Clyde River Raceway
Clyde River Raceway is a motorsport venue located near Batemans Bay in New South Wales, Australia. The track consists of 5 layouts, the longest being the 4.75km GP Circuit.
History
Construction began in 2013, in preparation for the new F1RBCC, which the track would host the first race in 2014. The F1RBCC Clyde River Grand Prix was the first major event held at the track, and was won by Dennis Mignolet for RonDen Racing Engineering. However, after the series collapsed a few weeks later, the track was demoted to hosting small meetings. The track continued like this until 2015, when the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit's contract for hosting the Australian F1 Grand Prix ended. The track, with backing from the NSW Government, won the rights to host the GP from 2016 until 2020.
The Main Track
The main layout starts with a long front straight. Turn 1 is a left hand kink, that is made difficult by a sharp downhill run, which continues through the slow turn 2 and the tricky turn 3. The track then flattens out, before the fast turn 4 and a medium length straight. The turn 5 hairpin is the slowest corner on the circuit, and is a good overtaking oppurtunity. From there, it's an uphill run to turns 6 and 7, twin right handers that feature very high kerbing on the inside to discourage kerb hopping. Turn 8 is a fast left kink, and it's over the Dunlop Bridge, built to look like the bridge at the former Oran Park Raceway, and immediately downhill through the fast 9 and 10. Turn 11 is a slow 90 degree right hander, followed by a short straight and another slow left. Another straight leads back under the Dunlop Bridge, then the track goes steeply uphill through turn 13, the fastest corner on the track. Turn 14 is made tricky by the crest just before, making spotting the apex difficult. The pit lane entry is just before the final corner, and the entry is significantly lower than the main straight, although by the end of the lane the steady uphill rise has the lane almost level with the straight. There is also a small pit lane at the southern end of the circuit, used for servicing the Club Circuit when it is used.
