F1 Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial Route Pictures

I've been a Formula One fan for many years, and so I was really excited when I heard they are planning to run a race in Weehawken and West New York (NJ) starting in 2013.  I finally found a detailed route map here:

Today I took my bike over to NJ on the NY Waterways ferry from west 39th street in Manhattan to Port Imperial, and rode the route.

Here's the view (more or less southwest) from the start/finish line:

Turn 1 is ahead:

This is the view east from the area of Turn 1:

This is in the area of Turn 2

Looking towards Turn 3:

Turn 3 (from right to left).  Note that the apartment building was built after the satellite photo that Tilke used for the route map:

Coming up the hill into Turn 4:

Turn 4 (right to left), this will be amazing:

The view, showing the elevation change:

Turn 5/6 complex (turning right):

Still going uphill!

Looking back down on the course still to come:

 

Turn 12, turning right and heading downhill:

Downhill:

Turn 13:

This would have to be the only sewage plant on an F1 course!  Just before Turn 14:

Turn 15 (right turn):

Heading towards Turn 16:

Turn 18 (left turn):

These apartments sit right on Turn 19, with a view right down the start finish straight!

And back to the start/finish line!

Here's my GPS track:

What doesn't really show very well on the maps is the elevation change, which would be amazing.  Here's the profile from my GPS track today (the vertical scale is a bit exaggerated):

I hope they pull this off, because it would be an amazing track! However, it seems that the most exciting parts of the circuit will only be viewable on TV--those hills are pretty inaccessible, and most of the grandstands are shown down on the start/finish straight.  Click on any photo for a larger picture; more geo-tagged photos here.

Comments

[J0J0]

How did the asphalt quality look? It looked from the photos that the tarmac going up the hill, near the sewage plant was quite damaged for an F1 track. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that since you walked the proposed track.

[John Huntington]

Good question! I'd say, overall, for the most part, it looks pretty good, for a street circuit in this area, where we get pretty large temperature swings. It seems like the road bed was actually reasonably well constructed, and I'm assuming they will resurface it before the race...

[bowsprite]

these photos are vicious!! how fast were you going on this track?--I saw the wheels on that bike!
You think they will resurface? before or after the $1.4 to raise the Bayonne Bridge? well, I do wish them luck.