Bruno Senna's First laps at Yas Marina

[razta]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikvjwBEYk50

Check out that pit exit!



my tickets

[thehemogoblin]

Is that one of the old Minardi two-seaters?

[razta]

I think so.. it can't be the mclaren 2 seater

[RejectSteve]

Is that one of the old Minardi two-seaters?

It is, the giveaways are the rollover protection and suspension cover. The Minardi has a much smaller head support behind the driver's head and a more distinct twin-hump suspension cover over the springs.

[Wizzie]

That track is nowhere near a true street circuit. It's way too open and forgiving for my liking. (Abit like Valencia actually.) But then again it's just my personal opinion. A damp squib if I've ever seen one

That Pit exit however is just epic

[Winterspring]

I think this track is a bit bland but it is good none the less. I love the pit exit and Senna looks like he was enjoying a Sunday drive, so we haven't seen it in full speed yet.

[Captain Hammer]

That track is nowhere near a true street circuit. It's way too open and forgiving for my liking. (Abit like Valencia actually.) But then again it's just my personal opinion. A damp squib if I've ever seen one

Abu Dhabi abandoned its plans for a street circuit a long time ago. It was originally supposed to be half permanent facility, half street circuit, but then they just built it all as permanent.

And what do you mean by open and forgiving? Did you not see the section just after the hotel where the racing line out of the corners - in particular that first left-hander that the drivers can take while accelerating - went within inches of the outer wall?

I think this track is a bit bland but it is good none the less. I love the pit exit and Senna looks like he was enjoying a Sunday drive, so we haven't seen it in full speed yet.

He was a full minute off the pace. He did two laps in five minutes; the organisers are projecting a lap time of 1min 40sec. So yeah, he was slow.

[razta]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/10/v ... abu-dhabi/


VIDEO: First F1 onboard laps of Yas Marina circuit, Abu Dhabi

Posted on | October 14, 2009 | by James Allen
Email: editor@jamesallenonf1.com
Site: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com

Here is something a little bit special; the first on-board camera laps of the circuit which will host the final round of this year’s world championship – the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Even the F1 teams haven’t seen this material yet – and they will want to because there are some amazing features, not least the pit lane exit, which is a tunnel with a corner in it!

The track is 3.45 miles long and has 21 corners. It’s going to be quite tough on brakes as it has four big stop zones, where the cars come down from almost 200mph to a second gear corner.

Picture 1
The footage comes from the session last week, when Bruno Senna drove a two seater F1 car around the brand new circuit. The out lap gives you a sense of the geography of the track and the flying lap gives you more of a sense of the racing lines and rhythm of the lap. It’s a great piece of footage.

It looks like a real KERS circuit, not least because there is a hairpin, like the one in Montreal, giving onto the longest straight in F1 at 1.2 kilometres. Apart from the straight, you would expect cars which were competitive in Singapore to be competitive on Yas Marina and I’m making an early call that the smart money should be on Lewis Hamilton and McLaren for the win on this track. It looks like McLaren territory to me.

I’ve got some good relationships with the people at Yas Marina and I’m proud to be the first to show this material on Jamesallenonf1.com. Hope you find it interesting.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so, James reckons LEEEEEEEWIS is gonna win

[Jordan192]

Is there really any need for that chicane at turns 4 & 5? the short chute from pit exit to the hairpin's tiny enough as it is.

edit:
Also, the general feel of the place reminds me of an 'Oval Infield' Circuit - all the grandstands are dotted around the outside, enclosing an arena-like space, with a very fiddly infield that's only viewable from those grandstands at the edge. that's then countered by two very long and straight bits around the edge of it all.

[Yannick]

The track map had already shown before that this is another "Valencia" and the video proves that. But here, Tilke has also erected some megalomaniacal looking buildings like in Shanghai - and even though close to the sea, it is located on desert ground like Sakhir. That is three aspects I was hoping Tilke to avoid for his next track design rolled into one.

Back in 81, the Las Vegas Car Park GP was interesting because the championship was still open - and it was the final win of a Tyrrell.
I can only hope this one won't be as boring as Valencia.

