Autobhan

[DougLynch]

Autobahn Country Club located in Joliet, IL, USA

Full Course 3.531 mi / 5.682 km
North Course 1.498 mi / 2.410 km
South Course 2.060 mi / 3.315 km

AUTHOR: James Mabe "Cyruscloud"


Circuit Background
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Autobahn Country Club is a circuit designed to provide its members with an enjoyable and challenging course in which to test their skills against one another as well as push their cars to its limits. The course was designed by Alan Wilson who is also responsible for designing courses such as Barber Motorsports Park, Arizona Motorsports Park, Gingerman Raceway and South Carolina Motorsports Park. The course broke ground in early 2004 and the first laps were taken later that fall. The track has since been under constant construction with new facilities and updates to the safety of the course. Autobahn holds many sessions and races for its members. There are also race weekends for WERA, CCS Motorcycles, Midwestern Council and the SCCA.

About This Project
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This project started near the release of Rfactor. It is also the first Rfactor track that I modeled. This was my experimental track in a sense. I had little knowledge of the limits of Rfactor and its potential. I created this track to test a new modeling method. In some ways it worked and others I am still developing. I'm happy with the road feel but there were some flaws in the modeling design which I have continued to adjust as I develop this technique further. Because this track has been under constant construction, developing it to its current state has been nearly impossible. This is the track as it was in the summer of 2005. This project was quite enjoyable. I enjoy this track from a drivers perspective in real life and this made the experience of building it from scratch very satisfying. There are no lights at this track! Nighttime drives should be treated like a rally event, bring your headlights, lol. I would like to thank ScottJ for some paddock items I used from his Birmingham track
and Gilles Benoît for the 3d people from Trois Rivieres. I don't normally borrow items from other places, but in this case the paddock items were nearly perfect. Not surprising since this track was designed by the same person that designed the track in Birmingham.

Lapping Tips
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There are three layouts, North, South and Full Course. North provides good action for smaller cars while south and full provide room for cars ranging from club to high level formula breeds.


North Course: You need to be wary of the first and second corner. The track kinks to the left then turns back to the right. It's a quick corner entrance, but be mindful of your competitors through the kink and make sure your in good position before the second corner. Turn 6 begins tight and opens up so remember, early apex, slow in fast out to take advantage of one of the longest straights of the North Course. This will lead to a tar patch before turn 7, be cautious of the tar as it can throw you off and ruin your entrance to the next two corners.


South Course: is full of combination corners and takes lots of practice and patience to master. All it takes is one missed braking point or one wide apex to cost you the entire lap! Stay focused and hit all your marks! The brake markers positions are designed so the turn in points start at the 1 marker. This may vary upon driver and car but is likely a good place to start your first few laps around. Use extreme caution in the final 2 corners leading back onto the front straight. This area is bumpy so taking it full speed would be unwise. Also note the pitroad entrance is very narrow on the south course.


Full course" Other than the previous notes only be concerned with the areas that connect the North and South courses together. The first connecting point is a long arching turn that tightens on exit. The second is uphill and has moderate bumps between the transitions. Stick to the left line next to the grass for the smoothest transition.

When exiting the paddock on the north and Full course, exit either to the left or right depending on which side of the paddock road you are on and make a right after a set of vehicles to the left of the timing building. Take the left onto pitroad and maintain left to merge into the racing groove. For the South Course exit your pits are either right or left. Depending on side, you should exit opposite to that of the north course, once again a left onto pit road. Stay to the outside and merge into the groove midway through the first turn.

Performance Information
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I tried to keep this track performing as close to ISI's tracks as possible. Memory use is slightly on the high side, but it had to be done. The north end of the track around the paddock takes the biggest hit. Expect to see a 10 or 12 fps gain through the south end.

Installation Notes
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Drop the Autobahn Folder in your tracks directory in your Rfactor install and your set.

END-USER Information
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I would like to request the end users to not update this circuit either directly or through patches. I would also request that this circuit not be changed in anyway if hosted elsewhere. Please refrain from spending time on bug reports etc. I have thought about doing a newer version of this track at a later point with a fall scheme and fixes or improvements to some of the tracks low points. I have no time frame as to when this will happen. With that being said, I ask that the end user take this track as it is and enjoy.

Contacts
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http://www.autobahncountryclub.net
http://teamidt.net/
http://www.virtualgt.com/

Special Thanks
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Special Thanks goes to Autobahn Country Club for not only allowing this track to be released to the public but for creating such a great facility! If you like this track and live anywhere near Autobahn, get out there and show your support. Please support your local tracks.

Also special thanks to Virtual GT for their involvement in making this project happen. Can't get to a track but looking for a more complete experience, you can race Autobahn and all the world's greatest courses in a VirtualGT Simulator. www.virtualgt.com, Don't just sit there, RACE!

Finally thanks to Team IDT for their support and motivation. They are a great team to be involved with.

NOTE: FILESIZE IS ACTUALLY 26355310 BYTES.