>>>
Preview
- TK's "Le Mans 2008" - Circuit de la Sarthe
 30.01.2010
- Finally the GP2-community
has got it's long awaited version of a modern Le Mans 24h
circuit. Especially the sportscar-fans have been waiting for this moment
to come. The following article shall give you a small review about the
new circuit made by TK and also some "background"-information.
You can click on the
screenshots to enlarge them!
The
track-lenght-problem
The
main problem when building the Circuit de la Sarthe for Grand Prix 2
is, that the game has a restriction for the track-length. That means
that tracks are not allowed to be longer than 7,3 kilometers (or 4,5
miles). As the real Circuit de la Sarthe has an overall lenght of 13,9
kilometers, the only possibility to get it into GP2 is to shorten it.
History
of Le Mans Circuits for GP2
The
first release of a Le Mans track was by Sergio Leonardi in December
1998. Later he went on to update it and add a night version, as well as
the LM Bugatti circuit. That was in June 1999.
In
2001 Antonia Pessoa released a LM Bugatti circuit as well, with the
info that it was not possible to build the LM 24h circuit, due to the
restrictions of the track-length.
But
three years later, in June 2004, he released a shortened "Le Mans 1969"
- Circuit de la Sarthe, based on Otavio Silveira track. Later Andreas
Schulz updated this version with new scenery, objects, fences and more.
Based on this track
Roberto Remedio released "Le Mans at Night" only a month after the
original release.
In 2009 TK released his
version of the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, it's the GP2-track that comes
closest to the original.
A
modern Le Mans Circuit for GP2
After
I had released my 1991- and 1992-SWC and 2008-LM carsets, there was no
fitting LM Circuit to race on with these cars. The 1969 track
is very nice of course, but it's a little bit weird
to race
on a 60's track with those modern cars.
 So
I was very happy when TK released his version of the circuit. Although
the track is shortened, he was able to keep it's character. A
qualifying-lap with a Peugeot 908 in GP2 takes about 2:04.5 minutes, in
comparison Stephane Sarrazin needed a 3:18.5 for his pole-position in
2008.
 When
you install this racetrack for the first time and try it out, you may
have probably some spins and crashes, at least when you try to set a
good laptime. The track definitely has it's difficulties, but with some
exercise you can control them. For Example: After several DNF's I  finally made it through a
whole 25-lap-race
and towards the end I got faster and faster. I was even able to set the
2nd
fastest laptime overall with a Epsilon-Euskadi, only 0,5 seconds behind
the
fastest Peugeot.
 What
also helps to provide a realistic Le Mans feeling is the scenery.
Around the track are several tv-monitors placed which show a Dome S102
and you find the typical adverts of Dunlop, Rolex or Audi. The pitlane
complex comes very close to the original, the Dunlop chicane is almost
1:1 and further TK realized the characteristic red asphalt-lines on the
Mulsanne-straight in his track.
The only criticism is,
that the track is a bit to wide in some parts. Maybe this can be
changed in the future.
But
this doesn't influence my conclusion, all in all it's a perfect
realization of the modern Circuit de la Sarthe for Grand Prix 2. Thank
you very much, TK!
  CC-Setup
Front
Wing: 10
Rear Wing: 7
Gearbox: 27 - 36 - 43 - 49 - 55
- 60
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