IndyCar – Track Layout for Edmonton Indy 2011

The IZOD IndyCar Series released the revised track layout for the 2011 Edmonton Indy race. In our Open Paddock exclusive marked up google map image, you can see the new track layout compared with the old track layout. Interesting that you can see the rubber laid down from the past exploits of the Champ Car and IndyCar visits.

As you can see, it appears that no additional pavement will need to be laid for the racing circuit. However, the same cannot be said for the pit and paddock area. For a more detailed view of the grandstand, pit, paddock, parking and jumbotron locations, hit this link to IndyCar.com to see their pdf.

The new track is a 2.256 mile course, 13 turn course. Tony Cottman from NZR Consulting helped with the course design as a consultant, but it looks like some of Tony’s design cues have carried over from Sao Paulo’s street course layout.

If you recall, the city decided to shut down the Eastern runway which created a huge issue for the new promoter, Octane. City officials tried to deep six the agreement that was in place between Octane, the IZOD IndyCar Series and said city officials by mandating that the 2011 event must take place on the shut down Eastern runway of the Municipal Airport while the Western runway remain open during the event. This despite the fact that Edmonton is serviced by an international airport on the outskirts of the.

According to Octane, they could not host the event at the revised circuit location without great additional expense and therefore they were forced to back out of the agreement with the city since the city changed the goalposts.

One could call Edmonton’s handling of this situation a monster public relations mistake, but a consortium of local businesses stepped in to save the day and pay the additional expenses involved with moving the paddock to the other side of the airport.

So, what do ya’ll think. Will this provide better racing? Or is this just the cheapest track layout option that could be found? My personal opinion… This is much better than before. Overtaking opportunities abound in turns 1, 5 and 13. Still, I am not a fan of airport tracks, but I will reserve judgement until I see how she races.

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7 Thoughts to “IndyCar – Track Layout for Edmonton Indy 2011

  1. K Kostick

    Love the new layout, the track looks crazy fast! Turn one will be a wild corner!

  2. I’m SO glad they decided to run this layout CCW. Doing so adds an extra passing zone in T3 before the twisty bits.

  3. Um…. A passing zone going into a chicane? Sounds like an opportunity for Sato or Viso to take somebody out.

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  5. Remmy14

    I like it! Plenty of long straights which most road courses lack. Not sure I can remember any road track in the past that goes CCW though.

  6. Sachsenring, Laguna Seca, Indianapolis, MotorLand Aragón, Phillip Island, Istanbul Park, Singapore, Korea, and Valencia (not the F1 street circuit) are some of the circuits on the F1 and MotoGP calendars that are counter-clockwise.

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