Description of the Track Layout and its Route through the Port of Valencia
The Valencia Formula 1 street circuit is framed by the Grao area and more specifically will pass through the inner docks of the port and around the streets of the future neighbourhood that will eventually be built between the railway track, the port and the old bed of the River Turia.
Despite being a street track, its specifications and safety are the same as at a permanent track. The track length is nearly five and a half kilometres long and the width will be at least 14 metres wide including two hard shoulders of asphalt agglomerate identical to those of the track, each a metre wide on each side. Likewise runoff zones will be accounted for on the turns. The asphalt surface that will be used will be made up of modified bitumen with strong resistance to horizontal traction as applied to the surfaces of racing tracks. It will also have the usual drainage systems and in difference to the rest of the city streets it will not have any manhole or drain covers.
The start straight and the pits are located in the former port stalls. The layout of the track continues around the docks in a clockwise direction on the perimeter road until it reaches the point known as "Grua Cabria" where it approaches the cliff of the port passing in front of the America's Cup bases of Luna Rossa Challenge and BMW Oracle Racing before returning to the road with a left turn around the base of the Alinghi team.
The layout then moves on to the "Paseo de las Palmeras" before reaching the esplanade prior to the North Marina where through a series of slow turns it has a perpendicular approach to the dock access canal which it crosses over a swing bridge.
Once it reaches the South Marina area the track passes near to the edge of the quay following the curve described by it and where it then passes by the place where the current lifting bridge is located next to the wall that separates the sports marina from the commercial port.
After passing by the fish market, the track leaves the dock area through the "Astilleros" (shipyard) gates and heads straight on to the bridge with the same name, but before reaching it, there is a 90º turn to the right to enter the new urban area of Grao. It is here that the track borders the old River Turia bed until it reaches the railway line where there is a hairpin bend in front of the Grao cemetery to take the track north to the continuation of the Avenida de Francia.
When it reaches the new avenue, it runs down the right hand side, crosses the roundabout that links this neighbourhood to the Las Moreras neighbourhood and then passes through a series of "S" bends to negotiate some existing buildings that are still in use in the area. Finally, the track crosses the Ingeniero Manuel Soto Avenue and with a turn to the left enters the home straight now within the port area.
Track specifications
Total track length 5.473,5 metres
Estimated lap time 1 min 37 seconds
Estimated maximum speed 323,3 km/h
Estimated minimum speed 95,2 km/h
Estimated average speed 201,3 Km/h
Length of Pit Lane 657 metres
Length of service roads 3.824 metres
Length of private access service roads 1.828 metres
Minimum width on home straight 15 metres
Minimum width on rest of track 12 metres
Number of turns 25
Left turns 11
More Monza than Monaco - why Valencia's no ordinary street circuit
Mention the term ‘street circuit’ and the words that normally spring to mind include ‘tight’, ‘twisty’, ‘slow’, and ‘minimal overtaking’. However, the all-new Valencia Street Circuit, venue for next weekend’s European Grand Prix, is set to provide a very different experience.
Winding around the Spanish port’s Juan Carlos I Marina, home to the recent 32nd America’s Cup yacht race, the Valencia track is fast, sweeping and wide, and offers several potential opportunities for passing. Predictions suggest it will be the eighth-fastest race on the calendar, making it more like Monza than Monaco.
"When you think about temporary street races in Formula One, you mainly think about Monaco,” says Mercedes’ Norbert Haug. “However, Valencia does not have very much in common with this classic race; just that both cities are located on the Mediterranean coast and that both circuits lead along the harbour front.”
Official simulations have estimated a top speed of 320 km/h at the end of Valencia’s main straight and an estimated lap time around the 1m 37s bracket. With an expected average speed of 225 km/h, the circuit should be on a par with a venue such as Bahrain (average speed 205 km/h) and far quicker than Monte Carlo.
“This is not typical for a street race; it is more like a version of Silverstone or Monza but located in a city," adds Haug. “While the Monte Carlo race is the slowest of the year with an average speed of about 156 km/h for the fastest lap, and is also the shortest with a race distance of almost 254 kilometres, we face a race distance of 310 kilometres in Valencia and a track on which the cars will reach 300 km/h or more five times per lap.”
The new venue is likely to prove as tough on brakes as Canada’s Montreal street circuit, with three stops down to around 80 km/h. Engines will also get a demanding workout, with the longest full-throttle section along the harbour-side back straight lasting a full 13 seconds.
"It looks pretty fast, to be honest,” says McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. “You get used to street circuits being quite slow, with lots of slow- to medium-speed corners and very short straights, but this is almost the opposite. There are a lot of fast kinks and esses, a couple of decent straights and lots of high-speed stuff.”
McLaren’s simulations suggest they will employ downforce levels similar to those used at Hockenheim in Germany. However, there will be less margin for driver error thanks to the combination of relatively high speeds and relatively few run-off areas.
“Anybody who’s studied any onboard footage of the circuit will be mindful of the proximity of the concrete barriers in certain areas,” says McLaren’s Formula One CEO, Martin Whitmarsh. “Clearly, we’ll be packing plenty of spares, but hoping we won’t need to use them!"
Opening practice for the European Grand Prix takes place on Friday, August 22.
Virtual lap
Edited by alberto.ascari, 17 August 2008 - 16:50.
