I think the problem with the current Fuji layout is that it has way too many slow corners. The Coca-Cola curve and 100R are the only fast corners in the circuit, and that sequence plus the following Hairpin are the only corners I like in simulations. On the other hand, the old long final corner was even better than those corners, Tilke just removed it. And I think that was a mistake, that corner made Fuji special. If I had been Tilke redesigning Fuji, I would’ve definitely kept that corner, with or without the Dunlop chicane. If needed, I would’ve moved that corner a bit inwards to create more runoff. And if the lap would’ve been too short, I would’ve had an infield section in place of the Dunlop chicane.
Anyway, here’s a simple modification to the Fuji circuit (length 4.5 km):
The old final corner was great to drive in sims, and I guess the G-forces would be huge with an F1 car. But in sims, it was great to go through that corner wheel to wheel. And I think we could see something similar in that long corner leading to a hairpin.
Anyway, the purpose of this thread was to design a roval. The original oval was probably not meant to have a 1.5km main straight, instead it was meant to be a 2.5-mile superspeedway, probably like Daytona. But the original developer ran out of money after completing the first corner banking, and the new developer made it a road course instead. But if we keep the main straight intact, the oval would be very long.
Anyway, here’s my roval design and old circuit for comparision:
The road course would be 6.8 km and oval 4.6 km/2.9 mi. It would have tighter left-handers before joining the short circuit than the original. That’s to accommodate run-offs. In the Coca-Cola, 100R, and Hairpin corners, my proposal would follow the current circuit, not the old. But after Hairpin, the track would turn left for a new long right-hander leading to the oval’s 2nd corner. That would bring back some of the charm of the old final corner, that could be a flat-out section, and it would end up with a hairpin creating an overtaking spot before a short infield arena section. And that arena section would lead to the oval’s final corner leading to main straight. The final oval corner would shorten the main straight a bit, yet the banked final corner would compensate that.
There could be also be other circuit variations:
There would be the current 1st turn hairpin to avoid the 1st oval corner, that would reduce the road course’s distance to 5.1 km. And there would also be a variation (red) that would bypass all oval sections and be used e.g. by motorbikes that can’t use the oval sections. Its distance would be 3.8 km. Besides, in the infield there would be a 2.6 km club circuit.
Linear Mode
