Oulton Park is one of the more old-school circuits in the UK. If that is not old school enough for you, a vintage version is also available for Assetto Corsa - completely without any of those pesky chicanes.
Bumpy, narrow, undulating - these characteristics probably best describe Oulton Park. Known to sim racers not just since the British GT Pack for Assetto Corsa Competizione, the circuit is demanding, but rather spectacular. Located in the North West of England, its general layout has remained largely unchanged - except for two chicanes that were added starting in the 1970s.
Those were still a few years down the road in 1967, which is the year @Rainmaker_87's latest upload recreates for Oulton Park. Originally brought to AC by Gilles75 and updated by an unknown author, Rainmaker_87 has overhauled the track for 2024, including compatibility with RainFX, GrassFX, water shaders, night lights, and more.
Of course, the chicane-less layout does not look the same compared to today's - in fact, it its vastly different when it comes to the surroundings. Hardly any barriers, enormous sponsor boards and a lot of green await drivers when tackling Oulton Park as it was in 1967. If you know the modern version, you should feel right at home at the vintage interpretation of the track as well.
Paul Warwick, younger brother of F1 driver Derek Warwick (Toleman, Renault, Brabham, Footwork/Arrows, Lotus), who had won at the track earlier in the 1991 season, suffered a suspension failure ahead of Knickerbrook, crashing into the barrier at reportedly 140 mph (about 230 kph). The 22-year-old Warwick did not survive the accident.
As he had won every race up until that point in the season and was awarded the victory for the second Oulton Park race as well, he won that year's British F3000 title posthumously. For 1992, the chicane was added, and to this day, the main entrance bridge to the track is named after Paul Warwick.
Image: racingcircuits.info
Back to 1967, though. The track's layout in its long form was still relatively new at this point, as Oulton Park had started out as an almost rectangular track in 1953. The extension featuring Island Bend and Shell Oils Corner was finished in time for 1954 already, though, and this layout remained in place until 1972.
In this shape, Oulton Park is, of course, faster than the chicaned versions that would follow later, but it also flows much better as a result. Getting the run through Knickerbrook just right in a period-appropriate car is enormous fun, even more so when kicking out the rear over the bump in the middle of the corner.
This could be even more thrilling in possible future updates. One of the know issues listed by the author is that the track is currently too wide. That probably makes it a bit faster as well as it is in its current version, but we imagine that threading the needle with less road available to make it happen would make the track even more thrilling.
Image: @Rainmaker_87
Which cars do you think would make for a good time to throw around Rainmaker_87's Oulton Park 1967 in Assetto Corsa? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
Bumpy, narrow, undulating - these characteristics probably best describe Oulton Park. Known to sim racers not just since the British GT Pack for Assetto Corsa Competizione, the circuit is demanding, but rather spectacular. Located in the North West of England, its general layout has remained largely unchanged - except for two chicanes that were added starting in the 1970s.
Those were still a few years down the road in 1967, which is the year @Rainmaker_87's latest upload recreates for Oulton Park. Originally brought to AC by Gilles75 and updated by an unknown author, Rainmaker_87 has overhauled the track for 2024, including compatibility with RainFX, GrassFX, water shaders, night lights, and more.
Of course, the chicane-less layout does not look the same compared to today's - in fact, it its vastly different when it comes to the surroundings. Hardly any barriers, enormous sponsor boards and a lot of green await drivers when tackling Oulton Park as it was in 1967. If you know the modern version, you should feel right at home at the vintage interpretation of the track as well.
Oulton Park 1967: No Chicanes To Be Found
Most notably, Foulston's chicane following the Shell Oils Corner is nowhere to be found, and neither is what is called Hislop's today. The latter was installed in 1992 to slow cars down for the infamous Knickerbrook corner, which, as is often the case, had a tragic reason. At the time, Formula 3000 (the rung below Formula One on the single-seater ladder) ran at Oulton Park - which were extremely fast cars for such a treacherous circuit.Paul Warwick, younger brother of F1 driver Derek Warwick (Toleman, Renault, Brabham, Footwork/Arrows, Lotus), who had won at the track earlier in the 1991 season, suffered a suspension failure ahead of Knickerbrook, crashing into the barrier at reportedly 140 mph (about 230 kph). The 22-year-old Warwick did not survive the accident.
As he had won every race up until that point in the season and was awarded the victory for the second Oulton Park race as well, he won that year's British F3000 title posthumously. For 1992, the chicane was added, and to this day, the main entrance bridge to the track is named after Paul Warwick.
Image: racingcircuits.info
Back to 1967, though. The track's layout in its long form was still relatively new at this point, as Oulton Park had started out as an almost rectangular track in 1953. The extension featuring Island Bend and Shell Oils Corner was finished in time for 1954 already, though, and this layout remained in place until 1972.
In this shape, Oulton Park is, of course, faster than the chicaned versions that would follow later, but it also flows much better as a result. Getting the run through Knickerbrook just right in a period-appropriate car is enormous fun, even more so when kicking out the rear over the bump in the middle of the corner.
This could be even more thrilling in possible future updates. One of the know issues listed by the author is that the track is currently too wide. That probably makes it a bit faster as well as it is in its current version, but we imagine that threading the needle with less road available to make it happen would make the track even more thrilling.
Image: @Rainmaker_87
Which cars do you think would make for a good time to throw around Rainmaker_87's Oulton Park 1967 in Assetto Corsa? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
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