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Argentinean Grand Prix: the circuit in Mar del Plata (125 posts)

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Jack said 1 year, 2 months ago:

@Renner
If it where banked…. it would have to be a veeeeeery smoothe surface. I rather it be flat and maybe even off camber…. make it nice and slow !!

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Honestly, it’s hideous. Just a bunch of straights, harpins and chicanes. None of the corners seems to really push the car to its limits.

Abu Dhabi looks great compared to this one…

The problem with Abu Dhabi is that it is filled with medium-speed corners. But this circuit appears to be predominantly made up of long straights and low-speed corners. I’m guessing that if it were ever raced on, it would be an uncharacterisically low-downforce circuit. And that might actually be pretty unique.

At the very least, the circuit is radically different from anything else on the calendar, and given Tilke’s design history, radically different is what the calendar needs.

It is Tilke design… who else? It was designed back in 2009 and proposed again now that the country wants a race again.

As you say, it was designed in 2009. Things may have changed since then. For one, Tilke has gotten a lot more adverturous in his circuit design – India, Austin and New Jersey are all pretty unique (even if the Indian Grand Prix was boring, you can chalk that up to Red Bull’s dominance; it was a hit with the drivers). If Argentina really does want a race, Tilke might decide to go back to the drawing board.

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mrgrieves said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Doesnt Argentina have a great circuit already?

Im sure there was a page on here a while ago talking about future tracks in F1 and the Argentina one looked amazing

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

@mrgrieves – Are you talking abou the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez?

Formula 1 used to race there in the 1980s, but then the circuit got shortened, and it basically became a glorified go-kart circuit. It’s unlikely the sport will return there, because – I’m told – it’s in a really rough part of town. Fer no.65 is our resident expert on all things Argentina, so he could probably tell you more.

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sam3110 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

What about the Velociudad Speedcity, being built by Populous? Wasn’t that meant for Formula 1?

http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/argentina/velociudad_speedcity_p161211_1.jpg

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

@sam3110 – The circuit was/is being constructed with the intention of hosting Formula 1, but without a deal in place. There is no guarantee that Zarate will host the Grand Prix. Therefore, any other circuit or location interested in hosting a race is free to enter negotiations with Bernie.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

I said it many times, the Velociudad Speedcity is just a ghost proyect, it’s never going to happen. Never. No one here “bought it” when the news arose around the globe, it’s just a businessboy trying to make an impression. There’s nothing to back the amount of money needed to build it and make it run, nothing.

About the Juan y Oscar Galvez: the track is pretty much in the same condition as it was back in 1980′s. The long loop and the back straight around the lake has been resurfaced recently, but the run off areas are in pretty bad condition.

The whole track is running, and it’s used many times during the year. Almost every weekend there’s a race held there. But if F1 were to come back to Buenos Aires, they’d need to completely rebuild it almost from scratch.

It’s in a zone of the city that’s being reactivated too. The Tennis stadium used for Davis Cup rounds is near the track, and recently Creamfields and many other concerts have been held in the racetrack itself. So it’s not bad at all. My university is close to the circuit too (btw, hearing racing cars blasting around the racetrack while at the university is as awesome as it gets!).

The problem is that the opposition is running the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, where the circuit is located. So it’s basically the same situation as Potrero… it’s not going to happen there either.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

@prisoner-monkeys they’ll still place the circuit round Playa Grande, the Naval base and the “escollera” (dunno the name in english, but it’s that long line entering the sea).

So the space is limited and there won’t be a major change, IMO. I still don’t like it…

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

@fer-no65 – my main concern was that the escollera (the English word is “breakwater”) would be too narrow for the circuit. But, looking at satellite maps of Mar del Plata, it’s actually ~120m wide. Even with two straights 15m wide, that still means that there is ~90m of space to fit everything – grandstands, pits and paddock – in. Especially since each straight would be nearly a mile long; there would be about 72000 square metres of space for facilities. That knowledge has warmed me up to the idea a little more.

They just need to do something about that Monza-like chicane and the giant U-bend on the western side of the circuit. If that switchback was cut out, the cars could probably take the whole thing flat out.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

You mean the roundabout at the Golf Club’s entrance? yeah, maybe if they get rid of that there would be a nice corner… plus it goes up there, right before the harpin that takes the car down and to the breakwater again.

The breakwater is quite wide there, yeah. http://www.arqa.com/wordpress/wp-content/files/2012/02/planta-conjunto.jpg

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

That’s the corner I’m talking about. The cars could go flat out from the southern hairpin to the northern one. But I suspect the chicane has been thrown in to stop cars flying though the left-hander that follows it because of the close proximity to another part of the circuit.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Umm… this is that bit:

http://www.guiafe.com.ar/fotos-argentina-2005/mardel03.jpg

Here’s a better pic (neverming the purple line…). http://www.autosblog.com.ar/wp-content/gallery/formula-1-argentina-mar-del-plata/circuito_formula_1_mar_del_plata.jpg

It doesn’t seem to be a critical point. It’d be a great corner if they omitted the roundabout.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

Now we’re talking about it, I remember I walked round there with a couple of friends when I went to Mar del Plata last year for the summer holidays. I remember telling them “this would be a great corner for motorsports!”.

Poor fellas at the Base Naval they won’t have as many football pitches as they have now if the circuit is build round there! I remember they always worked out in that field.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 2 months ago:

I am curious about the roundabout. There’s only one road in and out, so it would have to be divided in two for the circuit to work. And that’s probably going to be very narrow.

Looking at that aerial shot that you posted, the chicane before the climb up the hill looks to be totally unnecessary. The circuit goes uphill, so I doubt there’s much danger of cars spearing off into oncoming traffic.

I also find it interesting that there are two circuit plans floating about – one with chicanes, and one without. The section in front of the naval yard is different, too.

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 2 months ago:

The second pic I posted is the official one. So there’s only 1 version, the rest are just made up, really.

There’s not much information, but the sources close to the proyect (the governor of Buenos Aires included) show this map, the same I posted earlier: http://www.vorterix.com/common/contents/photos/2012_03_16_084107_03-16-12-plano-f1.jpg

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