The circuit was opened in 2008 and in 2011 Dromo signed a contract to re-design and supervise the construction of the Termas de Río Hondo (Argentina) racetrack to host MotoGP.
The main feature of the Argentine circuit is turn 13, which Jarno Zaffelli designed inspired by a street in his native Reggio Emilia; it has been the scene of exciting action and has been replicated by other racetracks and designers.
This circuit has been one of Dromo’s first design.
It is a very fast circuit, with a layout that looks easy, banal. But it is not. All the drivers have realised that. And they will always want to drive one lap more than they did. It’s designed to be a good track, not one for cars or motorbikes, but with both worlds in mind.
The start straight ends in a very long curve to the right, speed around 100/110 km/h. It seems interminable, but when it ends it is already too late. We had to step on the gas for 2. This one is particular, it has variable banking, and has to be sacrificed in order to enter 3, negative, before the long straight. If you get the 2 wrong, you widen the 3 and goodbye top speed.
After about 1 km we have the hardest braking, for the second-slowest corner on the track, turn 5. This immediately leads into a downhill full-fifth corner, made specifically to leave rubber on the asphalt. At around 270km/h we come to turn 7, which actually has a false apex. With the 8, it forms a double curve, with several trajectory possibilities. Because the next one, turn 9, is the most important corner on the track: it leads into a sequence of three bends where the first is uphill and blind, the second is negative and the third is fifth with the throttle in hand. Get the first one wrong and you stop at the third in an interminable corner. If you get it right, on the other hand, you shoot up to 12, and therein lies the problem. Since 14, the last corner, is a forced trajectory, you have to choose how to set up 13. Which has an unusual shape, like a catenary arch, and which leaves you free to interpret
DESIGNER:
Jarno Zaffelli
WORK:
Circuit design, engineering and resurfacing
COUNTRY :
Argentina
YEAR:
2015
The design becomes legible through racing lines, event scale and rider commitment.
