I say bring on more NZ tracks. Teretonga is one of the fastest tracks in NZ. Highlands Motorsport Park is a new top class facility with plenty of layouts and some REALLY fun corners, as well as beautiful scenery surrounding it.
Yeah I'm from the south island lol..
I really want to see Highlands Motorsport Park in a game, it looks bloody fun!
Yas Marina is the only circuit I know designed entirely with a set square...
Can anyone actually name a Tilke circuit with character?!
Sepang International - A good mix of fast, flowing corners, and tight, twisty sections, and two large straights for the powerful cars.
Bahrain International - A high speed circuit, with some tricky corners that require skill to get the most out of.
Shanghai International - A huge variety of corner types in a relatively small circuit, with a massive straight, which makes it hard to tune a car for. Sacrifice downforce for the huge straight and suffer through sector two, or sacrifice straight line speed for high downforce, and you'll be quick through the corners, but be a sitting duck on the long straight.
Istanbul Park - His best work IMO. Dramatic elevation changes, with turns over blind crests that are difficult to get the line right into, some very tricky braking zones, and the famous quad apex turn eight.
Buddh International - Described by Sebastian Vettal as a "roller coaster", and compared by a lot of drivers to Spa-Francorchamps, due to it's fast, flowing nature. It's a track with tons of character. Very difficult to get right too. Jensen Button, famously consistent though he is, said it was difficult to drive consistently fast at Buddh.
Circuit of the Americas - Some interesting braking zones, that have a variety of lines you can take through them, coupled to a fast and flowing section that rewards peak downforce, very long straight that rewards low draw, and then a very tight low speed section that rewards mechanical grip, and you have a track that could favour a variety of car designs and driving styles.
I'd also add the A1 Ring to that list, because the redesigned track is very good, and has a lot of character, but I much prefer the Osterreichring it replaced, so I'll leave it out.
I think Tilke cops way too much flak. His tracks are mostly very good. Like any designer, he's built a few shockers. Yas Marina, Marina Bay, Valencia and the redesign of Hockenheim spring to mind. Don't forget though, he is only allowed to work within the FIA rules for track design, which are way too restrictive. I blame the FIA for the Hockenheim redesign, not Tilke, and I blame them for making the rules too restrictive. I think if they allowed more elevation change, longer track lengths, and more than 10 degrees of banking in corners, we would see even better tracks from Tilke. Considering how strict the rules are, his team have produced some great tracks.
Edit: I should add that my opinion on tracks is based entirely on how they are to drive, not how many overtakes they usually produce in any given series. All of my favourite tracks are old circuits like the 'ring, Bathurst, Spa (especially the old versions), Monza (especially the old combined road and oval), etc. But they would all produce little overtaking if they were used in a modern F1 race. How a track feels to drive on is important in a racing game, not how many overtakes it produced at the last F1 race...
