Abandoned Racetracks
- Thread starter Johnny1996
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At least it's been properly returned to a natural state, rather then being fenced off and left to crumble away or leveled into a cheap and mostly unoccupied housing development. I'm sure that's not much comfort for some, but I feel it's good they went for the responsible endpoint.Ostkurve, Hockenheimring (2021)
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- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
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SestoScudo
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Pete05
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Tired Tyres
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It's a very pale shadow of its former self. Fastest lap in qualifying was at an average 160mph. In damp conditions in 1985. It would be epic today.
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- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
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Epicly boring with no overtaking.
Pete05
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How so?
With the modern rulebook, they could DRS* the hell out of the place & make it a total lottery.
*Not a fan.
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Nivelles-Baulers, which hosted the Belgian Grand Prix in 1972 and 1974, only traces of it exist now as most of it has become an industrial estate.
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- The US of A
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- 16,096
- Melbourne
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Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet de Brasília. This is where I saw my first race, around 2003-04. Went with my dad to see Formula Truck and I thought it was so cool that I asked him to go again to see Stock Car and many other events. My last time there was 2014 (also the last year the track held events) to see Brasileiro de Marcas, a championship between Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Mitsubishi Toyota and Renault. I think I might have some photos from that race.
Between 2014-2020 the track got completely neglected. Doesn't look that bad compared to some really abandoned tracks, but imagine not having a racetrack in the capital city for more than 10 years.
MotoGP was planning to race here in 2014 and Indy wanted too in 2015. The government cancelled both events because the track had no conditions of helding events like that. Then it got involved in a judicial dispute because 5 companies were using the space for kart racing illegally.
In 2017 the government started repaving the whole track, but they didn't finish saying there wasn't enough money. A new private company got a contract to finish the project and, well, they didn't.
In 2018 someone created a rumour saying a big company wanted to buy the whole thing so they could build apartments. I don't know if this was true, but people got really mad when the gorvernment said they were inclined to accept the offer.
In 2019 a bank saw potential and they made a deal with the government: the bank will pay everything to modernize the track and in exchange they can manage the whole thing for the next 30 years. Finally in 2021 the revitalization project started and they think the track will be ready at the end of this year!
Photos from it's glory days:
Between 2014-2020 the track got completely neglected. Doesn't look that bad compared to some really abandoned tracks, but imagine not having a racetrack in the capital city for more than 10 years.
In 2017 the government started repaving the whole track, but they didn't finish saying there wasn't enough money. A new private company got a contract to finish the project and, well, they didn't.
In 2018 someone created a rumour saying a big company wanted to buy the whole thing so they could build apartments. I don't know if this was true, but people got really mad when the gorvernment said they were inclined to accept the offer.
In 2019 a bank saw potential and they made a deal with the government: the bank will pay everything to modernize the track and in exchange they can manage the whole thing for the next 30 years. Finally in 2021 the revitalization project started and they think the track will be ready at the end of this year!
Photos from it's glory days:
- 5,555
- The US of A
So I was on vacation in Myrtle Beach recently and while I was there, me and my family went to Captain Hook's Adventure Golf and something worth noting is, it's right next to where Coastal Speedway used to be. From what I gather, it used to be a horse racing track but was later used for auto racing from 1955 to 1957 and hosted at least 2 NASCAR races before its closure. Despite all the development that has happened at Myrtle Beach over the years, portions of the track still remain.
Don't know if I can post screencaps from historicaerials.com or not since its pictures are labeled as copyrighted material, but if you go there and input the coordinates "33.70446030824205, -78.87237443361401" (without quotes), and then click aerials and 1951, you can get a very good idea of what it once looked like.
And here is a Google Earth image from April of this year. Although theirs not a lot left of it, you can still tell something was once there.
Being fascinated with old race tracks, I obviously took the time to make some pictures of the place while I was there. The red dot on the map is roughly where I was standing and this is what I saw:
Facing towards the road:
And looking to the left (for the record, I did not go out in there, so there was no trespassing from me):
Turning the opposite direction from the first picture:
What we're looking at here is what remains of the backstretch and the one to the left is a view of what used to be the infield. I made other pictures as well, but these I thought were the ones worth sharing. I heard some of the clay surface still remains behind the Wells Fargo building. Didn't really get close enough to any other portions of it, but it was fascinating to get up close and personal with what remains of Coastal Speedway. I hope maybe one day I'll be able to see other parts of it.
Don't know if I can post screencaps from historicaerials.com or not since its pictures are labeled as copyrighted material, but if you go there and input the coordinates "33.70446030824205, -78.87237443361401" (without quotes), and then click aerials and 1951, you can get a very good idea of what it once looked like.
And here is a Google Earth image from April of this year. Although theirs not a lot left of it, you can still tell something was once there.
Being fascinated with old race tracks, I obviously took the time to make some pictures of the place while I was there. The red dot on the map is roughly where I was standing and this is what I saw:
Facing towards the road:
And looking to the left (for the record, I did not go out in there, so there was no trespassing from me):
Turning the opposite direction from the first picture:
What we're looking at here is what remains of the backstretch and the one to the left is a view of what used to be the infield. I made other pictures as well, but these I thought were the ones worth sharing. I heard some of the clay surface still remains behind the Wells Fargo building. Didn't really get close enough to any other portions of it, but it was fascinating to get up close and personal with what remains of Coastal Speedway. I hope maybe one day I'll be able to see other parts of it.
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Was just there back in May, and I'm amazed how much of Myrtle Beach was destroyed by hurricanes and never rebuilt in places, or just left to rot in others.
Also, beach parking sure is expensive down there. Might just make it up by getting a hotel right there.
(and I'm also a Historic Aerials junkie)
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- 5,555
- The US of A
Yea I heard the Palace Theater got damaged by one and they didn't want to fix it, so they just tore it down. However, nevermind that, I think I am more bothered by what has been torn down for other reasons than anything else. Like for instance:
- They tore down the Pavilion to build hotels there, but then they never did, and now the only thing there is a zipline.
- They tore down Myrtle Beach Speedway, but then I heard the deal fell through. We're nearing 3 years since its closure and nothing has been built there yet. Though I have noticed they recently tore up the dirt where it was and when I passed by it recently, I saw a dump truck going in, so who knows what's going to happen next?
- Kind of a sidenote, but Coastal Speedway, the very track I just mentioned, I read had a nice view of the Atlantic Ocean when it was around, something I doubt many tracks can brag about. It honestly saddens me no one can experience it there anymore and I doubt theirs any decent place in MB where such a thing could exist again.
You ain't kidding. My mom says it is too and since she pays for the parking, I don't doubt it.
Glad I am not the only one. Really is fun browsing around with it, I just wish it had a full-screen mode and didn't have that stupid watermark.
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- Bratvegas
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Not so much abandoned, but I didn't know about the original Laguna Seca configuration. Corkscrew looks rather different as well as the lack of infield.
Here's a GTP confession: I frequently go back to my old posts and future-proof them by editing dead photo links. This time, I'm going to do it to someone else's post that was a reply to me.
The original configuration of Laguna Seca:
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