Race track wall art: how to choose a circuit print worth framing
The best race track wall art gets three things right: the true layout, details that mean something and a line that lifts off the wall. A guide to circuit prints, from street circuits around harbours to long permanent circuits through forests, with lap lengths from the circuits’ own sites.
, 6 min read
Good race track wall art does what a photo of a car cannot: it shows the whole lap at once. A fan recognises a circuit by its outline long before they read its name, so the best circuit prints get the layout exactly right, add the details that matter and make the line stand out. This guide covers what to look for, the difference between street circuits and permanent circuits, and some of the best-known layouts with lap lengths from the circuits’ own sites.
What makes a good race circuit print
Three things separate a print a fan keeps from one they hide in the spare room:
The true layout. The outline has to match the real track down to the last chicane. Fans notice a corner that is off.
Details that mean something. On our circuit prints that is the lap length, the number of turns and the year of the first race, wherever the sources give them for the layout drawn.
A line with depth. The track is 3D-printed in matt PLA and glued to the glass above a map of its surroundings, so the layout lifts off the map.
The map matters more than people expect. On a street circuit, the harbour, the seafront or the bay around the track turns the print into a map of a place, not just a squiggle. On a permanent circuit, the shape of the track itself does the talking, whether that is a figure of eight or one long lap through the hills.
Street circuits versus permanent circuits
A street circuit runs on public roads that carry buses, taxis and pedestrians the rest of the year. For race weekend the roads close, barriers and fences go up, and afterwards the city goes back to normal. Street circuits tend to be narrow, with tight corners between buildings and little room for mistakes.
A permanent circuit is built for racing and used all year: races, testing and track days. It has run-off areas, pit buildings and grandstands, and often sits outside town, in a forest, a park or on open ground. Many permanent circuits can also be run in several layouts.
Street circuits
Monaco
The best-known street circuit squeezes between the houses and the harbour. According to the club that organises its races, the track is 3.337 km long with 19 turns. Of the circuits we have as ready-made prints, it is the shortest.
Baku
The street circuit in Baku is 6.003 km long according to the circuit’s own site. On our print the lap runs along the Caspian seafront and through the narrow lanes around the old town walls, so one lap joins a long straight by the sea with tight corners in the historic centre.
Singapore
The night street circuit in Singapore runs through the streets around the bay, past skyscrapers and waterfronts. On the print the track sits above a map of the streets and the water of the bay.
More street circuits
A street circuit does not have to run through an old town. In Melbourne the track uses park roads around a lake, closed to traffic for racing. In Montreal it sits on a man-made island in the St Lawrence River, so the print shows water all around it. And in Las Vegas it runs at night along a boulevard of casinos and hotels, with a very long straight. Each one comes with a different map: a park, a river or a grid of streets.
Permanent circuits with a history
The circuit in the Ardennes
The circuit near Stavelot sits in the Belgian Ardennes, among rolling hills and dense forest. The circuit’s own site gives its present length as 7.004 km. Of the circuits we have as ready-made prints, it is the longest: one long lap through the forest and over the hills.
Suzuka
The circuit at Suzuka in Japan is 5.807 km long for cars, according to the circuit’s own course guide. Its layout is a figure of eight: at one point the track crosses over itself on a bridge.
The circuit in Lombardy
The circuit in a royal park north of Milan is known for its long straights and chicanes. The circuit’s own site gives 5,793 m and 11 curves, seven to the right and four to the left.
The circuit near Northampton
The circuit near Northampton was built on a wartime airfield, and according to the circuit manager, parts of the concrete from the airfield’s old perimeter road still lie under the track. The print shows its fast, flowing corners above a map of the surrounding countryside.
More permanent circuits
The landscape gives a permanent circuit its character too. The racing circuit near Budapest is a twisty track in a natural bowl at Mogyoród, one turn after another. The racing circuit near Haarlem runs among the sand dunes of the North Sea coast and has banked corners. More circuits, such as the ones near Barcelona and in Styria, are in the motorsport category of our ready-made prints.
Gifts for motorsport fans
A circuit print is a gift a fan recognises at a glance. Pick the track they watch every season or the one they visited in person. Two or three circuits side by side also work well on a wall, for example one street circuit and one permanent circuit, so the difference between harbour streets and a long lap through the woods shows. Every print is made to order.
Your own track day, as a print
If the person you are buying for drives on track days, the most personal print is of their own laps. Any GPS recording works: in the configurator you upload a GPX, TCX or KML file from a watch or app, then choose the look, the size and the frame. The height of the line follows the elevation in the recording.
Our guide on how to export a GPX file from Strava shows how to get the file out of the most common apps. And if mountain roads are more their thing, see famous cycling climbs in France: the same 3D treatment, on hairpins instead of chicanes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a street circuit and a permanent circuit?
A street circuit uses public roads that are closed for racing. A permanent circuit is built for racing and is used all year round.
Which circuit is the longest?
Of the circuits we have as ready-made prints, the longest is the circuit in the Ardennes near Stavelot at 7.004 km. The shortest is the street circuit in Monaco at 3.337 km.
Can I get a print of my own laps on a track day?
Yes. Upload a GPX, TCX or KML file from your watch or app and design the print with the route in 3D in the configurator.
