Dunlop Bridge

The Dunlop Bridge is a landmark advertising footbridge. There are several of them, situated at a number of different motor racing circuits around the world. The oldest surviving example of this bridge is at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The bridge is regarded as one of the most recognisable features at a motorsport venue, particularly the Circuit de la Sarthe[1] and Donington Park,[2] although the latter was removed during renovations for the failed attempt to stage the 2010 British F1 Grand Prix, and due to new racing safety regulations, cannot be restored.

DJ Chris Evans bought the Donington Park bridge while visiting a racing memorabilia auction in September 2012.[3]

List of race circuits featuring a Dunlop Bridge

Italics indicate that the bridge is no longer within the circuit.

Photo Venue Section Locale Installed Dismantled Source Notes
Circuit de la Sarthe Dunlop Curve Le Mans, Sarthe, France 1932 [nb 1][4]
Suzuka Circuit Turn 7 Suzuka, Mie, Japan 1960s 1987
Surfers Paradise Raceway Turn 1 Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia 1966 1987
Donington Park Starkey's Straight Leicestershire, United Kingdom 1977 2009 [nb 2][5]
Mount Panorama Circuit Exit of The Chase Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia 1982 [6][nb 3][7]
Sandown Raceway Turn 9 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1989 [nb 4]
Tsukuba Circuit Midfield Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Japan
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Turn 3 Monterey, California, United States [nb 5]
Mantorp Park Mantorp, Östergötland, Sweden
Circuit Paul Armagnac Nogaro, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Sportsland SUGO Home straight Murata, Miyagi, Japan

A Dunlop Bridge also exists in the Apricot Hill Raceway, a fictional racetrack in the Gran Turismo series, although the branding was removed in Gran Turismo 6.

Notes
  1. Relocated to its present location at the between 1986 and 1987 to allow for the insertion of a chicane.
  2. Originally dismantled to allow a proposed 200mph straight to be created, since work fell through due to financial reasons, the bridge is currently in a dismantled state after it was not restorable due to racing regulations.
  3. Originally known as the JPS Bridge, then the Bridgestone Bridge and the GMAC Bridge, has since been renamed the Armor All Bridge.
  4. Sandown Raceway originally had a Dunlop Bridge from 1964-1984 located at the Turn 9 causeway. The base of the old bridge was not protected by barriers and was the site of many high speed crashes and was removed on safety grounds during circuit re-configuration in mid-1984. Sandown's current bridge was originally the Dunlop Bridge which stood at the Surfers Paradise Raceway from 1966 until the circuit closed in 1987. This bridge has been since been modified and renamed the Jim Beam Bridge.
  5. Various other tire brands also advertised on Laguna Seca's Dunlop Bridge.

References
  1. Brian Laban Published: 12:01AM BST 16 Jun 2007 Comments (16 June 2007). "The greatest race". Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  2. "Iconic Dunlop Bridge dismantled at Donington | Planet F1 | Formula One News". Planet F1. 13 February 2009. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  3. "Chris Evans bought Donington Park's Dunlop bridge 'by accident'". BBC News. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. http://www.clubarnage.com/caguide/caguide2009.pdf
  5. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Dunlop-Bridge-removed-Donington-Park/article-734384-detail/article.html%5B%5D
  6. http://www.nzmustang.com/bathurst/bathurst.htm
  7. http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb3/yogi2795/Central%20West%20%20riding/?action=view&current=IMG_1926sm.jpg

See also

Red Bull, who also have a distinctive footbridge at race events.

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