I thought I should probably start a WIP thread for this track, as I feel I may have spammed the "What are you working on" thread a little too much lately - sorry
I initially started work on it back in July 2016, right after I finished work on Bilster Berg. I was looking around for something new to work on when I found a link to 'race tracks of the world', including proposed tracks, unfinished tracks, disused tracks (http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/). I love the idea of bringing something to life in Assetto Corsa, and bringing something back from the dead doubly so When I saw the layout, and read the description of how the track would have looked I was hooked!
In the 1930s, the government of Nazi-Germany constructed a circuit that was to replace the infamous Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. The new track allowed for much faster speeds and, being exactly 10km in length, was to have much quicker lap times. This in turn meant more fun for the one million spectactors for which the circuit was to provide accomodation. In those days, motor racing drew huge amounts of people. It wasn’t unusual to have several hundred thousands of spectators at a single Grand Prix. This is reflected in the Deutschlandring design. Parking space for over three hundred thousand cars was planned, all of which could leave the area within two hours, thanks to several direct connections to the surrounding road network.
The circuit extended from an old hillclimb track near the town of Hohnstein, just a short drive south of Dresden, into a large oval. The designers got their inspiration from a number of legendary racing circuits around the world, including Mellaha at Tripoli, Linas-Monthléry, Monza and of course the Nürburgring. And there was no doubt that propaganda played a key role. This was to be the track to end all tracks. On April 27th, 1939, the circuit was baptised Deutschlandring. Enthusiastic supporters of the 1000-year empire quickly extended this into Grossdeutschlandring. But ironically, the circuit experienced the same fate as the Reich from which it had sprung. After the tarmac was laid but before the circuit infrastructure was constructed (pits, grandstands, hospitality buildings), war broke out and nothing came of racing. The upcoming German Grand Prix was cancelled, Mercedes and Auto-Union mothballed their racing cars and nobody ever raced the Deutschlandring. Today, it’s part of the public road network.
As the circuit was never completed, my version will obviously have to be semi-fictional (with respect to the track-side objects), although I will try and make the track surface as close as I can to the real track (which still exists and is now a public road). I have found no Lidar data, and the only DEM data I can find is of low resolution (90m) and only suitable for the surrounding terrain. The track will have to be modelled using topographical markings on maps, studying modern videos of people driving around the roads, and what feels right to me.
And so the work begins...
I initially started work on it back in July 2016, right after I finished work on Bilster Berg. I was looking around for something new to work on when I found a link to 'race tracks of the world', including proposed tracks, unfinished tracks, disused tracks (http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/). I love the idea of bringing something to life in Assetto Corsa, and bringing something back from the dead doubly so When I saw the layout, and read the description of how the track would have looked I was hooked!
In the 1930s, the government of Nazi-Germany constructed a circuit that was to replace the infamous Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. The new track allowed for much faster speeds and, being exactly 10km in length, was to have much quicker lap times. This in turn meant more fun for the one million spectactors for which the circuit was to provide accomodation. In those days, motor racing drew huge amounts of people. It wasn’t unusual to have several hundred thousands of spectators at a single Grand Prix. This is reflected in the Deutschlandring design. Parking space for over three hundred thousand cars was planned, all of which could leave the area within two hours, thanks to several direct connections to the surrounding road network.
The circuit extended from an old hillclimb track near the town of Hohnstein, just a short drive south of Dresden, into a large oval. The designers got their inspiration from a number of legendary racing circuits around the world, including Mellaha at Tripoli, Linas-Monthléry, Monza and of course the Nürburgring. And there was no doubt that propaganda played a key role. This was to be the track to end all tracks. On April 27th, 1939, the circuit was baptised Deutschlandring. Enthusiastic supporters of the 1000-year empire quickly extended this into Grossdeutschlandring. But ironically, the circuit experienced the same fate as the Reich from which it had sprung. After the tarmac was laid but before the circuit infrastructure was constructed (pits, grandstands, hospitality buildings), war broke out and nothing came of racing. The upcoming German Grand Prix was cancelled, Mercedes and Auto-Union mothballed their racing cars and nobody ever raced the Deutschlandring. Today, it’s part of the public road network.
As the circuit was never completed, my version will obviously have to be semi-fictional (with respect to the track-side objects), although I will try and make the track surface as close as I can to the real track (which still exists and is now a public road). I have found no Lidar data, and the only DEM data I can find is of low resolution (90m) and only suitable for the surrounding terrain. The track will have to be modelled using topographical markings on maps, studying modern videos of people driving around the roads, and what feels right to me.
And so the work begins...