Nardò Ring
Encyclopedia
Nardò
Nardò is a town and comune of 31,185 inhabitants and comune in the southern Italian region of Apulia, in the province of Lecce.-History:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in the southern region of Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
, in the province of Lecce
Lecce
Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...
.
The track is 12.5 kilometres (7.8 mi) long and is perfectly round, has four lanes for cars and motorcycles totaling 16 metres (52.5 ft) in width and has a separate inner ring for trucks at a width of 9 metres (29.5 ft). In the cars/motorcycle ring the lanes are banked at such a degree that a driver in the outer most lane need not turn the wheel while driving at speeds of up to 240 kilometre per hour. In essence, at the so called neutral speed which is different for the four lanes, one can drive as if in a straight lane. However extremely fast cars still require the steering wheel to be turned when going faster than the maximum neutral speed. For example the Koenigsegg CCR
Koenigsegg CCR
The Koenigsegg CCR is a mid-engined sports car manufactured by Koenigsegg. It briefly held the world speed record for a production car and is currently the fourth fastest production car in the world, behind the Bugatti Veyron, SSC Ultimate Aero and the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.-Overview:Debuting...
which set a speed record for a production car at the Nardò Ring did so with the steering wheel at a 30° angle. This speed record has since been beaten by the Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of . The original version has a top speed of...
at a private Volkswagen long straight line test track in Germany, and hence the CCR only holds the speed record for the Nardò Ring. In the process of fighting a turn as needed when going faster than the neutral speed quite a bit of potential top speed is lost and hence a fast car will go faster in a straight line than what is possible on the Nardó Ring. Even at the neutral speed in a banked turn a car runs a bit heavier than it would in a straight line, since the downforce created by the banking increases the rolling resistance on the tires. There has only been one fatality at the ring.
The neutral speed for the four car/motorcycle lanes are respectively:
- Lane 1 - 100 kilometre per hour
- Lane 2 - 140 kilometre per hour
- Lane 3 - 190 kilometre per hour
- Lane 4 - 240 kilometre per hour
During regular weekly working activity the maximum speed allowed on the circular track is 240 kilometre per hour. Higher speeds are only allowed at times when a client gets the track for its exclusive use.
The neutral speed for the truck ring is between 80 kilometre per hour and 140 kilometre per hour over the width of the track, highest in the outer most part of the lane.