July 15, 2009
Circuit Park Zandvoort to Be
First European Track in iRacing
Joins UK’s Silverstone, Brands
Hatch & Oulton Park as Initial Additions Outside North America
Most visitors to seaside sand dunes
are there to swim and lounge on the beach; in the Netherlands, hard on the North
Sea, they come to Circuit Park Zandvoort to race cars. Under the terms of an
agreement jointly announced today by Exploitatie Circuit Park Zandvoort B.V. and
iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC, drivers from all over the world will be
able to experience the challenge of this classic European road-racing facility
and compete with each other in organized races there just by logging onto the
iRacing motorsport simulation service over the internet.
“The last Dutch Grand Prix was held
in 1985, but as the host to 30 editions of the race, Zandvoort has more than its
share of history,” said Divina Galica, iRacing’s director of partner relations.
“We’re very pleased to be able to make the latest version of this great racing
facility – now home to DTM, Formula 3 and many club events – available to
iRacing’s membership. Last month we initiated the expansion of our track
offerings beyond our base in North America with the addition in the UK of Brands
Hatch and Oulton Park to Silverstone, which is already available to iRacing
members. Circuit Park Zandvoort, the site of so much motorsport history, is a
particularly appropriate first European track. Our members from all over the
world will enjoy racing there.”
The list of winners of the Dutch
Grand Prix at Zandvoort reads like a Who’s Who of the first four decades of
Formula One, beginning with Alberto Ascari in the first World Championship event
in 1952, and including Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Jochen
Rindt, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Jacky Ickx, Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Mario
Andretti, Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet. But Zandvoort’s greatest master was Jim
Clark, winner four times in the five races held from 1963 through 1967.
“In addition to our many fans, who
will now be able through iRacing to have the fun of racing on the circuit
themselves in the virtual world, we have real-world racers come from all over
Europe and the UK to compete at Circuit Park Zandvoort” said Bart de Snaijer,
Circuit Park Zandvoort’s marketing manager. “With our partnership with iRacing
and their creation of a millimeter-accurate virtual version of the facility, now
drivers who are making their first visit will be able to learn our very
challenging track before they arrive for the race meet. And everyone will have
the chance to get up to speed before the weekend begins.”
de Snaijer noted that while Tarzan,
the 180-degree hairpin at the end of the start/finish straight, is the
best-known of the dozen named corners on the 2.672-mile track, Scheivlak is the
most challenging, and the turn that newcomers will profit most from by pre-race
practice in the iRacing service.
“Scheivlak – there is no English
word for it – is famous for its high speeds, changes in elevation and the fact
that it’s a blind corner”, de Snaijer said. “Drivers either fear or love it. In
a fast car a driver approaches the turn at a speed of 260 km/h (160 mph) and
can’t even see the start of the turn until they are right on top of it because
the track elevation changes. They enter the turn with a speed of 220 km/h (135
mph). The track drops about 10 meters (33 feet) in height and for three quarters
of the way through the corner, they can’t see the exit. A driver can only
understand the true rush of this turn when he or she has experienced it, whether
in the physical world or in the virtual one.”
Circuit Park Zandvoort is the fifth
major configuration of the track since it opened in 1948. While no more than a
quarter of the original layout is part of today’s modern track, what all
iterations have had in common is a combination of dauntingly fast sweeping
corners and tight slow corners that demand technical perfection. Circuit Park
Zandvoort is expected to join the iRacing track inventory early next year.
