1st day...and a 650km road trip
01-24-2016, 12:53 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
1st day...and a 650km road trip
After the frustrating drive home on the Autobahn yesterday, I decided to take the car out today for a bit of a solo road trip.
I have always wanted to visit the old Reims-Gueux circuit located 7.5 km west of Reims in the Champagne region of north-eastern France. From my home, it's a 650km round trip.
I had driven a GT3 twice before, but only on track as part of driver training courses at Porsche Leipzig, so I had never driven one on the road before....and three things stood out which I had not noticed racing around a track.
Firstly, the thing rides better than it has any right to. It's firm but very controlled and rides even better in some conditions than my 4S. A pleasant surprise.
The second thing was the gear ratios, particularly 7th. It is so much shorter than my 4S. At 3,500 rpm you are only doing 135kph. I kept trying to pull a high gear on paddle when cruising. I am going to have to re-wire my brain.
And the third thing was no burbles and crackles on over run. It's quieter driving around the city than my 4S!
Anyway, back to the road trip.
The Reims-Gueux circuit was once a very famous road racing circuit hosting 24hr and F1 races in the 50s and 60s. The circuit was abandoned years ago. The main straight is still used as a busy'ish thru road. It’s quite bizarre driving down the road and seeing these abandon structures beside the road. It’s like a ghost town. Some photos attached. I also included a couple of photos of what it used to look like on race day.
I have always wanted to visit the old Reims-Gueux circuit located 7.5 km west of Reims in the Champagne region of north-eastern France. From my home, it's a 650km round trip.
I had driven a GT3 twice before, but only on track as part of driver training courses at Porsche Leipzig, so I had never driven one on the road before....and three things stood out which I had not noticed racing around a track.
Firstly, the thing rides better than it has any right to. It's firm but very controlled and rides even better in some conditions than my 4S. A pleasant surprise.
The second thing was the gear ratios, particularly 7th. It is so much shorter than my 4S. At 3,500 rpm you are only doing 135kph. I kept trying to pull a high gear on paddle when cruising. I am going to have to re-wire my brain.
And the third thing was no burbles and crackles on over run. It's quieter driving around the city than my 4S!
Anyway, back to the road trip.
The Reims-Gueux circuit was once a very famous road racing circuit hosting 24hr and F1 races in the 50s and 60s. The circuit was abandoned years ago. The main straight is still used as a busy'ish thru road. It’s quite bizarre driving down the road and seeing these abandon structures beside the road. It’s like a ghost town. Some photos attached. I also included a couple of photos of what it used to look like on race day.
01-24-2016, 02:13 PM
#4
Reims. Haven't been in years, and never with a car worthy of the location. Thanks for that. Send more! I am trying to think up a reasonable way to return to Le Mans and take the car with me.
01-25-2016, 02:01 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
Nice set of photos. Thanks for posting.
01-25-2016, 03:16 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Yes, it is in reasonable shape, at least the signs are. There is group called "Les Amis du Circuit de Gueux" who look after all the old buildings with the aim of preserving/restoring the infrastructure.
Last edited by Chris3963; 01-25-2016 at 06:08 PM.