This year will see the triumphant return of Zandvoort on the Formula One calendar, a venue that hasn’t hosted a race since 1985. In an effort to make the racing more exciting, though, the track decided to implement some banking. And now we’ve got our first view of that banking.
The photos comes from Geobrugg Motorsport, the first company to create homologated fencing for FIA-grade circuits. You can check them out below:
Honestly, I’m always here for banked turns, be they on an oval track or a road course. The last time F1 competed on banking was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007, making Zandvoort’s two banked sections—Turns 3 and 14—the first time this modern era of F1 will take on this challenge. And the banking is far more dramatic than that at IMS.
From Motorsport:
The final corner will be at an 18 degree angle, making it twice as steep as the banking used at Indianapolis for the United States Grand Prix between 2000 and 2007. Turn 3, Hugenholtz, will also feature a banking of 19 degrees.
“We did something that we thought would be really formidable to drive, that has no equal at any other racetracks,” said Dromo Circuit Design founder Jarno Zaffelli.
“Turn 14 is quite ample and wide, making it full throttle, whereas the transition between Turn 2 and Turn 3 has a lot of elevation and banking changes.
“All of your horizon is tilting, all of your perception is evolving, you feel like you are being squeezed. It’s like being in a corkscrew, depending on the line that you are following.”
The asphalt laid on the banking is a bespoke mix designed to be laid at an angle that should result in fewer marbles coming off the tyres, allowing various lines to be taken through the corner.
The images of the track don’t tell us much about what it’ll be like to drive it, but it seems to be pretty promising. I’m excited to get our first onboard shots of F1 cars taking on these corners to see what racing lines are being used and how the banking impacts the racing lines of the past.
If it works out well, here’s hoping that we’ll get even more banking at F1 tracks in the future.