Steve Smith > wrote in message
...
> 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


yawn.
>
>