The pit exit is strangely funny, though.

[jackanderton]

The first minute is completely uninteresting. Concrete, Grandstands, uninspired unchallenging corners.

From about 2 minutes onwards it looks hopeful with a tight high speed jerky right hander but that just leads to a total mickey mouse end to the lap.

It's going to be a procession.

[shinji]

I think there's something wrong with a circuit when the pit exit is the most interesting thing about it.

[Jack O Malley]

I think there's something wrong with a circuit when the pit exit is the most interesting thing about it.

agree

[Debaser]

The track to me is like Istanbul without turn 8, or a rip off of Fuji and Valencia. Typical Tilkedrome, uninspired and turgid with little creativity. Looks like providing a dull race, I can picture the off track action being starry eyed shots of glamourous Abu Dhabi buildings and lots of footage of Bernie hanging out with lots of rich sheikhs, basically what we see in Bahrain every year. A disappointment in almost every sense.

[thehemogoblin]

The track to me is like Istanbul without turn 8, or a rip off of Fuji and Valencia. Typical Tilkedrome, uninspired and turgid with little creativity. Looks like providing a dull race, I can picture the off track action being starry eyed shots of glamourous Abu Dhabi buildings and lots of footage of Bernie hanging out with lots of rich sheikhs, basically what we see in Bahrain every year. A disappointment in almost every sense.

I thought the track was going to be better. Then again, that was from the point of view of a Minardi two-seater. Let's at least wait until after Friday practice for us to really judge it.

[Tealy]

Let's hope the racing is good, because that track has 0 character.

[Bort]

Too many slow corners by the look of it.
I love the pack being compacted in a heavy hairpin corner maybe once a lap, not EVERY DAMNED corner.

[tristan1117]

I really don't like this at all. Again, why can't Bernie find someone else than Hermann Tilke! All his tracks are the same and this is no different. It has 1 interesting point (the bridge in Valencia, Turn 8 in Istanbul, the pit exit in Abu Dhabi) , then the rest is just blah.

[ferret]

I think the real question is who will be the first to crash at the left hander going into the tunnel at the pit exit.

[Captain Hammer]

I think the real question is who will be the first to crash at the left hander going into the tunnel at the pit exit.

Why is everyone so worked up about this? Interlagos has a longer pit exit with two blind corners, and you don't have an issue with that. Singapore has a blind left-hander going under the grandstand in a similar fashion that he cars have to take on sixty times at race speed, and you don't raise any concerns. So why is it an issue here? The drivers aren't idiots; even the Nelson Piquets and Romain Grosjeans of this world managed to get out of the pits every time. The only pit lane incident this year was Nico Rosberg in Singapore, and I daresay he's learned from it. There are twenty drivers, and over the course of a weekend, they leave the pits eight times each (three times in free practice, three times in qualifying and twice in the race). So that's a hundred and sixty pit exits in a single race. Over the course of a year, that's two thousand, seven hundred and twenty pit exits. And on only one occasion has a driver binned it.

So what evidence is there to suggest someone is going to get crossed up and find the wall here?

[Yuji_Ide]

I think the real question is who will be the first to crash at the left hander going into the tunnel at the pit exit.

Why is everyone so worked up about this? .....The only pit lane incident this year was Nico Rosberg in Singapore, and I daresay he's learned from it..... And on only one occasion has a driver binned it.

So what evidence is there to suggest someone is going to get crossed up and find the wall here?

Luca Badoer - Valencia

[ferret]

Nico - Singapore

[eytl]

David Coulthard, Australia 1995 (OK, so that was pit entry not pit exit, but it shows that accidents do happen in pit lane!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xl6QV85N7g

[shinji]

David Coulthard, Australia 1995 (OK, so that was pit entry not pit exit, but it shows that accidents do happen in pit lane!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xl6QV85N7g

Of course immortalised in the podcast intro.

[Jordan]

I'm no expert by any means, but from that video this looks like it'll be terrible racing and pretty stressful for the drivers, not a lot of relaxation time. We shall see

[watka]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem with Tilke's circuit is that there mostly as flat as a pancake. It's like there all designed in 2D. It really doesn't help that he keeps being given marinas as bases for his circuits.

