Long Island - The Perfect Venue for the United States Grand Prix
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by user Alex Holowczak
A few weeks ago, there was speculation regarding the future of the United States Grand Prix. Indianapolis is the current home of the United States Grand Prix, although there is speculation of the race moving from the circuit, due to Tony George's bad management if you're British, or Bernie Ecclestone's bad management if you're American.
This got me thinking. Where else could the United States Grand Prix go?
There are a long list of potential sites for the race:
- Laguna Seca
- Road America
- Sebring
- Road Atlanta
- Long Beach
- Watkins Glen
All of these, as I have previously discussed, have problems. They are great courses, and some are better than others. But there is something wrong with all of them.
- Laguna Seca - too short
- Road America - too dangerous
- Sebring - poor facilities
- Road Atlanta - poor circuit
- Long Beach - too short
- Watkins Glen - suicide camp
So then I thought, why not make a new track? That's much more fun. And it would give me something original to talk about in this article!
So off I went, thinking of a new place to host the race.
I thought it needed to appeal to the masses. The biggest F1 fan base is the two coasts, and the East is more densely populated, which increases ease of transportation for most people. So I decided to make this new circuit on the East coast of America.
Thinking back historically to racing in America, I then remembered an old race, that used to be held. Called the Vanderbilt Cup, it is now awarded in Champcars. But the race was originally staged on Long Island, in New York. Long Island seemed to be a good venue. Using google maps, I discovered it had an impressive number of airports... And it had wide open areas, compared to the gridiron like appearance of the main area in New York.
Also, Ecclestone loves his street circuits. He's been attempting to reintroduce them into Formula One, so I thought I would try to start a street circuit somewhere on Long Island.
So I then perused the area around Long Island. I discovered it wasn't actually an island - which was news to me. I also found another place called Long Beach, not the California one, but it was there nonetheless. Holding the race there would confuse non-Americans, who thought "Ah! Long Beach!" thinking that it was on the West Coast in California. So that was a no-no.
I continued my search. I was trying to find sweeping roads, maybe near a long straight (perhaps a freeway). High speed corners and long straights are popular, if unsafe, but I was going for a good circuit, not a safe one with this.
Then I found something good. Next to Eisenhower Park and Golf Course, I found a winding road, called Park Boulevard. It seemed to be a sweeping road. Usefully, it was attached to Memorial Avenue, the straight road I was after. Furthermore, it was attached to some shorter, slower roads too. That would be ideal to test the cars and drivers on slower corners. I had found my venue.
Next come the facilities of the area. It seemed to be very grassy, i.e. no buildings in the way. So building in the area is possible, although I imagine that I'd need to stay away from the golf course! So the Turnpike would form the pit entry, before following down Memorial Avenue. The pits facility would need to be built between there and the lake at the north of the circuit, and preferably away from the baseball facilities. Although, that isn't as essential, they can be replaced in another location. Pit facilities would cost a lot of money, but I think state of the art facilities is asking a lot. After all, what do you do when racing stops? So I would suggest more temporary facilities.
I would advise similar logic on the grandstands. There are roads on the other side of Memorial Avenue, so they would need to be closed so that Grandstands can be built on them. Only temporarily. You could put more on the inside of the Boulevard between the Golf Course. The built up area would be more difficult, but there will be ample seating elsewhere.
The circuit would need armco barriers around its entirity. There is no way that you can have a street circuit without them.
I wanted the layout to promote overtaking. I think it will into Turn 1, and maybe on the right-hander into the infield section. But this circuit mainly boasts features like the great circuits of old. High speed corners and straights. Although it has the slower corners too.
Obviously this would cost a lot of money, but it is done elsewhere in America (St. Petersburg, Sears Point) and around the world (Montreal, Monaco) - so it could happen here. And the venue would attract the masses from the States and abroad. The only other facility I can think of requiring is a big car park somewhere... Usually F1 attracts >100,000 people, so you'd need something like that in terms of car spaces. But details!
I know a few of you live in New York, so maybe if you know exactly the roads I'm talking about, then you could shed some light onto the viability of this... i.e. is the Golf Course and Baseball area fundamental... or is something major going to be built there... etc. Things like that.
