Very true. One of the really wonderful things about Portland is that
it has so many good passing spots. the key to passing is a chute that
leads to a fiddly corner. A horsepower car can pass in the chute, a
handling car can brake late at the end.
Pacific Raceways is more like the non-passing race tracks you
mention, with a series of linked turns. there are only a two good
spots to pass, and most of the passing is in the long straight--all
by the horsepower cars that then hold you up through the turn
sections. Lots of fun, and one of my favorite tracks all the same,
but not easy to pass on.
On Jul 11, 2006, at 6:49 AM, Jack W. Drews wrote:
> Some personal musings, just for a discussion starter:
>
> I am really pleased to see the number of new tracks that have
> opened in the USA in the last couple of years.
>
> At the same time, I am genuinely disappointed at the layout of most
> of them. From a driver's standpoint, a good track needs several
> things to be fun and challenging. These include straights where you
> can go fast plus corners that are challenging. But a road course
> also needs to have more than one place in its two mile length where
> safe passing is possible.
>
> It seems to me that in our racing, almost no passing occurs in a
> stretch of road that is a continuous sequence of relatively tight
> connected corners. Fun to drive, but not fun to race. There is a
> distinction between the two. Most of these new tracks have one
> straight and then the rest of the real estate is filled with
> continuously connected corners. Examples are Mid America at Council
> Bluffs, Gingerman to a degree, and nearly all of the private club
> tracks.
>
> Most older tracks that I can think of had multiple passing
> opportunities. Think of Road America, Watkins Glen, and VIR as
> examples. Granted, these are all bigger tracks where it is easier
> to design what I'm talking about, and the new ones are much
> shorter. However, most of the older shorter tracks, that are about
> two miles in length, have multiple passing opportunities too --
> like Mosport, Grattan, Lime Rock, Willow Springs, Portland,
> Blackhawk, and more.
>
> Not that we can do anything about it. Just an observation.
>
>
> uncle jack
>
>
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