It may never have reached the glory of Spa-Franchorchamps, but Zolder is one of Belgium's most important tracks regardless. A big update to the 1967 version for Assetto Corsa lets sim racers enjoy it in renewed retro glory.
Zolder, land of chicanes. Two left-right and one right-left combination with various degress of cumbersomeness - which, to my surprise is actually a word, believe it or not - grace Circuit Zolder to slow cars down in key areas. A potential nightmare for any sim racer when it comes to track limits, as they encourage cutting across the kerbs quite severely.
Currently, a lot of us here at OverTake are running Zolder quite frequently in preparation for Jimmy Broadbent's 6th Race For Mental Health. Late apexes, reference points that are a bit difficult to spot, a beast of a car in the Supercars version of the Ford Mustang - it is going to be a long 23 Hours, but a challenge we are all looking forward to. More info on how to follow our quest of not punting Max Verstappen of all people into the wall will follow soon!
Zolder's original layout used from 1963 to 1971. Image: racingcircuits.info
Back to the track, however. As is the case with most chicanes, they have not always been in place. Usually, they are introduced to slow cars down through or ahead of sections that could be particularly dangerous at certain speeds, and Zolders "chickens" (as a certain two-time F1 World Champion from Spain once called them) are no different.
The long left of Sacramentshelling after the back straight goes over a crest, and in preparation for the first F1 race at Zolder in 1973, the Kleine Chicane was installed to prevent the cars from taking flight over said crest. Having just moved away from the extraordinarily dangerous original configuration of Spa-Francorchamps after 1970, another dangerous track was not exactly what the Belgian Grand Prix needed.
We couldn't just not try if that concern was valid, of course.
It first moved to Nivelles-Baulers, which was relatively safe, but also so unspectacular that it was closed and abandoned not even ten years after it opened. F1 visited only twice, namely in 1972 and 1974. Then it was off to Zolder until renovations at Spa were complete in 1983, with the former having one last hurrah for the 1984 race.
During that time, the final super-fast left-right combination was slowed down significantly for the 1975 race, and the previously-unnamed section was named after Jacky Ickx. Then, in 1986, the Villeneuve Chicane was installed heading into Terlamenbocht - but only for 1986 after F1 had already left for good.
The update is building upon the version last updated in September 2023 by @Rainmaker_87 - and the older variant by @Gilles75 and even the original conversion by @Dumeklemmer are still available in our download section. A true community project, if you will.
There is still no denying that the track has aged a bit - it started out as Grand Prix Legends mod, after all - as it shows in some places, but that does not make it any less fun to drive. Zolder 1967 is a great throwback to a much more flowing version of Belgium's first purpose-built track that clearly shows that it probably would not have been a good idea to race it with high-powered cars in this form.
Prancing horse on the side of the car and a tiger in the tank - a rather unique combination.
Aside from the absence of chicanes, you will also notice a few other, smaller differences. For instance, Earste (so quite literally turn 1) is tighter and further back compared to today, while Sterrenwachtbocht and Kanaalbocht have a slightly wider radius - similarly to Terlamenbocht, which is a bit faster as a result.
What has not changed, however, is the tight hairpin of Bolderbergbocht followed by the slight left-right combination now known as Jochen Rindtbocht. Even back then, getting a good exit out of this slow right-hander proved to be difficult, but important for lap times, especially with the much faster variant of what would later be called Jacky Ickxbocht still in place.
How do you like the original layout of Zolder 1967 for Assetto Corsa? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion on our Assetto Corsa forum!
Zolder, land of chicanes. Two left-right and one right-left combination with various degress of cumbersomeness - which, to my surprise is actually a word, believe it or not - grace Circuit Zolder to slow cars down in key areas. A potential nightmare for any sim racer when it comes to track limits, as they encourage cutting across the kerbs quite severely.
Currently, a lot of us here at OverTake are running Zolder quite frequently in preparation for Jimmy Broadbent's 6th Race For Mental Health. Late apexes, reference points that are a bit difficult to spot, a beast of a car in the Supercars version of the Ford Mustang - it is going to be a long 23 Hours, but a challenge we are all looking forward to. More info on how to follow our quest of not punting Max Verstappen of all people into the wall will follow soon!
Zolder's original layout used from 1963 to 1971. Image: racingcircuits.info
Back to the track, however. As is the case with most chicanes, they have not always been in place. Usually, they are introduced to slow cars down through or ahead of sections that could be particularly dangerous at certain speeds, and Zolders "chickens" (as a certain two-time F1 World Champion from Spain once called them) are no different.
The long left of Sacramentshelling after the back straight goes over a crest, and in preparation for the first F1 race at Zolder in 1973, the Kleine Chicane was installed to prevent the cars from taking flight over said crest. Having just moved away from the extraordinarily dangerous original configuration of Spa-Francorchamps after 1970, another dangerous track was not exactly what the Belgian Grand Prix needed.
We couldn't just not try if that concern was valid, of course.
It first moved to Nivelles-Baulers, which was relatively safe, but also so unspectacular that it was closed and abandoned not even ten years after it opened. F1 visited only twice, namely in 1972 and 1974. Then it was off to Zolder until renovations at Spa were complete in 1983, with the former having one last hurrah for the 1984 race.
During that time, the final super-fast left-right combination was slowed down significantly for the 1975 race, and the previously-unnamed section was named after Jacky Ickx. Then, in 1986, the Villeneuve Chicane was installed heading into Terlamenbocht - but only for 1986 after F1 had already left for good.
Zolder 1967 - A Community Project
Enough chicane history,though, because the track's original configuration featured none of those. It is also available for Assetto Corsa, courtesy of @ClimaxF1 - in fact, Zolder 1967 recently received a major update that completely overhauled the circuit with new textures, improved lighting, and much more.The update is building upon the version last updated in September 2023 by @Rainmaker_87 - and the older variant by @Gilles75 and even the original conversion by @Dumeklemmer are still available in our download section. A true community project, if you will.
There is still no denying that the track has aged a bit - it started out as Grand Prix Legends mod, after all - as it shows in some places, but that does not make it any less fun to drive. Zolder 1967 is a great throwback to a much more flowing version of Belgium's first purpose-built track that clearly shows that it probably would not have been a good idea to race it with high-powered cars in this form.
V12 Fun At A Classic Circuit
The Ferrari 250 GTO proved to be a fun car at the track - not too fast, but powerful enough to slide it around the corners a bit, and with a nice soundtrack from its V12 engine as the cherry on top.Prancing horse on the side of the car and a tiger in the tank - a rather unique combination.
Aside from the absence of chicanes, you will also notice a few other, smaller differences. For instance, Earste (so quite literally turn 1) is tighter and further back compared to today, while Sterrenwachtbocht and Kanaalbocht have a slightly wider radius - similarly to Terlamenbocht, which is a bit faster as a result.
What has not changed, however, is the tight hairpin of Bolderbergbocht followed by the slight left-right combination now known as Jochen Rindtbocht. Even back then, getting a good exit out of this slow right-hander proved to be difficult, but important for lap times, especially with the much faster variant of what would later be called Jacky Ickxbocht still in place.
How do you like the original layout of Zolder 1967 for Assetto Corsa? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion on our Assetto Corsa forum!
