Brands Hatch New Layout Pics

[pixie]

Here we are Folks

Follow this link to see the new layout at Brands

http://clubracing.co.uk/promo.htm

Yours views ???

[Teletubby]

Thanks for that Pixie, what do you 2-wheel guys think of Paddock now then?

Not sure it's going to do much for a car that's not on all 4 wheels!

[wiggles]

Is that tarmac at the top of paddock now?

[pixie]

That man has good eyesight

[spanner]

It looks like they have moved the armco barriers around paddock as they used to run in an arc around. Never seen the tires 4 rows thick there either. It should at least stop you falling over while running behind the armco. It seemed like a WW1 trench at times.What happened to the rabbits that live in the bank?
How on earth have they tarmaced it? i thought the gravel was pretty deep, they havent just put tarmac on top of it?

[sss]

well i liked the old dingle dell, but never mind

[Stoowert]

I Don't THINK they've moved the armco. It looked different 'cos the tyre-wall's gone. Not too sure about that, but the tarmac will speed club racing up no end. It must take 5 mins to extract anything well in the gravel.
The new Dingle Dell Corner (Dingle Dell is the dip before the corner! Annarak!) looks good, but the orange blobs on post 23/23a could be very busy as both DDC and Stirlings should be a lot quicker...

[Woolley]

Hmm, not too sure about this tarmac in the straight on positions. Apparantly they're doing Stowe at Silverstone too. Now I know none of us believe Schumi's problem was lack of brakes, but if it was genuine, what would the impact speed have been then? The gravel may not have worked as well as it might, but it still took off 70-odd mph. Tarmac with no brakes would take off??? Welll, 0mph I guess.

[theracegypsy]

No Woolley, the high abrasive tarmac works well to stop a car that is either braking, or sliding. It will not of course have any effect on a car which is under power, except that it will improve grip and therefore aid correctionof line.
I have seen it working at both Copse and corners in America

[PenelopePitstop]

The only time I ever rolled a car was at Paddock because it dug into the gravel sideways, Which stoped the hole meeting while I and the car was recovered, With the new tarmac I would have just spun harmlessley to a stop, I think.

[wiggles]

Originally posted by spanner
It looks like they have moved the armco barriers around paddock as they used to run in an arc around. Never seen the tires 4 rows thick there either. It should at least stop you falling over while running behind the armco. It seemed like a WW1 trench at times.What happened to the rabbits that live in the bank?
How on earth have they tarmaced it? i thought the gravel was pretty deep, they havent just put tarmac on top of it?

What they could do with doing is making the drop behind the tyre wall deeper in some places round paddock.

About halfway round between posts 3 and 4A at PHB the clearance on both sides is only about 2-3 feet high, meaning that if you had to crouch quickly to avoid something (usually a FFord) then you could be in trouble unless you decided to literally throw your self down. Up the hill at 3 and further round at 4A the tyre/armco protection come up to chest hight and there is much better protetion if you need to duck.

I suppose the smart-arse answer is, of course, not to stand between the two posts.

[Snapper Baz]

At the end of the day I doubt if tarmac will make any difference other than for the time it would have taken to retrieve stranded cars. Some injuries at Paddock have been minimised due to the slowing of cars ploughing through the gravel-others have been caused by cars digging in and rolling making things worse. If there's tarmac it may help when braking hard-but add rain and it will be a different story completely with braking virtually non-existant...the next few months will show how effective it is-OR ISN'T!

[Stuart Hill]

All the changes I have seen over the last few years have only led to one thing, but I don't take credit for having first mentioned it !!!!

The GREAT drivers (in no order,Fangio,Moss,Hill,Clark etc) used to HAVE to give racing room or else someone died!!!!

Modern F1 and some lower formulae just accept that they can get away with accidents as the whole sport is so much safer (for them!!)

Does this make them "Good/Great" drivers or just people that use the current regs and situation?

Guess which way I lean !!!!!!!

[alfaman]

Is the work at Paddock Hill Bend completed now? Or are they going to extend the tarmac run-off further down the hill by the time the Champ Cars come in May?

Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Brands for the Alfas at the end of March then.....

[pauldavid]

I hope i am wrong but i have a very bad feeling about the bikes at Brands, seeing the new lay out at paddock if they miss the braking point i think they are going to hit the safety fence at considerable speed. i allways stand up the hill from paddock and at the end of last year two bikes tangled just before the entry to paddock and as both lost there footings and were unable to brake the only thing to stop them was the sand trap, and even that could not stop what could have been a more serious incident, i hope a i am wrong but you can see what i mean from this photo i captured.