Dundrod - An Appreciation

Wrong and wrong again! All the great GPL vintage tracks have NOT been
released, as I so precipitously proclaimed in my 9/10 Appreciation of Sergio
Loro's Mellaha (Tripoli) and was subsequently forced to amend in my
Appreciation of John Basara's Monza 10K on 9/27.

Jim Pearson, he of the superb recreation of the fabled 198-turn, 15.4-mile
Isle of Man circuit (7/12/03), has proved me wrong again with--what
else?--an equally superb recreation of the only-slightly-less-stupendous
Dundrod circuit, altho, strictly speaking, this long (7.4-mile) and winding
(36-turn) gambol thru Northern Ireland is not contemporaneous with the GPL
era, having last been used for the 1955 running of the famous "TT" (Tourist
Trophy), which was won that year by a trio of Mercedes-Benz 300SLRs
trouncing a field of Jaguar D-Types and Aston Martin DB3Ss.

In point of fact, no single-seaters (except bikes) ever ran at Dundrod, and
given the "country lane" nature of the layout, a field of 3-liter '67 F1
cars would likely all have ended up in the trees, fences, hedges and
ditches.

It is *very* narrow. As in real life, passing online or AI cars will be
very difficult, but it is nonetheless (at least for the hot-lapper) a
beautiful romp thru the countryside, which includes homey names like
Flowbog, Rushyhill, and Tornagrough, and authentic-looking signage with
warnings like "Slow! Wet Tar!" and "Delays Possible Until Sept. 9" (the '53
TT, simulated here, was staged on Sept. 5).

Anyone who's driven Mobil 1 Rally Championship will find the scenery familar
(and a stone delight with eDimensional 3D glasses), as will anyone who's
seen footage of the historic TT in "A Gentleman's Motorracing Diary" or the
Shell Oil racing films of the day. Pearson's graphics are spot on...and
beautimous.

Three drivers were killed in the '55 race, and the venue was abandoned for
4-wheelers as too dangerous (altho bikes continue to race there to this
day). Now, thanks to Jim Pearson, it lives again. His installation
includes a rip-snortin' 3:28.53 lap in a Brabham, and while I'm sure some
Alien can beat that, I can't...and neither could Stirling Moss, who put his
300SLR on the pole with a lugubrious 4:48 (that's FOUR-forty-eight) for its
last race.

Get Dundrod he

http://www.jrpearson.homestead.com/Dundrod.html

--Steve Smith