Monza Oval vs Linas-Montlhéry - Battle of the Race Circuits 18
In the 18th battle of the race circuits we have a battle between two high banked ovals. The Monza Oval defeated the Pirelli Track in the previous round by an overwhelming majority of votes. And the new contender you vote for is Linas-Montlhéry.
0:00 Introduction
0:35 Monza Oval
3:12 Linas-Montlhéry
The Monza Oval is an abandoned part of the famous Monza Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. The original Monza Circuit opened in 1922 as a combination of a high speed banked oval and a road circuit. Both could be used together or sepparated. The length of the combined circuit was exactely 10 Kilometres, which is 6.2 Miles. The length of the oval was 4.5 kilomters, or 4.8 Miles.
During the huge 1938 reconstruction, the original Monza Oval was demolished. The idea was to make Monza a pure road circuit.
However, in the 1950’s the circuit bosses wanted to return to it’s original concept of a high speed combination of a road circuit and a high banked oval. So in 1955 the new Monza layout opened with a new oval, almost on the same site as the original.
Just like the original, the new oval was also 4.5 kilometers, with a progressive banking with an angle of 38.69 degrees at the top.
The oval could be used sepparated or in combination with the road circuit. That combination of the road circuit and the oval was used only 3 times for the Formula One Italian Grand Prix. That was in 1956, 1960 and 1961.
Now that Monza had an oval again, the idea came up of letting the European Formula One cars race against the American Indy cars. Under the slogan of “Race of Two Worlds”, the first race took place in 1957. It was a 500 Miles race on the oval only. For this occasion the oval was driven counter-clockwise, like usual in the USA.
It was a victory for the American teams, whose cars raced much better on ovals. For the second race, the Formula One teams decided to build special cars for it. But the 1958 race was also won by the Americans. Doubts about safety meant that the 1959 race was cancelled. There would never be more than two of these races
After Formula One abandoned the Monza banking, it was also found too dangerous for other series. The last time the full circuit was used was for the 1969 edition of the 1000 Kilometres of Monza. Since then, the old high banked oval was left abandoned.
Since 1978 the old Monza Oval is used once a year by the Monza Rally. But only the lower part of the banking. The rest of the year it’s a preserved memory from the past, which can be explored legally.
The “Autodrome Linas-Montlhéry” is a race track near Paris, that opened in 1924 as a 2.54 kilometer, or 1.58 Miles, long high banked oval. A year later a road circuit opened as an extension, which give the full track a length of 12.49 kilometers, or 7.76 Miles.
Just like Monza, they combined the road circuit and the oval. But compare to old Monza, here they used only one high banked corner of the oval for the combination with the road circuit.
The Linas-Montlhéry circuit was built as a private intiative from industrialist Alexandre Lamblin. The first official race was the 1925 French Grand Prix, which was won by Robert Benoist in his Delage.
But the event was overshadowed by the fatal accident of Italian racing driver Antonio Ascari. Antonio Ascari was the father of the famous Alberto Ascari.
After the 1925 Grand Prix it hosted also the French Grand Prix in 1927, 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1935.
In 1939 the Linas-Montlhéry circuit was sold to the French government. After World War 2, the government sold it in 1946 to the UTAC Group which still owns the track.
The coolest thing about the Linas-Montlhéry circuit is that this classic race track still in use. Including the high banked oval!
During the week the oval and the longer part of the road circuit are used for testing. For this ocassion the oval track is driven anti-clockwise.
During the weekends, there are race events on a 3.4 kilometers, or 2.11 Miles, short version of the road circuit, in combination with one high banked corner. And this version of the track is driven clockwise. Also, when the high banked corner is part of the road circuit it is interupted by chicanes.
Special thanks to Nico Fonseca who edited this video. Visit also hit RU-vid channel @Fons_F1
Also special thanks to Simon Smith for the voiceover. Visit also his channel: @HigherPlainGames
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8 июл 2024
