Inspired by Grand Prix circuits
Thunder Valley Motor Speedway
The real thing: the Grand Prix circuit
Thunder Valley is a road-racing circuit, the kind that hosts Grand Prix weekends, superbikes and track days. Unlike an oval, a road circuit twists left and right, so the best seats are in the grandstand over the start and finish, and at the slow corners where cars overtake.
Behind the main grandstand is the pit lane, where teams work on the cars, and the paddock: a village of team trucks, hospitality units and broadcasters. A Grand Prix weekend traditionally runs from practice on Friday to qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Circuits are expensive to run. There are marshals around the whole lap, medical crews on standby, barriers that must meet the governing body's safety standards, and noise limits agreed with the neighbours. Some famous circuits started as something else: Silverstone in England was a wartime airfield.
In Big Night Tycoon
9,000 seats
Tier 3
A twisting circuit in a wooded valley, with a 9,000-seat main grandstand over the start, pits, paddock and corner stands. Grand Prix weekends, superbikes and drift nights. Glamorous, deafening and the most expensive venue there is to run.
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Stories about places like this are on their way. Meanwhile, browse Venues & history.