The Dunlop Bridge is a landmark advertising footbridge sponsored by Dunlop Tyres, located at several racing circuits around the world. The oldest surviving example of this bridge is at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The bridge is regarded as one of the most recognisable features at a motorsport venue, particularly the Circuit de la Sarthe [1] and Donington Park, [2] although the latter was removed during renovations for the failed attempt to stage the 2010 British F1 Grand Prix, and due to new racing safety regulations, cannot be restored.
Radio and television personality Chris Evans bought the Donington Park bridge while visiting a racing memorabilia auction in September 2012. [3]
Italics indicate that the bridge is no longer within the circuit.
Photo | Venue | Section | Locale | Installed | Dismantled | Source | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Circuit de la Sarthe | Dunlop Curve | Le Mans, Sarthe, France | 1932 | [nb 1] [4] | |||
Suzuka Circuit | Turn 7 | Suzuka, Mie, Japan | 1960s | 1987 | |||
Surfers Paradise Raceway | Turn 1 | Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia | 1966 | 1987 | |||
Donington Park | Starkey's Straight | Leicestershire, United Kingdom | 1977 | 2009 | [nb 2] [5] | ||
Mount Panorama Circuit | Exit of The Chase | Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia | 1982 | [6] [nb 3] [7] | |||
Sandown Raceway | Turn 9 | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | 1989 | [nb 4] | |||
Tsukuba Circuit | Midfield | Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Japan | |||||
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Turn 3 | Monterey, California, United States | [nb 5] | ||||
Mantorp Park | Mantorp, Östergötland, Sweden | ||||||
Circuit Paul Armagnac | Turn 11 | Nogaro, Midi-Pyrénées, France | |||||
Sportsland SUGO | Home straight | Murata, Miyagi, Japan | |||||
Circuit d'Albi | Le Séquestre, Midi-Pyrénées, France | ||||||
Circuit Carole | Home straight | Tremblay-en-France, Île-de-France, France | |||||
Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry | Home straight | Linas, Île-de-France, France |
A Dunlop Bridge also exists in the Apricot Hill Raceway, a fictional racetrack in the Gran Turismo series, although the branding was removed in Gran Turismo 6 .
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000. The circuit hosted the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 after an absence of nearly 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for races from 2009 onward. The Super GT Fuji 500 km race is held at the racetrack on Golden Week.
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Derbyshire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned by the Wheatcroft family, is currently under lease by MotorSport Vision until 2038. It has a capacity of 120,000, and is also the venue of the Download Festival.
Sonoma Raceway is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, California. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 ft (49 m) of total elevation change. It is host to one of the few NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It has also played host to the IndyCar Series, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events with some open to the public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America. The track is 30 mi (48 km) north of San Francisco and Oakland.
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Road Atlanta is a 2.540 mi (4.088 km) road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams. The track has 12 turns, including the famous "esses" between turns three and five; and Turn 12, a downhill, diving turn. The track is owned by IMSA Holdings, LLC through its subsidiary Road Atlanta, LLC, and is the home to the Petit Le Mans, as well as AMA motorcycle racing, and smaller events throughout the year. Michelin acquired naming rights to the facility in 2018.
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Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately 25 km (16 mi) south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its "drag strip" front and back straights being 899 m (983 yd) and 910 m (1,000 yd) long respectively.
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