Alex Holowczak Presents the Dudley Grand Prix
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by user Alex Holowczak
This shows an area near to me. In fact, I live about two miles away from it. I think it would be a perfect place for a street motor, or "Auto" race. Heck, the red line which the race track shows even looks a bit like an A!
The Area
Dudley is famous for its' accent. Comedian Lenny Henry, is famous for coming from Dudley and his accent has been a huge help to his career.
Dudley has one of the largest shopping areas in the country, "Merry Hill" near to it, although there is no place for it on this lap (it is too far away).
It also has a lot of other "landmarks" in the area -
- A medieval castle - at the top of a hill, viewable from the home straight
- Black Country Museum - on one of the straights, you see one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Midlands
- Cinema - One of Birmingham's biggest new cinemas is viewable from the main straight. The whole area has new industry over there.
There are two hotels on the main straight for the fans and racers to use. Also, there is ample parking on the cinema carpark, along with Tesco and Wickes' carpark nearby. There is parking for about 1,000 cars.
The Fundamental Problems
- There would have to be temporary pit garages as there is no real space for them on the straight.
- There are no real grandstands - there would be space for one on the main straight opposite the housing, and there would be space for some on the bypass, and most of the other roads. They would need to be constructed.
- It would need a lot of safety measures, as ever on a street circuit.
- Most decent race tracks tend to have more than 7 corners (yes Oval fans, really!)
The Pros
- All roads used are dual carriageways, and although only one of the sides is used, they are wide enough for overtaking
- The layout is conjucive to overtaking
- At four miles, the track is long enough. It can be run without the Birmigham Road extension, and can also be run with a longer Birmingham Road extension.
- There can be three different tracks all revolving around the main straight. The Wolverhampton track can feature the bits with Wolverhampton in the name, and the same can be said for the Dudley roads on a Dudley track and a Birmingham track on the Birmingham roads. Note, Birmingham and Wolverhampton are actually nowhere near it, but they are the closest major areas to it, and the road names use those cities in their names.
The Lap
I will describe the lap-
- Start straight - On the way down to Castle Gate Island, the best viewing point on the track. There will be views of the castle.
- Turn 1 - Slow left onto a straight.
- Turn 2 - Go around the island and back on yourself, a slow corner. Leads back to Castle Gate Island.
- Turn 3 - Island acts as a chicane, slow corner - possible if unlikely overtaking zone. Long straight follows with Black Country Museum on the left.
- Turn 4 - Hairpin right - best overtaking opportunity on the lap (following top designer Hermann Tilke's rule - slow corner on to long straight on to slow corner). Onto the Wolverhampton Road, going on the wrong carriageway if you were driving it normally.
- Turn 5 - Burnt Tree - Uphill chicane - tough corner at one of the West Midlands busiest junctions normally. Takes you onto New Birmingham Road - another straight.
- Turn 6 - Hairpin - possible overtaking opportunity. Takes you back on yourself towards Burnt Tree.
- Turn 7 - Burnt Tree - a slightly downhill left onto the main straight.
Names of corners/straights
- Turn 1 - Castle Gate
- Straight - By-Pass Out
- Turn 2 - Dudley Hairpin
- Straight - By-Pass In
- Turn 3 - Castle Gate Chicane
- Straight - Museum
- Turn 4 - Wolverhampton Hairpin
- Straight - Wolverhampton Road
- Turn 5 - Burnt Tree Chicane
- Straight - Birmingham Road Out
- Turn 6 - Birmingham Hairpin
- Straight - Birmingham Road In
- Turn 7 - Burnt Tree
So there you have it.
Perhaps other Armchair Users can create their own tracks based on streets in their local areas. It needs to be four miles long or there abouts long, and be good to race on. It needs to be realistic. I.e. Roads are wide enough. Corey, if you read this and undergo the challenge, don't use Road America!
I used Multimap for the map - The scale was 1:25,000
Date
Tue 08/22/06, 8:01 am EST
I don't know if it would be good for Grand Prix (knowing absolutely nothing about any professional racing) I just know I would enjoy having at it with no speed limits and a clear path.
