Istanbul Park Circuit

Mapping

Mapping selection:

Profile

Istanbul Park, also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track near Istanbul, Turkey. It was inaugurated on August 21, 2005. It has been called “the best race track in the world” by Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The venue of the Turkish Grand Prix is located in Pendik on the Asian side of Istanbul, close to the junction of Kurtköy on the north side of TEM Motorway, linking Istanbul to Ankara. It is adjacent to the newly constructed Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and is surrounded by forests and fields.

The Istanbul Park racing circuit is one of only two circuits of the 2007 Formula One season that runs anti-clockwise, the other being Interlagos circuit (used for the Brazilian Grand Prix). The circuit is 5.338 km long, with an average width of 15 m ranging from 14 to 21.5 m, and covers over 2.215 million m². With a total of 16 corners, the sharpest with a radius of merely 15 m, the circuit runs over four different ground levels with a start/finish straight over 650 m in length. The total race distance of the Turkish Grand Prix is 309.356 km over 58 laps.

The main grandstand has a seating capacity of 25,000 spectators. In addition, natural ground stands and temporary stands can provide a total capacity of over 155,000. The paddock buildings are two-level structures; the ground floor reserved for racing teams, the upper floor serving as hospitality areas, with an additional viewing capacity of 5,000 seats. At each end of the paddock, there are two 7-story VIP towers.

The circuit and its facilities were designed by the well-known racetrack architect Hermann Tilke, who said he designed the track to try to catch the drivers out. The inaugural Turkish Grand Prix certainly caught the drivers out, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend.

Turn 8 particularly caught the imagination. The corner is a fast, sweeping corner with four apexes, similar to one of the multi-apex sections of the old Nürburgring. Spectators and drivers alike raved about Turn 8, comparing it to legendary corners such as Eau Rouge and 130R. The circuit itself has already been compared to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Another notable corner is Turn 1, a sharp downhill left-hander immediately after the front straight. This corner has been nicknamed by some as the “Turkish Corkscrew” in reference to the famous “Corkscrew” at Laguna Seca. Both the 2006 F1 and MotoGP races at the circuit featured multiple incidents at this corner. A third noteworthy area is the uphill kink in the middle of the back straight; due to its similarity to Eau Rouge, it has been jokingly referred to as “Faux Rouge.”

The circuit is not, however, without its critics. After qualifying, Jenson Button claimed that the track was getting bumpier as the weekend went on, particularly at Turn 8, which was what caused so many drivers to spin off. This harks back to another circuit designed by Hermann Tilke, Shanghai International Circuit, which is said to be sinking in places due to the fact that it was built on the site of a former swamp. Jarno Trulli was notable for his lukewarm feeling towards the circuit, saying that he felt the circuit was easy to learn, and that good performance was down more to the car than the driver.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

[ Anything to add? Spotted an error? Click here to improve this entry ]