Donington Park 2010 Formula One Track Simulation

Here’s nice clip, found on Donington’s website by 125Brits.com author Richard.
It’s an F1 simulation of the new (new as in not built yet) Donington Park configuration, which is due to be in operation in time for 2010 when F1 comes to the track, and when MotoGP has sadly departed for Silverstone.

It’s a great indication of the gains and losses of the new layout; for instance the omission of the Fogarty Esses which is something of a shame, and the new infield drop and rise - something of a double edged sword as although it’s clearly a really nice feature and looks like it could provide some great racing, it’s also clear just how much of the punters’ viewing areas of the infield have been got rid of. (But then racegoers, punters and fans always seem to come strangely low on authorities’ priorities...)
Still - overall it’s a great lap and it clearly shows how impressive Craner Curves will remain, and what a classy, racey and characterful, charming circuit Donington is.
And it just reminds you how bewilderingly drab and awful Silverstone is by comparison.

Anyway - enjoy the lap, and you can find the full size simulation here on the Donington Park website...

Hermann Tilke's New Donington Design? We Like!

Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd submitted plans for the first phase of the re-development of Donington Park with North West Leicestershire District Council on Friday 5th September.
The Parkland circuit faces massive re-development in preparation for the British Formula One Grand Prix that will be staged at the circuit in 2010. An agreement was signed between Donington Park Leisure and the FIA in July to stage the British Grand Prix for ten years, starting in 2010.

"The submission of these plans heralds the start of a massive re-development project and a new era for Donington Park. It's an incredibly exciting time for everybody involved," explained the circuit's Chief Executive Officer Simon Gillett. "We are delighted with the plans and when the work is completed we will have a facility that will be the pride of World Championship motorsport."
The 2009 programme of major events at Donington including the British Motorcycle Grand Prix and the World Superbike Championship will be unaffected by the re-development.

Donington Park will not be issuing any more releases or making any comment about the re-development until the North West Leicestershire District Council announces their decision on planning in early November.


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WE SAY: Well, the plans look pretty good actually. Although it'll be strange not to have Redgate and the run down to Craner and the Old Hairpin as the opening corners, it has to be said that the new long straight looks good, and there could well be a very very interesting piece of track in that new infield section - turns 2, 3, 4 and 5. (Look at the second graphic where we have overlaid Tilke's plan onto a satellite shot of the current circuit...) Turn 2 will run down the bank that overlooks Starkeys, and by the looks of it Turn 3 will be a neat switchback that also points uphill as the track curves up and round to 4 and 5 and then runs off down what is currently the main stright. Given the inclines in that part of the infield, it may be a rather exciting piece of tarmac...
We like - and we have to say that we're suprised Hermann Tilke hasn't made a complete bollocks of things like he usually does (apart from most of the Istanbul Park circuit.)

The most important thing, if the track is going to be this good, is to ensure that public facilities and all the main road and traffic services are up to scratch. That's where the real problems may lie...

The Shape Of Things To Come?

I’m going to quote in large part here, from an article by Toby Moody - which appeared on the Autosport website as the second part of his Estoril review.

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“I tuned into some brand-new coverage of an established motorsport in January only to be treated with the 'now this is a such-and-such-a-car and it goes very quickly'.
This was followed by an annoying lesson from the presenter on where the country was situated in Europe, a country to which I have driven in less than a day from my own UK base.
Then the lessons started on what the cars are like, where the engine goes and how fast they go.
Off button.

I didn't finish watching the broadcast after muttering things at the screen, leaving me now of a mind that there are now two types of coverage of motorsport; hardcore petrol heads such as the person reading this article, and the 'floating viewer' who thinks Valentino Rossi rides that 'Supers-bikes thing' and that the RAC Rally still goes to Chatsworth.

Sport on TV is an emotive subject, particularly with its commentary, and I am one of the few who can comment on what it is like to hear what people think about how a sport should be purveyed.
What is interesting is that with the raft of channels available on the Sky Digital platform in the UK (how many channels are there now?) sports rights holders have got outlets on which they can send the 'hardcore petrol head' programmes to.
It is essential that big TV channels such as TVE (Spain), Media Set (Italy) and the BBC (UK) give MotoGP coverage, but in this day and age with technology making things easier to do anything in life, the set-top digital box makes sports fans almost spoilt for choice, and that's before we've come over to the internet, podcasts, and forums.”

