BOTTOM of PageBack BOTTOM of Page

Third RIR Pictures Page
The Esses to Turn Six

GIF: RIR logo jacket patch

RIR Pics -1- Diagrams and Overviews
RIR Pics Overlay with links
RIR Pics 1b Continues Diagrams and Overviews
<<<    RIR Pics 2 Page begins with Start-Finish
RIR Pics 3b Page begins at Turn Six   >>>
RIR Pics 4 Page begins with Turn Seven
RIR Pics 5 Page begins at Turn Eight
RIR Pics 6 Page Grand Prix Legends simulator frames
RIR Pics 7 Page is from a 1957
                                Sports Illustrated report
RIR Pics 7b Page 1960 Formula One Grand Prix SI report
RIR Pics 8 Page et seq. show 8mm film frames of a
                                Riverside long course lap
RIR Pics 9 Page Autoweek's RIR Requiem article

This could be a very, very long load at 28.8:
maybe as much as 16 seconds.
Your mileage may vary
Check back frequently: I will add material as I find it.

Don't forget to refresh when you come back.
Click a picture to see a larger version.

    
Thumbnail: Overview from Turn Six through the Esses
I thought quite a while about where to put this picture. That's Turn Six nearest us, hosting what looks like a pace lap for an early-60s big-bore sports-racing event. It shows a bit about the esses, too. In the small view you can just see Turn Four, where the photo below ends. In the large view, Turns Two and Three are visible, right where the cars are in the next photo. If my copy of the program this comes from had not been damaged by moisture and friction, it might have shown something about the other end of the course, too.

Thumbnail: downtrack view from after T2 exit
Looking downtrack from Turn Two (the apex is just out of the frame at the lower right-hand corner) through Three (that dimple in the left side of the track) and the turn-in for Turn Four.

This is relatively modern; in the 50s and early 60s the graded area track left was populated by sage and tumbleweeds, and had a dry creekbed running through it. When you went off the track here, you prayed for smooth. Scroll down for illustrations.

The slope at right is mild compared to the original, which I remember as about 45 degrees and meeting the level ground about a car's width from the edge of the pavement.

Thumbnail: looking down on Hansgen at T2 or T4
Walt Hansgen in the newest Cooper Formula Junior. This location is not identified in the magazine. I can't think of any place a photographer could achieve this angle other than in the Esses. Remember that the bluffs along the east edge of the track ran right down to within just a few feet of the racing surface, and were a good deal steeper than after they were bulldozed away and the concrete block wall built up near the top. Tires in a fast turn, by the way.

Thumbnail: Phil Hill turns in at T2, 1958 Times race

Phil Hill, the eventual winner, setting up for Turn Two (or Four). Remember when cars drifted? This view from above the track shows the kind of vantage points not available in more recent years, after the bluffs that declined abruptly to the track edge were reduced to slopes.


Thumbnail: Richie Ginther leads Phil Hill into Turn 2, 1958
Hill chases Richie Ginther, whose effort succumbed to engine maladies (lost oil pressure). Take a look at the terrain outside the turn. Scary?

Thumbnail: Stirling Moss, Aston mattin DBR2, setting up for T2
Stirling Moss, DBR2, near the same tire (!) visible in the photo above. Did I mention the creekbed off the edge of the track?

Scan: 1971 Vega ad showing the approach to Turn Six

A 1970 advertisement for an obscure green car, featuring a less obscure driver and his race car. It also features a good track-level view of the bend before Turns Five and Six, and the famous Bleachers.

All right: it's a Chevrolet Vega and that is Denis Hulme with the Can-Am McLaren. No change on the Five-Six-Bleachers.



TOP of Page




TOP of Page