Rouen les Essarts

[paulzinho]

Whatever happenned to this stunning track?

Are there any specialist websites? I'd love to know more about it!

[Vitesse]

Try these:

http://www.racer.demon.nl/6thgear/rouen.html

http://www.lugnutsracing.com./rouen.html

[Peter Scillitoe]

Originally posted by paulzinho
Whatever happenned to this stunning track?

You pass it on the way to Le Mans. Well worth a stop to see what is left of the track and buildings.

[paulzinho]

Thanks, truly a special circuit, sad to see that parts of it are in such a poor state these days, I must give it a visit some day!

[paul.hickman]

It must have been a truly awesome circuit to race on - most of us can visualise the famous photograph of Fangio in a nose crumpled 250F sweeping through the downhill section in a four wheel drift - but it's not until one actually stands at the spot that you realise the gradient of the hill, the scope of the curves and the drop into the valley should you get it all wrong!!

Even in its present state (it must be 5 years or so since I was last there)the nostalgia permeates the delapidated buildings and broken up track.

Go - you will not be disappointed!

[Adam43]

We visited it on the way back from Le Mans this year. It was fantastic. I found it on the map and knew I was on it at the time, but could hardly believe that it could be used for racing.

It drops down hill so steeply and with tightening bends. Great stuff. You can drive practically all of the shortest circuit (only used once, I think). All apart from the top (most northern) straight survives from the longest most used circuit.

Unfortunately the pit buildings are no more, but you can still see were they were.

As the others have said: You must go!

Someone () once asked Nigel Roebuck a great question on his 'Ask Nigel' autosport.com page. It can be found here:

http://www.autosport.com/featuresask...=19591&s=5&l=3

[SL]

It is pretty awesome in GPL so in real it must have been, well words fail me.

One day we will go there to or from Le Mans. I would love to see the downhill from the start as I have heard so much about it.

Simon

[Barry Boor]

For those who have not been; last May (2001) on a visit to Rouen with a couple of friends from another well-known Forum I walked down from the start through those sweepers, to Nouveau Monde. It is still a very evocative place, although the road has been widened since the F1 cars stopped going there after 1968.

The long right hander, Virage du Gresil, that leads onto the long straight is now by-passed and barriered off. We walked around the bend, which is overgrown and has had several fair sized trees blown over onto it during gales (presumably). At the end of this curve is a gate, the other side of which is now a motorway. So the run down to La Scierie is no more.

We also walked through the forest on the old, original circuit and back down the latest curving section that was built when the aforementioned motorway removed the straight.

Even this section has now been partially dug-up in places, so Rouen is gone for ever, I fear.

I first went there in 1999 and the pit complex (not the original one) and the concrete grandstand were still there then, but sadly, as mentioned earlier on this thread, they are no more.

To anyone with any soul at all, YOU MUST GO THERE!