked the 6823 m version...nothing more beautiful on this planet...except maybe one certain F1 driver with number 11....*wink*

[DAVID PATERSON]

The longest straights in Australia today are just over 1km long.

[upstart]

Even Bathurst! Conrod emaciated to just over a km instead of just over a mile!

[Peter Scillitoe]

How about the Nurburgring Nordschleife from Dottinger-Hohns to Hohenrain. This section of the track is over 3k and, with a slight kink, then leads on to the main straight of the current F1 circuit which would make it over 4k.

[M Greenslade]

Who needs straights when you can go to Cadwell Park, home of the next British Grand Prix!!

[Shawn]

The final straight on the Nurburgring Nordschleife is definatly veeeeeeerrrrry long. And where else these days have a hedge separating the circuit from the main road, let alone a restaurent where you, yes you could sit for 'FREE' and watch competing cars fly past at I hate to think what speed. Obviously the F.I.A haven't noticed this one....

[Andrew Kitson]

The longest straight ever used in the UK must have been the 1949 Silverstone configuration used just for one meeting only, a VSCC event. It is shown in Peter Swinger's excellent book 'Motor Racing Circuits in England Then & Now'
It ran from Stowe up the runway all the way to Copse. From Copse the track ran the traditional course back through Becketts and down Hanger before the sharp Stowe corner hairpin back onto the runway. Guess that must be a mile at least.

[Lorna]

So does Snetterton have the longest straight in the UK then? This is a bit spooky because I was having this conversation with one of the fella's at work the other day and I wasn't sure.