What's the Best Race Track to Never Feature in a Video Game?

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How about the AUTODROMO DO ESTORIL where Ayrton Senna got his first F1 win?
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I’d like to see Adelaide GP. From memory it only appeared once in the original F1 96 game by on the original PS. Not a never to appear circuit but a unicorn nevertheless.
 
Another mention of Magny-Cours. While it used to be in F1 titles and perhaps some motorbike games, it has been surprisingly absent in recent car racing games. Forgotten classic almost.

Magny Cours was in the WTCC calendar for season 06 and 07, and hence included in PC-titels Race and Race07 from SimBin Studios.
 
My Opinion is Trouble a little bias, but Honestly i think more tracks in AU and NZ need to be put more in games. Both countries have tracks that have hosted F1 Grand Prix's/ Moto GP/V8 Supercars ect

Pukekohe Park:


Highlands Motorsport Park:


Phillip Island:

 
Some great tracks and videos - very enjoyable thread!

I like racing on tracks with elevation changes and a great sense of speed through the closeness of roadside furniture (walls, poles, houses, signs etc.) and if possible a great history - these tracks are normally too dangerous to be in current use.

My three nominations are: 1. Meadowdale International Raceway, Carpentersville, Illinois, USA
When this circuit was built the idea was obviously to build a track which outdid all others - so it had a corner called the "Monza Wall" with banking 7 degrees steeper than Monza, the longest straight (up to that time) - 3/4 mile downhill. It also had a massive grain silo inches from the track, a long section where the cars ran in opposite directions just a couple of feet apart separated by a low wooden barrier. The track is now a nature reserve, some has been demolished, but the terrain could be scanned and a virtual track built.
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Below - as you can see, a mod was made which gives a reasonable impression of the track, but I would like to see a top quality version in a modern game.


Second nomination - Longford Tasmania. This circuit was used as part of the Tasman series and had lots of exciting / dangerous features - two river crossings over curved wooden bridges (scuba divers were on hand during races), a pass under a brick railway bridge at an angle and a pass over railway tracks - one race had to be cut short due to a train arriving! It has featured as a mod in a game. Below the late great Frank Gardner talks briefly about the circuit:



Third nomination - Dundrod, Northern Ireland - used from 1950 - 55 for the RAC Tourist trophy for sports cars, but stopped due to danger. Mike Hawthorn holds the lap record from 1955 when he piloted a Jaguar D Type - he was an absolute master of this tricky track. The motorcycle boys do not consider this track too dangerous so it is still used each year for the Ulster GP. Unlike the Isle of Man TT, which is really a time trial, the GP is a true race with all the bikes setting off together. At 7.4 miles the circuit is a manageable length and easily scanned for gaming. The circuit has hardly changed over the years - a classic version could just omit the signage and road markings.

Enjoy this short clip!



I was going to nominate Longford too mate, and seeing your first nomination there, a circuit I'm not familiar with, I have to agree with that one too. Looks like a really fun circuit for a sim, and a pants dirtying one in real life haha.

The Longford mod for Assetto Corsa is really good, but it'd be great to see it get the professional treatment in a sim. It's really sad that they cut through it with a highway bypass, and it's impossible to drive much of the old circuit that is still there due to the removal of the old wooden bridges. The highway sits roughly where the old start finish straight and run down to the viaduct once was, but the land for the highway was raised to keep it more level at the point where the road went downhill to the viaduct. So to see the viaduct while driving means to peer over the side of the highway to get a brief glimpse of what remains of the abandoned tarmac under the rail bridge.

