Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit video lap

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Here is a new video lap of the track which will host the 2009 F1 season finale. It was created using the latest rFactor simulation of the Yas Island Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi – check the link below to download the track and play it yourself.

Although the simulation looks rather flat (which may or may not be realistic) it gives a good impression of the general configuration of the venue.

And you have to say it’s rather standard Hermann Tilke fare with not an awful lot to distinguish it from the likes of Bahrain or Shanghai.

It’s a pity the early plans for a radical ‘hybrid’ track – part road and part street course – were abandoned. However some unusual features remain – like the hotel complex which straddles the track, and the pit lane exit which passes underneath the first corner.

If you have rFactor you can drive the track for yourself – download the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix track here.

If you haven’t got rFactor, and you like racing games, check it out, it’s definitely one of the best out there and you can pick it up for pennies now. It’s still the best F1 racing game you can get your hands on, at least until Codemaster’s new games start to arrive later this year.

Yas Island circuit map - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (click to enlarge)

More about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “Abu Dhabi Grand Prix circuit video lap”

  1. I love rFactor.

    I wish they would bring back a classic for the last race of the season though.

  2. Mmmhhh, very sceptical. Hope it is not like it seems on the game.
    Lots of brakes, lots of similar corners, not a fast series of difficult bends. The typical Tilke’s stop and go track, and I didn’t miss a new one.

  3. That track has been out and about for a few months…

    I read that the reason it is flat is due to the actual circuit not being used/seen the gradients properly (this isnt an official track)

    Ferrari used an rfactor video on their site, to show the track which was a lot better than that youtube video… the guy in this video is using a controller rather than a wheel which makes it look horrible to view.

    My only question is which 09 mod is that? The 09 HUD looks slightly different to mine, as it actually has a coloured KERS battery… Just wondering if they’ve got it working or it just looks different.
    Saying that, I have only tried F1RL09 + WCP09 beta, just wondering if there are any others out that I should check out.

    1. Lol, I was going to have the same moan about the use of a controller rather than a wheel.
      rFactor’s pretty damn good though for those that don’t know.
      Small outlay with an endless supply of hugely varied free mods.
      Seriously think you will be disappointed with the codemasters effort though Keith. It’ll be far too arcadey and limited – it’ll make a good coffee table game but by no means will it be a sim…

      1. Aaron Shearer
        22nd June 2009, 21:08

        Haha I wouldn’t even say it was a controller, more like a keyboard. I’ve got rFactor so I may download the 2009 car and have a bash about and maybe post a video or two.

  4. I added the comment before reading the text of the article…and it seems we think the same.
    Do we need to fund a party to have some good tracks?

  5. From what I remember (played it a month ago) the corners on this track were quite challenging to learn (quite a lot of them), and there are two quite long straights. Overall – the track is fun to drive in rfactor or F1 challenge, but will it be fun to watch real F1 racing there? …

  6. Hmm, seems pretty boring. What I don’t get though is why they have to go to Abu Dhabi when there’s already an excellent track in Dubai, which is not designed by Tilke btw…

    And I remember I tried rfactor, but I didn’t like it too much :S. I prefer RACE 07..

  7. Looks to me like they’ve modelled the entire track too tall. All the grandstands and bridges seem giant. I believe it is that flat too, it’s all built on what seems to be an artificial island.

  8. Boston F1 Fan
    22nd June 2009, 23:26

    – Two very high-speed, 7th-gear rev-limiter sections. I’m expecting some of Brundle’s famous “the engine builders watching this from behind a sofa”.

  9. Looks pretty long for an F1 circuit. Anyway what is the red line on the tachometer in that video?

  10. Prisoner Monkeys
    23rd June 2009, 1:14

    I think Abu Dhabi could be a pretty interesting race because it’s divided into three very different sections: from the Start/Finish Line, everything is fast and pretty flowing up to the hairpin, which should test the drivers. Then there’s the back straight and tha long fast corner down to the far end of the circuit broken up by the little chicane, which I think will test the engines in a Mulsanne-like way. And then the run back to the end of the lap is ticht and technical. It’s a shame they abandoned the half-permanent-circuit, half-street-course idea, but I think Abut Dhabi could yield a surprise for us all.

  11. Would it be anything other than a Ferrari in the demo video for this circuit? ;)

  12. i play this track all the time on rfactor but the part i hate is. the first corner
    when going around and taking your time to preserve tyres you find your brakeing BEFORE the finish line… when going for an amazing lap you are breaking just after it,

  13. Looks boring as hell. When will Tilke stop producing these monstrosities?; I’ll bet everything I own it will be a boring, clinical, austere, endless braking zone with acres of tarmac run-off which produces hideously processional races.

  14. If anyone lives in Abu Dhabi and wants to have a go at the virtual track and then be interviewed on Abu Dhabi TV’s English news let me know – we want to see what F1 fans think of the Yas Circuit. Contact me on sarahgeorgiana@hotmail.com.
    Many thanks

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