Making a circuit wall plaque with the Race Track preset

Difficulty: Beginner–Intermediate · Time: 30–60 minutes · Methods, ranked: 1) Layered laser build - track cut from black acrylic, mounted on a red backplate with the access roads engraved (the intended build), 2) single-piece engrave on painted or two-color stock, 3) full-color UV print or high-res PNG print for posters and phone-grip discs.

Every motorsport fan knows their circuit by silhouette alone. This preset isolates the racetrack itself - the actual raceway geometry from the map data - as a bold black ribbon over a racing-red round backplate, with the surrounding access roads as fine supporting detail. It ships set up on Silverstone and works for any circuit on the map: F1, MotoGP, your local kart track. The result is a layered plaque for the garage, office, or sim-racing rig.

Open the Race Track preset

What You'll Need

Layered laser build (recommended)

Backplate: 3 mm red acrylic (gloss "racing red" cast acrylic - the preset's #C0181F) or red-painted MDF, circle ~200–300 mm
Track layer: 3 mm black acrylic (matte black over gloss red is chef's kiss)
Laser cutter, acrylic adhesive (Weld-On, or clear silicone for forgiving positioning), keyhole hanger or stand

Single-piece engrave

Two-color acrylic (red cap / black or white core) or painted plywood

Step 1 - Start from the preset

Open the Race Track preset. It loads on Silverstone Circuit at zoom 14.2 in a circle frame with a black border ring. Search for any other circuit - Spa, Suzuka, Monza, Laguna Seca, or the local kart track all resolve from the raceway map data.

Framing tips:

Zoom so the full circuit fits inside the circle with breathing room - 13.8–14.5 covers most grand prix tracks; small karting circuits may need 15+.
Rotate your mental composition around the track's iconic corner - put Eau Rouge or the Suzuka esses where the eye lands first.
Some venues have multiple layouts (historic + modern); zoom in to check which raceway segments are present before committing.

Step 2 - Tune the layers

Three layer groups:

Track - Solid mode, a single feature: raceway at width 6, black. Because it's a solid line feature with width > 0, it exports as a real filled ribbon - a continuous closed loop you can physically cut. Width 6 is right for a 250 mm plaque; go 8 for chunkier or for small kart tracks that need visual weight. The global border (black ring, padding 10) also applies to this layer, giving the cut layer a matching outer ring.

Access roads - Solid mode: secondary, street, minor, and "other" roads all at width 2, black. These are the paddock lanes, service roads, and pit access that give the plaque its sense of place. Important: at width 2 these are disconnected thin strands - they are engraving detail, not cuttable geometry. In the layered build they get engraved onto the red backplate, not cut. If you want a cleaner, logo-like plaque, hide this group entirely.

Backplate - a solid racing-red (#C0181F) disc behind everything. It's the physical bottom layer in laser builds and the background color in prints.

Step 3 - Export

In the export modal:

Layered build: use the per-layer toggles. Export the Track layer SVG (your black cut file - ribbon + border ring), then the Access roads SVG (engrave file for the backplate), then the backplate is just a plain circle at final size.
Single-piece engrave: export the combined SVG or high-res PNG with everything visible.
Print: high-res PNG (4096 px), Background toggle on so the red disc prints.
Hanger hole if you want to hang it by a cord instead of a keyhole hanger - position top-center; it cuts through the backplate ring.
Small-polygon cleanup on, mostly to tidy the access-road fragments.

Choose Your Build Method

Layered laser build

Cut the backplate circle from red acrylic at final size (250 mm is a strong wall size). Engrave the Access roads art onto it in the same job so registration is perfect.
Cut the Track layer from black acrylic: the circuit ribbon and the outer border ring. Cut slowly - the ribbon has tight corner radii at chicanes.
De-mask both parts. Dry-fit the ribbon over the engraved backplate - the engraved service roads should kiss the edges of the black track exactly.
Glue: tiny dots of adhesive on the back of the ribbon at the straights (never at thin corner sections - squeeze-out shows), position using the engraved access roads as the registration map, then the border ring last. 3M tape 467 or 468 transfer tape is a zero-squeeze-out alternative for acrylic-on-acrylic.
Add a keyhole hanger or easel stand.

Single-piece engrave

On red/black two-color acrylic: raster-engrave the Track and Access roads through the red cap - the circuit appears in the core color. One material, zero assembly.
Or on painted MDF: spray red, engrave through to bare board, cut the circle.

Make It Yours

Engrave the circuit name, country, and lap record along the inside of the border ring.
Start/finish detail: add a small white-filled rectangle decal or paint marker dash at the start line.
Sector colors: cut the track ribbon in three pieces from three acrylic colors (purple/green/yellow - sim racers will get it).
Home-circuit pairing: this preset for the track, the City Map preset for the host town, hung side by side.
Driver tribute: backplate in the driver's livery color instead of red - papaya, rosso, silver.
Mini key fobs: 50 mm version with just the Track layer and a hanger hole, finished with snap clips - batch a whole season calendar of circuits.
Swap the circle for the hexagon export shape and build a wall of hex plaques, one per circuit visited.

Open the Race Track preset

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