Worst tracks of all time

[Carbonox]

Title says it all. Thread inspired by the one about worst liveries, as well as my similar prior threads. I promise I'm not as negative as they make me look like.

Posting pictures of the layouts is encouraged, particularly if they're lesser known.

Yas Marina Circuit

A soulless, zero-momentum, money grabber circuit with no associated motorsport culture that by the looks of it will remain the F1 season finale for years to come. Probably the worst F1 track I've ever had a displeasure of seeing a race in. I hate to admit it now, but I used to be hyped up by this because it was brand new and had an unusual pit exit. (The hype died quickly when Kimi had a terrible race in 2009)

Marrakech Street Circuit (original)

I admit I've never seen a full race on this layout, but it's as cramped as it looks.

Beijing (Formula E)

A near-square broken up by chicanes. What an amazing example of creativity, for the opening round of a new championship no less. A lot of Formula E's original circuits would deserve a mention to be fair, but I'll stick with this for being so distinctly at the bottom of the pile.

Houston (CART 1998-2001)

Thanks to the fact it was CART who raced here, the races weren't exactly bad, but a course full of 90 degree turns and no variety gets old really quickly. The newer circuit was awesome though, I hope that it at least gets a Formula E round if IndyCar never returns.

 

[jake2013guy]

I liked the old Marrakech circuit. Better than the twisty no overtakey newer version.

 

[Furinkazen]

Rockingham. Sochi. #thread

 

[Jimlaad43]

Valencia Ricardo Tormo, Sonoma, Okayama, Oschersleben, Motegi

Every oval infield circuit except: Homestead, Rockingham, Indianapolis F1 and Lausitz (only just)

 

[Liquid]

I don't care if it's the cliche and predictable thing to say but almost all Tilkedromes. Österreichring and Sepang get a pass and maybe Istanbul.

Yes I know he is bound to the specifications, limitations and legalese presented to him by the FIA and local governments but that doesn't stop me from disliking them. I couldn't even begin to draw you the outlines of Korea and Buddh circuits they were so uninspiring.

Croft is pretty rubbish too.

 

[LancerEvo7]

Sochi.

I thought you didn't care about F1?

My vote goes evenly to all of NASCAR's 1.5 mile tracks except Atlanta and Homestead.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Probably going to get some flak for this but I really don't get the hype for Monza.

I find it incredibly dull both in games and in real life

 

[PeterJB]

Virtually any Tilkedrome would be vastly improved if they added grass, trees and hills.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Bahrain endurance circuit. Used it for one season and got rid.

 

[dingodile_r89]

Yas Marina.

Just, yuck.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Silverstone.



It's ****, deal with it.

 

[ScottPuss20]

I don't really like Symmons Plains but I wouldn't consider it the worst circuit of all time.
But there are a few tracks I severely hate:

Homebush Street Circuit, where the V8's raced between 2009 and 2016. It is horrendously narrow in parts, and it doesn't look good on TV. Void of character; a pathetic excuse for a race track.

Azerbaijan Street Circuit for the Formula 1's. Although last year's race was brilliant, it's not a technical track and the corners are boring.

Caesar's Palace GP Circuit. We shall not speak of that atrocity.

Cadwell Park. Honestly? It feels like you're racing in an actual park meant for dogs and people. Narrow and ridiculously tight, you're constantly thinking about car placement and it becomes a pain. I have not driven on the track in Project Cars 2 yet.

Yas Marina. It's trying too hard to be impressive which kills any sort of character for me. Not that it had much to begin with...

Daytona Road Course. For the most part, you're on the Speedway and having essentially 3 hairpin bends destroys any sort of flow. The Super Speedway is way more fun, because the racing is high-speed and high risk. The Road Course doesn't do this for me.

 

[Tak[TEC]]

Canberra - ACT (2000-2002)
Very narrow and tight street circuit, with over half of the corners being chicanes races on this track became a certainty for crashes and safety cars breeding safety cars (with turn 12 probably being the worst culprit). With only 3 V8 Supercar races on the circuit it was short lived and forgotten about very quickly

 

[Darla Starch]

Silverstone.



It's ****, deal with it.

Also, I cannot for the life of me remember a single feature of Silverstone without looking it up. That's coming from a guy who remembers basically every track he's raced on in a video game...not 600% accurately, but at least the major features.

