Turkey: Talking the Track
By Karl King
August 16 2005
The site of the Istanbul Otodrom is located on the Asian side of Istanbul, 6km from the junction of Kurtkoy on the north side of TEM Motorway, linking Istanbul to Ankara.
Close to the newly constructed Sabiha Gokcen Istanbul Airport, the Otodrom is located within a green belt surrounded by forest and cultivated green fields.
The total area of the Otodrom complex is 2,215,000m2. The circuit has been designed by Herman Tilke and runs in a counter-clockwise direction. It is 5.333km long with an average width of 14-21.5m, excluding runoff areas.
The track is composed of 13 curves, of which six are right turns and seven left turns. The sharpest corner has a radius of 15m. The start and finish section is 655.5m in length and the whole track runs over four level sections with undulating gradients. The maximum theoretical speed expected to be achieved will be 320.5km/h.
The main parking areas, with the total parking capacity of 20,000 are located along the outer peripheral ring road which is 5,482m in length and will facilitate the movement of traffic on the outer limits of the project area.
In addition, the project consists of 2.3km of inner service roads and emergency lanes. There are four under-passes and three pedestrian over-passes linking the natural ground stands and temporary moveable stands with the parking areas. The central area is reserved for the construction of a Kart Racing track.
In fact, the racing track will not even be ready for this weekend, the landscaping will have to wait until next year!
Main Text Source: BAR-Honda
16/08/05