SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Preview: 2004 French Grand Prix

I will be taking the course during the 2004 season using EA's F1 Challenge '99-'02. To make it more contemporary I will be applying Ralph Hummerich's excellent carset to it as soon as it is ready. I have chosen Ralph's carset as, in addition to him being a thoroughly top notch person, in my opinion his carsets are the best available and it is an honor for SimHQ to have an exclusive WIP version to be able to use for its screenshots. Many thanks Ralph! If you wish to try his 2003 add on please use this link to his page. Note: The linked images in this Preview are 1600x1200 resolution and range from 175 kb to 486 kb.

A Lap of the Magny-Cours Circuit

The last corner is a tight right hander so you come down the pit straight with the pits on your left hand side. Just after the pits exit road the track turns left (this turn is called Grande Curve). It usually requires nothing more than a slight feathering of the throttle to negotiate this though it can be a bit hairy if people are exiting the pits at the same time as cars are barreling down the main straight!

You then accelerate again before breaking for Estoril. This is a long open 180 degree right hand bend that is taken in 4th gear at just over 100mph. Alesi skidded off here and it has a reverse camber (i.e. the face of the road is angled away from the track so it is trying to throw you off rather than keep you on!) so people often come a cropper there.

There is then an enormous straight (going through a right hand kink called Golf) before breaking down from 200mph to 35 in time for the second gear Adelaide hairpin.

This is a really tight one and the main overtaking area on the track. The cars break impossibly late here before accelerating through a kind of up and down kink just after (usually you will see the cars running side by side if they have been overtaken as they try to make the place back.).

The cars then accelerate up to a right/left called Nurbergring before breaking down to 50mph and 2nd gear for the left hand 180 degree corner.

Accelerating away you then have quite a long undulating straight before Imola. This is a right-left which also goes down into a dip and back up again — it is taken in 4th gear at about 120mph and is a little odd! Prost’s having Magny-Cours at their nominated test track means that they have probably the best setup to deal with this and the similar one at the end of the lap.

You emerge out the other side accelerating briefly before breaking to 50mph for the second gear right hander called Chateau d’eau.

After that it is a bit of a straight before breaking for the second of these right/left — down/up chicanes at Chicane. This is somewhat slower than Imola in 2nd and 3rd gears at about 70mph.

As you exit it the pit entrance is on your left and you seem to be heading towards a brick wall! You brake here and shift back down into 2nd Gear for Lycee, the last corner which is a right hander taken at about 40mph.

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