 

[Chikane_GTR]

Rouen Les Essarts really hate how narrow this track is

 

[C-ZETA]

Cadwell Park. Honestly? It feels like you're racing in an actual park meant for dogs and people. Narrow and ridiculously tight, you're constantly thinking about car placement and it becomes a pain. I have not driven on the track in Project Cars 2 yet.

God knows why PCars 2 has it, it's pretty much meant for bikes at this point. It's perfectly alright on one of those.

 

[twitcher]

Cadwell park, Sonoma, Ruen Les Essart?????

Not everything needs to be a circuit for a modern F1 car

Cadwell is amazing fun in any game I’ve played. Load up a low powered car light a Caterham, and it’s brilliant. I’ve had some amazingly close and fun races there. Probably he most difficult track I’ve raced wheel to wheel on, but that’s what makes it fun. Really fun track to Hot lap as well.

Sonoma, again, same thing. It’s cramped for an F1 or IndyCar, but in slower stuff, it’s brilliant. F3, F4, touring cars...nothing but amazing action.

Whoever said ruen les essart need to sit down. I’m guessing the only place that person has seen that circuit is in PCARS...which, first instinct tells me that the only reason to not like it is because you kind suck at driving it. The curbs in pcars on that track are aggressive, but other than that, it’s an amazing circuit - no more narrow that the Nurburgring (another track that people who suck at like to sat is a terrible circuit). But again, if you put F1 cars aside, in stuff like Group A, or Group 5, this circuit is magic.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Also, I cannot for the life of me remember a single feature of Silverstone without looking it up. That's coming from a guy who remembers basically every track he's raced on in a video game...not 600% accurately, but at least the major features.

I'm quite familiar with it having been there many times, from spending a night sleeping on the rubble at Vale, to spectating from the BRDC grandstand, to seeing it from a helicopter, to getting a flat battery in the paddock car park and asking Jenson Button if he had Jump leads in his Mercedes CLK DTM edition.

... it's flat, desolate, and dull as both a track to drive around (albeit only virtually in my case), and as a venue to spectate at. It's attitude to itself is a big problem, which is something people I know that work there would attest to. It is my least favourite circuit in the UK to visit, and it's one I will never voluntarily use in games.

 

[Darla Starch]

I'm quite familiar with it having been there many times, from spending a night sleeping on the rubble at Vale, to spectating from the BRDC grandstand, to seeing it from a helicopter, to getting a flat battery in the paddock car park and asking Jenson Button if he had Jump leads in his Mercedes CLK DTM edition.

... it's flat, desolate, and dull as both a track to drive around (albeit only virtually in my case), and as a venue to spectate at. It's attitude to itself is a big problem, which is something people I know that work there would attest to. It is my least favourite circuit in the UK to visit, and it's one I will never voluntarily use in games.

I actually went to look up the layout and it didn't refresh any memories, it's that forgettable to me.

 

[twitcher]

I actually went to look up the layout and it didn't refresh any memories, it's that forgettable to me.

If you’re that good at memorizing tracks (I feel the same way, I can close my eyes and lap pretty much any track I’ve done more than 5 laps on), then you’re purposely trying to not remember silverstone

Is it visually stunning? No. Never been there, so can’t comment on the facilities. But the ribbon of tarmac, that’s awesome. Again, I’ve had some fantastic races there. It’s one of those circuits where you can really get into a rhythm, as one section flows so nicely into the next. Tons of overtaking opportunities as well.

 

[DK]

Bahrain endurance circuit. Used it for one season and got rid.

View attachment 728610

That was the bane of my existence in F1 2010, putting up with an extra 20 seconds in the lap with nothing to look at, just beige and grey and maybe the rear wing of the car ahead.

Anyways, on the other extreme, I'll nominate Brands Hatch Indy. I just hate racing on it. I hate how I can't pick out a racing line at that final corner. I hate how there's only one overtaking opportunity unless I get the elbows out.

 

[Simmpa]

I think we can all agree the Russian Grand Prix is the worst currently used in F1

 

[twitcher]

That was the bane of my existence in F1 2010, putting up with an extra 20 seconds in the lap with nothing to look at, just beige and grey and maybe the rear wing of the car ahead.

