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Mexico-City goes GPL
Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, México
One of the most notorious spots in Mexico City, Mexico, is Chapultepec's Wood (Chapultepec means the "Grasshopper's Hill", in náhuatl language). Located in the heart of the nation's capital, the Park houses a legendary Castle (precisely on top of the hill that gives the place it's name, where the yellow triangle stands in the virtual map), which served, in the XIX century, as a home for Emperor Maximilian and her wife, Queen Carlota. Later on, it became the official residence for Mexico's Presidents until 1939, when President Lazaro Cardenas declared it National Monument, turning it into the National Historic Museum. Due to the importance and antiquity of the Castle and the level of attraction the Park has for many tourists and/or mexican families that enjoy having a nice day inside it, a considerable degree of development and improvement has been achieved in it's surroundings; it also houses the popular City's Zoo.
Chapultepec Park's Track constitutes the spinal cord of a big net of internal roads that communicate the Palace with the rest of the woods and streets that surrounds it. Although several centuries ago Chapultepec's Wood was a huge natural reserve (having more or less the same size as the woods that home the famous Nurburgring german track), it has now turned into a small, yet beautiful, natural park due to the unconsidered and unlimited expansion of the Mexico City. Fortunately it has remained unchanged for the past 50 years, due to the ecological meaning it has for the complex, huge metroplex that has become the nation's capital: it's considered it's "main lung".
Chapultepec is surrounded by four important urban zones or colonies: Polanco, La Condesa, San Miguel and La Roma. Polanco, the most important and nice out of these, holds several first line hotels, like The Nikko and El Presidente Intercontinental, as well as several and important restaurants and shops. On the other hand, the quite popular colony La Condesa, holds an incredibly beautiful concentration of street cafes and night clubs. Finally, Reforma Avenue, perhaps the nation's most popular street, roams near the northern part of the track. This avenue gives Chapultepec's Wood a very important touristic access.
The Track
Chapultepec's Track has never been used, neither for amateur nor for professional racing. Not a single racing car event has ever been organized in the circuit; however, this doesn't mean it's condemned to abandon and solitude. It reunites the main characteristics of a racing track for the 1960's Formula 1 era. It's wide, it's surrounded by woods, it's very fast and very nice. Think of it as a combination of the Nurgurgring and the Spa-Francorchamps tracks. What more could a pilot could ask about a racing circuit? Chapultepec has two main straights – named Military College Avenue and The Grand Avenue –, connected by two medium and fast corners – Curva Los Pinos and Curva Niños Héroes. Although it has a nearly-ovalistic form, it's not formerly an oval: it has a slight pair of fast curves preceding the Niños Héroes Curve, forming an "S" after the Grand Avenue straight (this part is known as the Flower Market Zone). Niños Héroes curve, by the way, is the slowest in the whole circuit, demanding precision and control from the driver, if any chance of breaking the lap record is kept in mind. Military College Avenue, where the Start/Finish line is located, is 900 meters long, allowing the pilot to approximate his car to the "double-ton". But don't worry: thanks to the very extensive and wide Los Pinos curve, followed by The Grand Avenue straight – about 700 meters long – it's almost sure you'll reach the double ton before entering the Flower Market's "S".
Chapultepec Park is the only mexican Grand Prix Legends track after the well known Autódromo de la Ciudad de México, which is included in the game. Finally, a new scenario for Mexico's Formula 1 comes after the long, long time spent using the mile-high old Autodromo. Hope you enjoy it.
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