Resurfacing

[Stephanie Plum]

Hi

I gather that the circuit is being closed from mid Dec to allow resurfacing - does anyone know how long for per chance?

Cheers

[jgoodwood]

Hi,

I work there and I've not heard anything. We resurfaced the whole track 2 yrs ago so won't be doing it again this quickly. I know we're probably going to replace the gravel trap at Madgwick with tarmac and this will be done during the quiet time so that's probably where the Chinese whisper came from.

Hope I'm right or it will be V embarrassing.
J

[Stephanie Plum]

jgoodwood said:

Hi,

I work there and I've not heard anything. We resurfaced the whole track 2 yrs ago so won't be doing it again this quickly. I know we're probably going to replace the gravel trap at Madgwick with tarmac and this will be done during the quiet time so that's probably where the Chinese whisper came from.

Hope I'm right or it will be V embarrassing.
J

Apparently the tarmac is lifting in areas - my track day on 15th Dec has been cancelled due to the track being resurfaced...... ??

[RT/10Dave]

jgoodwood said:

I know we're probably going to replace the gravel trap at Madgwick with tarmac and this will be done during the quiet time so that's probably where the Chinese whisper came from.

Hope I'm right or it will be V embarrassing.
J

James,

I'm no expert, but is that a good idea?? Bearing in mind the number of accidents at Madgwick over the years during the revival, surely removing the gravel trap will not help the speed of a car if it decides it's going straight on at that corner? As I say, I'm no expert, but I thought the idea of the gravel traps is to slow the car down if it exits the track?

[jgoodwood]

Stephanie, Definitely not resurfacing. No tarmac lifting. Not sure why your day was cancelled, i#ll try and find out.
RT10 chap, we are not doing this off our own back, The MSA have advised that we should do this following recomendation from the FIA and I must say I think it's the right thing to do. You may have noticed that we replaced the Woodcote gravel trap last winter and the Revival was much safer/smoother running as a result. Cars were not left stranded in the gravel resulting in waved yellows at Woodcote (one of the best overtaking locations on the track). It also reduces the possibility of cars digging in and flipping if they go in sideways. Only one car went into the barier and his brakes were locked solid...which provides more retardation than gravel. With regard to the modifications at Madgwick, I think we are moving the tyre wall back a bit as well.

[NormanD]

RT/10Dave said:

jgoodwood said:

I know we're probably going to replace the gravel trap at Madgwick with tarmac and this will be done during the quiet time so that's probably where the Chinese whisper came from.

Hope I'm right or it will be V embarrassing.
J

James,

I'm no expert, but is that a good idea?? Bearing in mind the number of accidents at Madgwick over the years during the revival, surely removing the gravel trap will not help the speed of a car if it decides it's going straight on at that corner? As I say, I'm no expert, but I thought the idea of the gravel traps is to slow the car down if it exits the track?

It now seems that braking on Tarmac slows the cars quicker than gravel.

[dazerc]

Having tarmac would also help if you went off the track a little as going in the gravel could rip bumpers off.

As i found out once during a spin.
If it had been tarmac my front bumper would have survied saving me £350 for a new bumper and spraying.

[Droptheclutch]

NormanD said:

RT/10Dave said:

jgoodwood said:

I know we're probably going to replace the gravel trap at Madgwick with tarmac and this will be done during the quiet time so that's probably where the Chinese whisper came from.

Hope I'm right or it will be V embarrassing.
J

James,

I'm no expert, but is that a good idea?? Bearing in mind the number of accidents at Madgwick over the years during the revival, surely removing the gravel trap will not help the speed of a car if it decides it's going straight on at that corner? As I say, I'm no expert, but I thought the idea of the gravel traps is to slow the car down if it exits the track?

It now seems that braking on Tarmac slows the cars quicker than gravel.

Hi Norman.

The resurfacing will not be done with normal tarmac, but high grip tarmac instead. If you think of the high grip surfaces you see on some road corners you'll get the idea.

Cheers,

DTC

[RichB]

jgoodwood said:

Hi, I work there and I've not heard anything... J

Hi James, nice to see you have joined Pistonheads and not just to lurk, I'm sure your contributions will add something to our discussions on matters "Goodwood".

You may recognise me from the Goodwood members chat forum, I use the same name. RichB. It was all fields around here when I started, been on Pistonheads since year dot!

[HiRich]

RT/10Dave said:

I'm no expert, but is that a good idea?? Bearing in mind the number of accidents at Madgwick over the years during the revival, surely removing the gravel trap will not help the speed of a car if it decides it's going straight on at that corner? As I say, I'm no expert, but I thought the idea of the gravel traps is to slow the car down if it exits the track?

Based on what I've seen, no it's a very smart idea (based on what I've seen, and not to don Goodwood in it in any way)

The nature of Madgwick is that accidents seem to normally start mid-corner (unlikr Woodcote whether they are more likely to be straight on). When car go off, they are often sideways. When you combine that with the high floors and skinny tyres of historics (Goodwood's flagship series), there's a tendency to dig in and flip. When you're going over, whether with roll hoop or not, tarmac is likely to be better or at least no worse than gravel (a roll hoop's little use if it's buried six inches deep in the gravel).

I've seen a few nasty rolls at Madgwick, including a friend. I believe in all those cases that the gravel increased the danger, first from causing the car to flip, then eliminating the benefit of a roll hoop. Gravel was better than wet grass, but tarmac will I'm sure be better again, even if it is a bit ugly.

[anonymous-user]

Could they use green pigment to make it look nicer? You can get the high grip stuff in red, so maybe green is doable?

[mrbreeze]

It makes very little difference how grippy a surface is when you have no brakes...give me a gravel trap any day