Circuit design, history, and motorsport.
Articles on the tracks that shaped racing, the history behind the sport, and the thinking behind RaceTrackDesigner.
The kerb is part of the corner: why exit kerbs change a lap more than apex kerbs
Apex kerbs get the attention. Exit kerbs do most of the actual work of a lap. Why kerb placement is a corner design decision, not a finishing touch, and what Pouhon, COTA Turn 1, and the 130R exit at Suzuka teach about where kerbs actually belong.
Designing Monaco from scratch: what tracing the world's tightest circuit teaches you about layout
Monaco is the most-criticised modern Formula 1 circuit and the most instructive to trace from scratch. Why the corners are tighter than they look, why width matters more than length, and what a 78-lap procession on the streets of Monte Carlo can teach a circuit designer.
History of Silverstone: from RAF airfield to the home of British motorsport
On May 13, 1950, the Formula 1 World Championship began on a converted RAF bomber station in the Northamptonshire countryside. Seventy-five years later, through redesigns, crises, and reinventions, Silverstone remains the spiritual home of the sport it helped create.
What makes a good overtaking zone? The geometry of passing in motorsport
Overtaking is not random. It is geometric, physical, and — to a significant extent — designed into the circuit or designed out of it. The physics of straights, braking zones, corner geometry, and track width that determine whether a circuit produces drama or processions.
How to design a go-kart track: layout, safety, and CIK-FIA guidelines
A complete guide to designing a karting circuit — site selection, CIK-FIA homologation requirements, layout principles specific to kart-scale physics, safety barriers, commercial venue design, and the mistakes that ruin a kart track before it opens.
Race track design principles: what makes a great circuit
Corner geometry, straight-to-corner transitions, elevation, camber, rhythm, and the balance between speed and safety. The fundamental principles that separate great circuits from forgettable ones.
How to become a race track designer: degrees, skills, and career paths
There is no university programme called "Race Track Design". But people do become circuit designers. This is how — which disciplines to study, which skills to develop, who the major employers are, and how to build a portfolio from scratch.
7 race track design mistakes that ruin a circuit
The most common design errors in race track layouts — from missing braking zones and constant-radius corners to run-off that removes consequences and rhythm that never changes. What goes wrong and why.
Roadmap: what I'm thinking about building next
A look at the features and improvements I'm considering for RaceTrackDesigner. Elevation changes, export formats, turn labels, pit lanes, and more. Not a promise list, just where my head is at.
Top 10 greatest race tracks of all time
Some circuits earn their place in the record books through lap times. Others earn it through something harder to quantify — the particular way they challenge a driver, reward bravery, and produce racing that no other venue could. These are the ten circuits that have done both.
Hermann Tilke: the man who designs Formula 1 circuits
Since the late 1990s, one architect has shaped the physical experience of Formula 1 more than any driver or team principal. Hermann Tilke has designed over twenty Grand Prix circuits — and collected more criticism per kilometre of tarmac than anyone in motorsport history. The truth about his work is more interesting than either his defenders or his critics suggest.
History of the Nürburgring
Built in the 1920s as a public works project, the Nürburgring became the most demanding and dangerous circuit in motorsport. It redefined what racing meant — and very nearly destroyed the sport in doing so. A complete history of the Green Hell.
History of Formula 1 races in the United States
Formula 1 has been trying to crack the American market for seven decades. From Sebring to Watkins Glen, from the Las Vegas car park to the revival at Austin, the story of F1 in the United States is one of ambition, failure, and an audience that eventually showed up on its own terms.