The white box is the Starter's Stand, right at the Start-Finish line. There was a barrier made of telephone poles lying on their sides between the course and the race operations/reentry area.
One of the Holtville films shows the aftermath
of a formula car's coming together with it.
Both parties sustained broken members. Not the
driver, the car.

Lost in the glare of poor transfer to video
is the first apex of Turn 1, which by design
we miss by a bunch. The second apex is on the
other side of the infield there, and it is
important to get it right, as any gains or
losses are in effect for the length of the
subsequent straight.

On the long course, we are moving from the
left to the right edge of the track. The
next turn is a left, and we want as straight
a shot as possible through it to the next
turn, a right. You can see this near the
first "2" on the aerial photos.

If we were on the short course, we's have
stayed to the left as far as the second "2",
where we'd make the u-turn to catch Turn 5.

On the left is the apex for the left part of Turn 2.
We also get our first look at the raised mounds of concrete, designed to discourage shortcutting
of the course, and called "Jaques' Jolters,"
for their designer, Vern Jaques. Farther ahead
is the marker for the right turn.

HOLTVILLE A/P

Just past the starter's spot, looking at the shutoff markers and the line of barrels half or more full of water. I don't recall anyone hitting them. There is a lot of runoff area beyond the turn. The little tab above the "1" in the extreme corner of the aerial photo is where the Spitfire went off as I describe on another page. Click this photo and look at the MG page to see that story.

Here we are close to that second apex and headed out toward the left edge of the track. When first designed, the width of the track at this point was symmetrical with that on the entry side of Turn 1. Racers just disregarded pylons set out to mark the limit, so eventually the pylons were placed beyond the farthest rubber marks.

Coming up on the Turn 2 shutoff markers, with the turn markers in the left edge of the picture. A good, fast driver (like Phil Binks) might scrub speed turning in and not brake until he was in the middle of the left part of this turn, doing some of the decelleration in the transition area before the right part of the turn. When I was driving the MG here, I don't think I knew that. Later, when I had the skill and the Vega coupe, we were on the short course where there was no chance to do this turn.

This is the area between the two "2s", with the right turn up ahead, just at the second "2".

That fast driver we mentioned will have figured the best way to come out of the second part fastest (following straight theorem again).