Dunlop Bridge

The Dunlop Bridge is a landmark advertising footbridge sponsored by Dunlop Tyres, located at several 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.

Radio and television personality 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.

Venue	Section	Locale	Installed	Dismantled	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	Turn 11	Nogaro, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Sportsland SUGO	Home straight	Murata, Miyagi, Japan
Circuit d'Albi		Le Séquestre, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Circuit Carole	Home straight	Tremblay-en-France, Île-de-France, France
Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry	Home straight	Linas, Île-de-France, France

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

^ Relocated to its present location at the between 1986 and 1987 to allow for the insertion of a chicane.
^ 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.
^ Originally known as the JPS Bridge, then the Bridgestone Bridge and the GMAC Bridge, has since been renamed the Armor All Bridge.
^ 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.
^ Various other tire brands also advertised on Laguna Seca's Dunlop Bridge.

References

^ Brian Laban (16 June 2007). "The greatest race". Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
^ "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.
^ "Chris Evans bought Donington Park's Dunlop bridge 'by accident'". BBC News. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
^ "Le Mans (not just) for Dummies - The Club Arnage Guide to the 24 hours of Le Mans 2009" (PDF). Club Arnage.
^ "Dunlop Bridge goes at Donington Park | This is Nottingham". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.
^ "A close look at the Australian Bathurst racing circuit". Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ "Central West riding :: IMG_1926sm.jpg picture by yogi2795 - Photobucket". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.

[4] Relocated to its present location at the between 1986 and 1987 to allow for the insertion of a chicane.

[6] 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.

[9] Originally known as the JPS Bridge, then the Bridgestone Bridge and the GMAC Bridge, has since been renamed the Armor All Bridge.

[11] 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.

[12] Various other tire brands also advertised on Laguna Seca's Dunlop Bridge.

[1] Brian Laban (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.

[5] "Le Mans (not just) for Dummies - The Club Arnage Guide to the 24 hours of Le Mans 2009" (PDF). Club Arnage.

[7] "Dunlop Bridge goes at Donington Park | This is Nottingham". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.

[8] "A close look at the Australian Bathurst racing circuit". Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

[10] "Central West riding :: IMG_1926sm.jpg picture by yogi2795 - Photobucket". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.

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v t e Sarthe, Department of France
Religious buildings	Le Mans Cathedral Notre Dame de Sainte Croix Notre-Dame de la Couture Saint-Martin de Luché Church Solesmes Abbey St. Cecilia's Abbey
Châteaux	Château de Ballon Château de Boisclaireau Château du Lude Château de Coulans Château de Bonnétable Château de Juigné Château de Launay Manoir de Vrigné Château of Moulinvieux Château de Sablé Château de Sourches Château de Vaulogé Château de Verdelles
Politicians	Joseph Caillaux Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac Julie Delpech Pascale Fontenel-Personne Étienne Joseph Louis Garnier-Pagès Éric Martineau Christian Pineau Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy List of senators of Sarthe
Sportspeople	Dominique Chauvelier Nicolas Edet Ernest Granier Marcel Haëntjens Joël Hauvieux André Jousseaume Roger Legeay Guylaine Marchand Pierre Roger Amandine Tissier
Structures	Dunlop Bridge Prytanée national militaire Transmitter Le Mans-Mayet Zoo de la Flèche

List of race circuits featuring a Dunlop Bridge

See also

Notes

References