[Bleu]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem with Tilke's circuit is that there mostly as flat as a pancake. It's like there all designed in 2D. It really doesn't help that he keeps being given marinas as bases for his circuits.

You can't really blame Tilke in that case. It's the track staff that shows location and "design the track here".

[jackanderton]

Well that's not wholly true. That circuit looks phenomenally expensive. Are you telling me they couldn't have done a bit of landscaping to make it more interesting?

I don't think it's a Tilke-trait. Turkey and the A1 Ring are nice and hilly aren't they?

[watka]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem with Tilke's circuit is that there mostly as flat as a pancake. It's like there all designed in 2D. It really doesn't help that he keeps being given marinas as bases for his circuits.

You can't really blame Tilke in that case. It's the track staff that shows location and "design the track here".

I wasn't blaming Tilke, he doesn't particularly get a choice over where the track is built. He managed to get something out of Turkey because he was able to work in some undulations.

[Stramala]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the problem with Tilke's circuit is that there mostly as flat as a pancake. It's like there all designed in 2D. It really doesn't help that he keeps being given marinas as bases for his circuits.

You can't really blame Tilke in that case. It's the track staff that shows location and "design the track here".

I wasn't blaming Tilke, he doesn't particularly get a choice over where the track is built. He managed to get something out of Turkey because he was able to work in some undulations.

He is a designer...why can't he just build some artificial undulations? If my local council can do it, surely a famed architect can do it too?

[Captain Hammer]

I wasn't blaming Tilke, he doesn't particularly get a choice over where the track is built. He managed to get something out of Turkey because he was able to work in some undulations.

No, the patch of land that was given to him came with those elevation changes. In contrast to the land set aside in Shanghai, which was virtualy flat. I suspect that, as architect, Tilke would be able to recommend to the organisers what he is looking for in a tract of land to build upon, but he generally has to work with hat he's given. And while there were no hills on Yas Island - being an aritificial island and all - they were able to construct some. There's one going through the second and third corners, another on the outside of turn eight and the inside of turn nine (which creates negative camber going into nine) and a third on right on the apexes of turns thirteen and fourteen.

Anyway, GP2 Asia is currently testing in Abu Dhabi ahead of next week's support races for the Grand Prix. It's the circuit's first experience with hosting an international formula series. Some of the drivers seem to like it:

Filippi tops first Abu Dhabi test

By Jamie O'Leary - Friday, October 23rd 2009, 16:37 GMT

Luca Filippi set the pace as the GP2 Asia Series staged its first day of pre-season testing at the brand new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The 24-year-old Italian was second quickest in the morning session in his Meritus car, behind Davide Valsecchi.

But he leapt to the top of the standings in the second session, which ended in the dark so that the track lighting system could be tested.

Filippi's pace-setting mark of 1m52.842s was set during the second session as the track, which started the day under a layer of dust, became rubbered-in and the evening temperatures dropped by around 10 degrees.

"I have to say that we are very proud to be the first ones to test on this track, and the first ones to be quickest." said Filippi. "Meritus only does the Asia Series too, so it's a good achievement.

"In terms of layout, there are two great, fast corners. My favourite parts are the first three corners and then the last two. It's where all the fun happens and where you can prove your driver's skills. Overall, it's a really nice circuit."

Second quickest, a little over two tenths of a second slower than Filippi overall, was fellow series veteran Roldan Rodriguez, who was driving for Coloni.

Diego Nunes, in the second Meritus car, was third quickest with Valsecchi and Luiz Razia next up for iSport and Barwa Addax.

Britain’s Sam Bird was the best of the rookie drivers in his ART machine, with fellow F3 Euro Series graduates Johnny Cecotto (Trident) and Christian Vietoris (DAMS) next up.

Max Chilton, Will Bratt and James Jakes were 10th, 11th and 19th for Addax, Coloni and Super Nova respectively.

So at least intial impressions are that it's not the absolute disaster people were expecting. We'll just have to wait until next week when the first laps are driven in anger for a fuller account. More testing later today.