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That’s not the entire piece, but I reckon it captures a crucial point about the divergence of audience types and the questions that this raises (particularly with respect to some current rumours regarding MotoGP coverage).
Take Formula One - which I followed religiously from 1976 until this year, when having pissed me off one time too many I finally decided it was no longer worthy of my time, energy and boundless fandom for something that captures my imagination... F1 is to return to the Beeb, with ITV handing it back suspiciously easily given that they spent last year raving about how impossibly huuuuuuuuuge Lewis Hamilton had made the sport become and how popular it now was... you have to wonder whether it’s as commercially successful as such shrieking would have you believe. (And therefore what the Beeb as an ostensibly non-commercial operation are going to be able to do with it as a result, as they paid a shedload of money for it...)
One hope might be that the BBC are going to reappraise the style and standard of coverage, which particularly last season was infantilised by ITV more than ever (presumably to cater for an audience of utter simpletons - or merely to patronise an audience that weren’t that thick or as obsessed with Lewis Hamilton as James Allen and Steve Rider) - and take it in the direction of what Toby refers to above as ‘petrolhead’ coverage....

It’s worth bearing in mind that F1 has already had such a type of coverage, due to the technical developments in digital production and broadcast in the late nineties, in the form of the paid-for satellite channel F1 Digital+ which, apart from Ayrton Senna, Colin Chapman and Kimi Raikkonen, is surely one of the best things to ever happen to the sport. It was a seriously interactive multi-screen experience that was accessible *all* weekend (including practice sessions and warm-ups) and was immeasurably superior to the standard terrestrial TV coverage as a result. Its demise (or self-destruction in the UK, thanks to Bernie, on financial grounds) was undoubtedly one of the worst things to happen the sport - apart from the banning of turbos, the Indy debacle, Jacques Villeneuve’s purple hair and, yes, James Allen...

What does this have to do with MotoGP? With 250? With Bati fans such as myself?
Well if you click your mouse here you can take a look into a debate regarding the BBC coverage and whether there are implications for whether Eurosport will be continuing.
Regardless of the fact that I 100% want Eurosport there in the mix - with Toby, Julian and Randy at the mikes - there is a hypothetical question already... If Eurosport aren’t there (and irrespective of whether our favourite commentators end up at the Beeb) what kind of coverage are the BBC going to make it? Both in terms of quality, and quantity...?
Although the Beeb is a vast multi-channel broadcaster, you have to acknowledge that apart from things like Wimbledon, its not big on *dedicated* coverage. In all fairness, ITV did a lot more to extend coverage in F1...

Given that BBC does not run a Sports channel (let alone a motorsports channel) the MotoGP coverage will have a lot to compete with... certainly a lot more than it does in the Eurosport environment. Where does that leave things like the scheduling and coverage of qualifying and practice is what I’m wondering. And not only that. Where does it leave coverage of the 250cc and 125cc categories? They would stand a distinct chance of being ditched in tight and complex schedules under the BBC.
I believe that in a BBC-only MotoGP coverage world these are going to be seriously at risk; not to mention the lack of the best motorsport commentary team anywhere. Some serious questions and worries need addressing, and whilst it might mean we no longer have advert breaks in the races I genuinely believe that’d be a pretty poor trade-off.

This is all without any basic certainties of what is actually going to happen of course - there's a dearth of information about what *will* happen with Eurosport's MotoGP coverage, but I’m pretty alarmed already I must admit. If you know any more about where these things are headed or can point me at other references, or indeed at a campaign to ensure we have Eurosport, Toby and Julian continuing to bring us the best petrolhead coverage of *all* classes, then do please drop me a line.

Decent weekend's motor sport even without Bati!

Ah well, even if there was no 250cc action featuring Bati this weekend at least there was an amazing "European" (German) GP in Formula One, apparently scripted by the people who brought you Whacky Races (though sadly it continued Kimi Raikkonen's Nurburgring jinx, dammit!)...
And in the main MotoGP class there was an excellent weekend for Ducati rider Casey Stoner who completed the event at Laguna Seca with an 'icing on the cake' win, having topped all sessions. Nice work matey :)
I'm dead chuffed for Stoner, having really rooted for him last year in his debut season in the top class - one where he was fab on the bike, but sadly also seemed to spend a fair bit of time *off* it too! This year he seems to have found a perfect mix of team, bike, skills and maturity to take the championship.... is it only a matter of time now?