Location: Daytona Beach, Florida, United States.T3, also known as the Rodriguez International Horseshoe, is now one of the clearest passing opportunities at Daytona, and despite it being an hairpin in nature, still retains a flowing nature respected by drivers.įurther, minor changes to the bus stop would be forthcoming in later years, however Daytona retains much of the same challenge and flavour as the original, 1959 configuration. Somewhat testament to the foresight and engineering skills employed in the original construction of the track, little has changed in the intervening years at Daytona, with the only major renovation work occurring in 19.įor the ’73 season, Daytona introduced a new chicane to reduce speeds ahead of turn three of the oval layout, however despite the obvious safety improvements introduced with the corner, the new chicane was almost universally disliked by drivers, leading to further changes being introduced in the early 1980s – producing what is now known as the ‘Bus Stop’ chicane (now known as the Le Mans Chicane).ĭuring these changes, the circuit owners also took the opportunity to reprofile the first three corners of the lap, adjusted the layout of turns 1 and 2, while reducing the distance towards the third corner of the track and improving overtaking opportunities for drivers. The track, although simple in nature, has proven itself to be a fantastic venue for endurance racing over the following years, often marking the start of the international sportscar racing season. The Continental would change to a 1000km race the following season, before morphing into the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours in time for the start of the 1966 season. Built at the same time as the main oval, the road course wouldn’t see its first competitive action until 1962, when the Daytona Continental 3-hour event played host to a number of national sportscar stars of the era. That first year, NASCAR racing would be joining by the top level of open wheel competition in the United States with the popular Champ Car series hosting what would become the first motor race ever at the time, until tragedy stuck and took the life of driver George Amick – Indycar would not return to the Florida venue.Īs well as proving to be a very popular and fast oval circuit, Daytona has also firmly established itself as a potent sportscar venue, with a significant portion of the land within the compound having been taken up to produce the Road Course configuration. Initially known as an oval venue, built specifically to allow NASCAR drivers of the era to run at significant speeds while offering great viewing opportunities for trackside fans, Daytona immediately proved to be a hugely popular addition to the growing collection of American circuits, attracting no less than 42,000 fans for the initial Daytona 500 event. Developed by NASCAR owner Bill France Snr, Daytona has been a mainstay on the NASCAR schedule since that first race in February of 1959. Surprisingly, Daytona International Speedway hasn’t been around that long, in terms of some of the equally storied venues in world motorsport at least, having only officially welcomed the roar of racing engines for the first time in 1959, following two years of development in order to bring the Daytona Beach location up to permanent racetrack standards. Without a doubt, an exceptional place to race on the real or virtual tarmac.ĭaytona International Speedway | Steam Store: CLICK HERE Offering up a near perfect combination of corners and infrastructure that accommodates one of the biggest endurance races in the world – the Rolex 24 Hours – Daytona is THE traditional start to the season for sportscar racing fans, teams and drivers alike. Using considerable portions of the famed Daytona oval banking, the road course layout of this Floridian circuit has rightly earned a reputation as both an enjoyable track to drive, but more importantly, a venue that often produces great racing in a variety of different classes. Technically, the RC configuration at Daytona could be considered a ‘roval’ – part oval, part road course, but that distinction would be doing the circuit a massive injustice when taken into context of all the venue has to offer. One of the more recent track additions to rFactor 2, and arguably one of the most prestigious endurance racing venues in American motorsport – Daytona is every inch the iconic racetrack for both national and international level competition. Spotlight on… Daytona International Speedway
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