Tell us about your experiences of visiting Istanbul Park in Turkey.
You may wish to include:
- When you visited the track
- Where you watched from
- How easy it was to get to
- How much of the track you could see
- What support races there were
- What you liked and didn’t like
- How much it cost and whether it was good value
Please use the reply box below to leave your comments.
- 2006
- Silver 3, stand 7
- It was very easy, with buses from Sulthanamet. But the bus trip was too long. 2 1/2 hours — I spent a total of 15 hours on the bus over the weekend, so next time I would skip friday
- Very good view of turns 12, 13, 14 — a very good overtaking spot with lots of action. TIP! The best view of Turn 8 is general admission tickets. You get a lot closer than on the silver 2 grandstand.
- GP2, SEAT Cup and Womans Lupo er something.
- Liked the track and the trackside stalls was very good. There was buses going around the track. Didn’t like that the other grandstands were closed on friday, and that it’s in the middle of nowhere. The atmosphere could also have been better — can’t compare with the 2 other races I’ve been two in that regards (Spain and Hungary 2007)
- around €240 for the tickets, very good prices on the plane ticket and Hotel — around €260 total for a week. So very good value.
Sigmund, what was Silver Stand 7 like for view?? what other corners/straights/action could you see from this stand?
Graeme
I went to Istanbul Park for the second Grand Prix there in 2006.
As is often said simply getting to the circuit is extraordinarily difficult. We caught a bus from Istanbul which took about an hour and a half and on the return journey the driver got lost.
At that time the race was held in early September and the heat was fierce. Unless you’ve got a grandstand seat there’s no shelter and spectator facilities around the far side of the circuit are damn near non-existent. This is a pain if you’re making a trek out to the mighty turn eight, which is easily the best thing about the Istanbul track.
- 2009.
- Bronze 5.
- Not easy. And I’m a Turkish. Even it took one and half an hour from the continent of Asia. The track is really middle of nowhere.
- Most of it because of the bus trips.
- That year, there was GP2, Turkish Touring car and Porsche Cup.
- Just seeing and living the atmosphere worths everything. But the security wires in front of us were really annoying. On the other hand, we’re at the nearest tribun to the track.
- It cost me about 100 $. And it’s a reasonable value.
Dear Shagrathian,
i would like to visit the Turkish GP in 2010, and a have some questions:
-there is a public-pitlane-walk on Thursday?
-what do you mean about Bronz 2? (is it far from the track?)
how much does it cost apprx the bus-ticket to the circuit?
really takes 1,5 hours the trip? better way to rent a car?
many thanks in advance for your help
It was the first time i went to a f1 race since canada 1996. Watched indy cars.
I got a very good deal on plane 90 euro, from spain, race ticket 40 euro, for general admision. You could walk almost the hole circuit.
But i got the feeling that the cars were underpowered, and you just got the feeling of no speed. May be because the track is so wide open.
But i saw the martini legends in jarama, with a ferrari 2007, on slik tyres, and the sesation of speed was much higher. A feeling i didn’t get in stambul.
I traveled from Canada to Turkey for the Grand Prix last year (2009). There was no Thursday pitlane walk, which was disappointing. We took the bus each day from Taksim Square to the circuit. Get their early, and take the 1st bus (7am I think). The bus is really cheap, but the ride is ~90mins in light traffic.
The circuit itself really is in the middle of nowhere. There’s no nightlife, and when we returned to Istanbul, you’d be hard pressed to find any evidence of an F1 race taking place. We stayed at the Hilton, and the hotel prices were not your typical gouging/inflated rates I’ve paid at other races.
Walking the track is a must do. This is a great circuit, and the elevation changes are much bigger than you see on the TV. And the cars taking Turn 8 was very impressive. You get a great sense of the speed and different lines drivers take.
Our seats were in Grandstand 8, which is at the final turn complex. I think it’s a great spot because you see the cars coming down to the hairpin at T12 from full speed, then through T13/14 and onto the main straight. You also see the pit entrance, and can see down the pitlane.
The lack of crowds meant few lineups for beer and toilets. The bus ride back to Istanbul after the race was very long. Huge traffic jams.
I don’t regret going. I’d never been to Turkey before, and I do like the circuit. It was unfortunate that Canada with it’s consistent sell-out crowds and massive F1 atmosphere lost it’s race in ‘09 while Turkey was tarping over grandstands so the TV camera’s wouldn’t notice that only 20k people showed up.
But, that’s history. Canada is back!!
Hi Mark
I wonder if you could tell me if there were fences obstructing the view from grandstand 8. And if you have any photos taken from there. its so hard to find a good ticket shop with photos taken from the stand.
Many thanks
simon
I’ve booked to goto the Turkish GP this year and will report back my experience in June.
All I can say for now is that I’ve booked tickets for Grandstand 2 and I’ve booked a hotel just outside the airport, so travelling by car to the circuit should only take about 30mins.
I have also booked tickets for F1 in Turkey.
I am too staying in a hotel just outside Ataturk Airport. Getting to the circuit from the city seemed a bit longwinded.
According to the circuit’s site, http://www.istanbulparkcircuit.com/en-gb/Istanbul-Park/How-to-get-here/
special buses are being run from this airport.
Has anyone gone from the airport by bus, or would it be better to hire a car?
And what about silver 1?
I booked there. Any recommends?
I’ll be there with my son (9 years).