Anyways, on the other extreme, I'll nominate Brands Hatch Indy. I just hate racing on it. I hate how I can't pick out a racing line at that final corner. I hate how there's only one overtaking opportunity unless I get the elbows out.

this thread is so whack. Maybe it should be renamed to “tracks i suck at in video games”.

Just because you can’t find a line through a corner, and because you can only find one spot to overtake, that doesn’t make the track one of The Worst of All Time.

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

I find it hard to see and understand the negative view points on Silverstone. It has properly curved corners rather than sharp angled kinks or right angles, and provides a number of overtaking opportunities.

I get the glitz and glamour of Monaco, but it's absolutely awful as a fast car race circuit in my opinion.

 

[twitcher]

Ya....not getting the “worst track of all time” vibe here



Same thing here

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I believe there's genuinely not a track that's the worst of all time. Some tracks are more suited to certain cars (or drivers) than others. Some are better for driving, others are better for racing. Even bad tracks like Valencia street circuit can offer up exciting races (2012), or even Baku (last year anyone?). Heck, even ridiculous tracks like Caesars Palace is a novelty in itself. I'm not joking, it took me years to find a mod of it for rFactor and I grinned ear to ear when I found it Or take it to the extreme, maybe Imola is the worst track of all time for killing the best driver of all time?

Personally, I don't understand why USA needs so many ovals. Just have a normal oval, superspeedway, mini oval, tri oval (Daytona and Pocono) and square oval (Indy) and scrap the rest as they are basically variations of the same thing. But then again, I don't follow NASCAR/Indycar that closely so I can't appreciate the fine subtle differences of each oval. See what I mean?

 

[Jimlaad43]

Ya....not getting the “worst track of all time” vibe here



Same thing here

Sonoma has gradient, but that's about it. It's a good example of how people think gradient change makes a track an instant classic. It doesn't. This is a circuit which has lots of boring corners and no straights. They are all aero dependent, so in the only series' that people watch that go there, nothing happens. It doesn't flow well and looks awful. They have space to extend some of the straights but they aren't extended.

The only slow corners on the track have about 15 different configurations, all of which is worse than the previous one. Indycar uses it as the last race of the season, which is a terrible decision. It's worse than Abu Dhabi as a last race of the season because you'd at least expect something to happen at Sonoma, but it never does. NASCAR only goes to two track worth watching, and somehow Sonoma is chosen as one of the two road courses they go to. That layout skips the only corner that isn't boring, the long left hairpinny thing. It's a good corner, but when it precedes the only overtaking spot on the track, it means that aero cars then can't overtake into it.

Brands Hatch GP would be just as bad for an Indycar or F1 race, but at least the corners there are interesting and use the gradient to make them better. Sonoma is a waste of a calendar date.

 

[cjr3559]

In a major motorsport event:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_street_circuit

 

[MatskiMonk]

Personally, I don't understand why USA needs so many ovals. Just have a normal oval, superspeedway, mini oval, tri oval (Daytona and Pocono) and square oval (Indy) and scrap the rest as they are basically variations of the same thing. But then again, I don't follow NASCAR/Indycar that closely so I can't appreciate the fine subtle differences of each oval. See what I mean?

I appreciate you're being slightly flippant to demonstrate your point, but something all motorsport fans should be able to understand is accessibility. The USA is a big place - it'd suck to live near Loudon being a NASCAR fan and find out your local race track is now Fontana. So, we end up with quite a few ovals... there are nuances to each of them, but the nuances aren't the justification for them... getting bums on seats is.*

*That's an expression, not calling NASCAR fans bums

Places like the UK are somewhat spoilt for choice. I live near Silverstone, and within a 2-3 hour drive I have Brands, Oulton, Donnington, Thruxton, Rockingham, Cadwell, and Snetterton, (and Castle Combe, and Mallory) - so it's pretty easy for me to visit most races on the UK motorsport calendar. It takes longer than that to drive between Homestead-Miami Speedway (Florida) and Daytona International Speedway (also Florida), in the USA.

This kind of thing matters to me - as to come back to your first point about how we would judge - one of the things I prioritise is the fan experience - what is the paying spectator getting for their money... that matters a lot more IMHO, than whether the person sat 1000 miles away in another country, watching a race for free on YouTube thinks the track is too hard in a computer computer game.

 

[Furinkazen]

Can we all agree on something?

Baltimore and San Jose were two of the biggest racetrack design failiures ever.