Valencia can usually be found at the bottom of the "whats your favourite F1 track" answer list. This is due to one thing, and one thing only: its basically a massive bore fest.
The street circuit held in the Spanish city has hosted the European Grand Prix since 2008. It seems like the circuit will never be a fan favourite due to its lack of drama, with every single race hosted at the track being dubbed "boring".
So will 2012 bring that excitement that is needed to help secure the circuit on the calendar and keep the fans interested?
The answer is probably a "no" but we can always hope. The circuit has some challenging corners and the last sector contains a number of high speed direction changes which are stunning to watch. However its the lack of overtaking which really brings the excitement level down.
Last year the addition of 2 DRS zones, KERS and the Pirelli tyres gave the race a measly 44 overtakes. Compared to races such as China, which produced just under 100 overtakes, it was a pretty low score.
This is because of the tight and twisty nature of the circuit. The first sector has the stop start characteristics of a street circuit but the braking zones and barriers limit the amount of space available. Turn 2 is a prime example of a possible place to overtake. It is at the end of a fast section and the speed rapidly gets reduced, but the tight exit and barriers restricting the track width means that you have to be pretty brave. Sector 2 is your best bet, with the DRS zone before turn 12 making it a the best bet to overtake. However this corner is very narrow too and the exit leads straight into a left hand turn, making it difficult to make the move stick. The entry to sector 3 is also a possible option for those brave souls. The turn 17 hairpin is a good place to make a move stick and possibly the easiest place to make a move.
But in 2012 that task could prove difficult. In 2011 there were 2 DRS zones, the first being between turns 10 and 12. The other was between turn 15 and 17 but this crucial zone of DRS power has been taken away from the drivers this season.
However the Pirelli tyres could make all the difference this weekend. The track temperature is notoriously hot and the lower durability of the tyres could mean more chance of mistakes and overtaking. The tyres have provided drama at places like Monaco where overtaking is basically non existent so it could work in Valencia.
The street circuit nature of the track has limited the creativity of track designers to boost overtaking possibilities. This is often the case with this genre of circuit which means fans just have to stick with it and hope something exciting happens.
At least the event organisers have released a humorous promotional video to help excite the fans, a tough job when the word "Valencia" is in the same sentence, which I covered earlier in the year.
I'm expecting the worst to be honest. I hope something exciting will happen but I can just see the "I'm bored" and "this is boring" tweets coming through to my time line. Maybe that's just because of the past races but can the circuit change or can something in F1 help Valencia get out of this rut, I struggle to say yes.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
So will 2012 bring that excitement that is needed to help secure the circuit on the calendar and keep the fans interested?
The answer is probably a "no" but we can always hope. The circuit has some challenging corners and the last sector contains a number of high speed direction changes which are stunning to watch. However its the lack of overtaking which really brings the excitement level down.
Last year the addition of 2 DRS zones, KERS and the Pirelli tyres gave the race a measly 44 overtakes. Compared to races such as China, which produced just under 100 overtakes, it was a pretty low score.
This is because of the tight and twisty nature of the circuit. The first sector has the stop start characteristics of a street circuit but the braking zones and barriers limit the amount of space available. Turn 2 is a prime example of a possible place to overtake. It is at the end of a fast section and the speed rapidly gets reduced, but the tight exit and barriers restricting the track width means that you have to be pretty brave. Sector 2 is your best bet, with the DRS zone before turn 12 making it a the best bet to overtake. However this corner is very narrow too and the exit leads straight into a left hand turn, making it difficult to make the move stick. The entry to sector 3 is also a possible option for those brave souls. The turn 17 hairpin is a good place to make a move stick and possibly the easiest place to make a move.
But in 2012 that task could prove difficult. In 2011 there were 2 DRS zones, the first being between turns 10 and 12. The other was between turn 15 and 17 but this crucial zone of DRS power has been taken away from the drivers this season.
However the Pirelli tyres could make all the difference this weekend. The track temperature is notoriously hot and the lower durability of the tyres could mean more chance of mistakes and overtaking. The tyres have provided drama at places like Monaco where overtaking is basically non existent so it could work in Valencia.
The street circuit nature of the track has limited the creativity of track designers to boost overtaking possibilities. This is often the case with this genre of circuit which means fans just have to stick with it and hope something exciting happens.
At least the event organisers have released a humorous promotional video to help excite the fans, a tough job when the word "Valencia" is in the same sentence, which I covered earlier in the year.
I'm expecting the worst to be honest. I hope something exciting will happen but I can just see the "I'm bored" and "this is boring" tweets coming through to my time line. Maybe that's just because of the past races but can the circuit change or can something in F1 help Valencia get out of this rut, I struggle to say yes.
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