vintage banked track.
 

i hope this is not a dreaded repost, but here goes.....


http://users.telenet.be/les.consultants.bvba1/sitges/

Beautiful location too:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Sitges&ie=UTF8&ll=41.234768,1.787553&spn=0. 025722,0.043774&t=k&z=15

Very cool, places like Monza, this place, and Brooklands really get my imagination going. I've seen a few bits of video of old races. I'd love to visit at least one of these some day.

That is really neat!
I wonder why they would abandon such beautifully banked tracks
and not keep using them?

One word....Safety.

Here's a gigantic thread on abandoned race tracks. Great read... it pretty much covers every abandoned track currently known.

http://forums.thecarlounge.net/zerothread?id=2854313&page=1

Why are they unsafe? Is it just a question of upgrading them, or does the banking create an inherently unsafe situation?

Well there are no barriers at all and if you went off that embankment in the corner you would most definitely roll and die.

The place is known as the "Autodromo de Terramar", located near Barcelona (Spain) and is frequently discussed in Spanish car forums.

The track was built in the 1920s. Then, the 1930s were a decade of political turmoil in Spain with several coups leading to the Civil War in 1936-39. Then came the Franco Dictatorship from 1939-75 where Spain was not a significant part of the international community and economic development was slow at best. Thus, there was little use for a racing track like this.

Now the track is guarded by a zealous owner who is armed with dogs and shotgun to greet trespassors. It is not likely that the track will recover its former glory... plus, who needs oval tracks anyway? SmileWavy

I recall there was a banked test track that was built on top of a building. Fiat I'm thinking...

http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture...D3/010-CD3.jpg

as seen in "the italian job".