There was an event called the Longford Revival that ran for a few years in the early 2010s, but the organisers were clueless and were holding the event around the same time as the V8 Supercars Tasmanian rounds at nearby Symmons Plains, so a large portion of people who might have been interested were busy, and the underwhelming attendance quickly killed off the revival. It didn't help of course that there isn't much of the circuit left that can be run uninterruped. The final turn through to the viaduct doesn't exist anymore, and the viaduct to the first bridge can't be accessed by car, so it's tarmac is slowly being consumed by the elements. From there, the run from the end of the first bridge (which is now a boat ramp), past the country club, and over the rail track is intact, but the long straight that was Tannery Road is chopped off at roughly the one third mark by the highway bypass, with the Country Club end of it now being part of the 'B51' main road that runs south out of Longford to the small village of Cressy. The northern two thirds of the Tannery Road straight still exists, and can be accessed from further up the highway out of Longford to the north-west, but it's a dead end at the southern end, and the 90 degree right hander at the northern end that led to the second bridge (the crazy curved bridge) is now privately owned by a farmer, and has a gate closing it off to the public. Then lastly, the road from the end of the second bridge, to the right hander onto Pateena Road is mostly eroded away, with the tight right hander itself being gravel these days. Pateena Road (the flying mile) is still there, and was the only part able to be closed off to be used for the Revival festival, but there's absolutely no remnant or even clue to it's past reputation as the fastest straight on the highest speed circuit of the Southern Hemisphere in it's heyday.

I live and grew up within an hour and a half of Longford, and have been fascinated by it's history. I've drank and eaten many times at the Country Club Hotel there, which to this day is the only part of Longford that even hints at the old circuit and the town's motorsport history.
 
Velopark, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil ;)

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I’d like to see Adelaide GP. From memory it only appeared once in the original F1 96 game by on the original PS. Not a never to appear circuit but a unicorn nevertheless.

Both appeared in Automobilista. Adelaide might have been DLC though.

How about the AUTODROMO DO ESTORIL where Ayrton Senna got his first F1 win?
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F1 2013 + a bunch of old F1 games, GTR2, Race 07, MotoGP 07 & 08 (possibly others).
 
This is a fantastic thread! Love it!! Unfortunately my track history in game knowledge is pretty low so if I mention something that’s been included before my apologies. Regardless here is my contribution to the conversation:

Happy to see Mosport get a mention even if it has appeared in a couple lower profile games. Great track with great history.

Troies Riverres as well? That would be interesting. Continuing in the Canadian theme:

https://www.area27.ca/ Designed by Jacques Villeneuve and quite liked by Jeremy Clarkson as part of a recent Top Tour.

Toronto Indy. The circuit itself is alright, if the scenery could be pulled off well T dot has a great skyline.

Shannonville raceway? Belleville Ontario baby! I photographed an event there once, it works as a rally cross circuit.

The next version of this theme could be what are the underutilized tracks? There’s some really cool locales that have been used but just not enough. The recent addition of Autopolis to GT Sport is a good example of this.
 
Dirt 2 has the Trois-Rivieres rallycross track, which is a start I guess. The street circuitv itself, while historic, is a bit featureless sadly.
 
Great thread and great list @kyle Patrick. I have to nominate two more tracks:

The first is my vintage hometown track that was even used for F1 in the 60s and that almost made it into Project Cars 1: Solitude Rennstrecke. 11 km of twisty roads and fast straights through dense woods that were right next to the track with no armco and nothing but half a million spectators standing a few meters away from the tarmac.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitude_Racetrack

Since it consists entirely of public roads, a part of it is my daily drive to work, by the way. :D There is a mod for AC, but it is kinda rough in quality.

And secondly, I have always had a soft spot for Circuit de Pau. It was featured at length in the Grand Tour recently and there is a mod that aint too bad. Such a lovely little city track.

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It's in F1 2013 "Classic", and eSports race there so it must also be on another platform.
Estoril is in MotoGP, Race Pro, Race 07 games as well

My Opinion is Trouble a little bias, but Honestly i think more tracks in AU and NZ need to be put more in games. Both countries have tracks that have hosted F1 Grand Prix's/ Moto GP/V8 Supercars ect

Pukekohe Park:


Highlands Motorsport Park:


Phillip Island:


Pukekoke and Phillip Island are in Toca Race Driver 2 and 3. Phillip Island is in MotoGP games and iRacing too.

Fuji 1990 appeared in Toca Race Driver 1
 
I've got two which I'm amazed nobody has mentioned yet. My go-to ones were Potrero de los Funes, Mas du Clos and Pau, but they've already been said so here's some others.

Firstly, Goodwood Circuit.
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One of the best airfield circuits around in my eyes. It's about 2.4 miles long, and massively fast with some fairly minor but very well flowing elevation change. Also, everything from the pits to the spectator barriers are designed to look exactly how they looked back in the 50s and 60s, giving it a really cool atmosphere. I think there's a mod for it in Assetto Corsa, but I'd love to see an official version of it on console.
Also, while I'm here, the actual Goodwood Hillclimb is a great thing for people like me who love hot lapping and whatnot, and it hasn't been in a circuit since 2013's GT6 which is a massive shame.

Secondly, Anglesey Cicuit.
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One of the most picturesque circuits out there, this little slice of coastal heaven has 4 layouts, the longest being 2.1 miles. It's set on some gently rolling hills on top of a cliff, and tests a lot about a car - EVO magazine have used it as their testing ground for a few years now.

Videos for both:
Goodwood (skip to 1:35)


Anglesey
 
I don't know if it's been in any games or not, but I really liked Rockingham, especially when the BTCC was there. It's closing down now, so sad. Would love to see it properly immortalized in a game with full laser scanning etc.



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i dont know if youve caught all the US grand prix races at COTA but the weather has been anything but consistent... in texas, if you dont like the weather, wait 15 minutes... unless its hot then you have to wait till december...as for the scenery... well i love hill country and know what makes that "nothingness" seem weird is the big fancy race track there... great facility though... glad F1 picked tx over ny... only way i would of been happy to get NY picked before Texas for the f1 return is if they went to watkins glen... monticello doesnt look fia friendly either...


i KNow this track is in everyother game but i think GT Sport would really benefit from adding Lime Rock, would be a great track to have awesome racing and sub 1 minute lap times in anything with grip. would be a great track to bounce back and fourth between that and tskuba
 
VBR
I don't know if it's been in any games or not, but I really liked Rockingham, especially when the BTCC was there. It's closing down now, so sad. Would love to see it properly immortalized in a game with full laser scanning etc.



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Rockingham was in Toca race driver.
 
As someone who collects racing circuits (my rFactor folder has 500+ tracks and growing, though not as much nowadays), most of the tracks in this thread isn't new to me. Despite that there are a few I'm still missing (mostly newer tracks as people haven't been able to make mods of them yet, or private tracks that are not allowed to be scanned). I echo the sentiment that racing games should feature more obscure tracks though. There's only so many times you can drive different virtual versions of Spa (*cough*entire GTS forum*cough*) before it gets boring. I'd also like good driving roads immortalised in games (Transfagarasan, Stelvio Pass, Tail of the Dragon, Japanese touges) as the joy of driving fast isn't just limited to circular tracks alone.

With future technology, ideally I'd like to see the whole world scanned (roads + circuits inclusive) and for a driving sim to be able to pick any spot in the world and let you drive freely anywhere. When you get to a circuit, you can choose to start a race. Sort of like Euro Truck Sim + The Crew + Google Maps combined. That would be my dream :embarrassed:

For the meantime, those looking to waste their entire afternoon (or two), have a look at this list: :D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_racing_tracks
 
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With future technology, ideally I'd like to see the whole world scanned (roads + circuits inclusive) and for a driving sim to be able to pick any spot in the world and let you drive freely anywhere. When you get to a circuit, you can choose to start a race. Sort of like Euro Truck Sim + The Crew + Google Maps combined. That would be my dream :embarrassed:
I would never get anything done.

For the meantime, those looking to waste their entire afternoon (or two), have a look at this list: :D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_racing_tracks
I've spent more than a few hours going through that list and then looking at them from Google maps, especially defunct tracks. For some reason I've always been fascinated by roads and tracks that are no longer in use.
 
It's getting super annoying when people are putting in suggestions and someone replies oh it's in this game. Like yeah cool, but that game is 15 years old

Estoril is in MotoGP, Race Pro, Race 07 games as well



Pukekoke and Phillip Island are in Toca Race Driver 2 and 3. Phillip Island is in MotoGP games and iRacing too.

Yeah that's really good and all. But lets just sit back and remember how old those games are... nearing the 15-16 year mark. I Couldn't care for Moto GP and not everyone has a PC to play iRacing.
 
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