World wide history of street circuits

[Rob29]

Enna was in use before 1964-earliest result I have is 1955.This is a subject close to my heart.Question is what is a "street" race? In english streets are in towns or cities,maybe villages,in the countryside just roads.I keep a list of city centre circuits,which may include purpose built tracks in public parks,eg: Crystal Palace,Buenos Aires,Monza,San luis Potosi(MEX)Never heard before that Enna was a public park,only that it was the entrance to hell,according to Greek mythology!
Also the person who thought that Castle Combe was an army camp may have confused it with Blanford (Dorset) which was the only non-airfield track in England 1945-52.

[Wolf]

OK, here's the map of Preluk track I've made (from the link I've given), hosted only one GP (Circuit of Carnaro, 9th July 1939):

[Vitesse]

Not so much streets, but certainly public roads:
Ballyclare, N. Ireland
Bangor , Co Down
Dundrod, Northern Ireland - several TT races 1950s
St Helier, Jersey - four international F1 and one sports car race in the forties and fifties
Isle of Man - several (?) different layouts for TTs (1905-22), Mannin Moar/Beg (1930s), Empire Trophy (1940s)
Airfields:
Bishopscourt (N.Ireland), Boreham, Castle Combe, Charterhall, Davidstow, Goodwood, Ibsley, Silverstone, Snetterton, Thruxton, Turnberry & Winfield were all airfields originally: Thruxton still is, as well as being a successful circuit.
There are also several Irish Republic road circuits:
Phoenix Park, Dublin
Bray
Cork (Carrigrohane)
Athy
Skerries
Tallaght
Wicklow
Dunboyne
Limerick
Curragh (could be another race-course circuit???)

[Vitesse]

Not so much streets, but certainly public roads:
Ballyclare, N. Ireland
Bangor , Co Down
Dundrod, Northern Ireland - several TT races 1950s
St Helier, Jersey - four international F1 and one sports car race in the forties and fifties
Isle of Man - several (?) different layouts for TTs (1905-22), Mannin Moar/Beg (1930s), Empire Trophy (1940s)
Airfields:
Bishopscourt (N.Ireland), Boreham, Castle Combe, Charterhall, Davidstow, Goodwood, Ibsley, Silverstone, Snetterton, Thruxton, Turnberry & Winfield were all airfields originally: Thruxton still is, as well as being a successful circuit.
There are also several Irish Republic road circuits:
Phoenix Park, Dublin
Bray
Cork (Carrigrohane)
Athy
Skerries
Tallaght
Wicklow
Dunboyne
Limerick
Curragh (could be another race-course circuit???)

[Erkheikki]

Seinäjoki-really?!
Never heard of that before, any of you know more?
That really seems untrue, I live in Finland, and I`ve never heard a word of Seinäjoki circuit.
Leif, have you?

[Vitesse]

Wasn't Tulln-Langelnlebarn in Austria an air force base? It hosted some F2 races in the 60s.

[Vitesse]

Caught some Asian Touring Cars on TV yesterday and can add another air base to the list: Subic Bay (Philippines). It's an active USAF base used for both national and international races.

[Faster]

Such a nice topic!!!

I'd like to contribute with some information about brazilian street circuits.

Gávea Circuit - hosted the GP Cidade do Rio de Janeiro between 1934 and 1953, with some interruptions. Twisty, narrow track surrounding the Dois Irmaos hills, in Rio de Janeiro, with about 11 km and 101 corners (!?!). Pre-IIWW, Gavea hosted a thrilling battle between the italian Carlo Pintacuda (with an Alfa P34) and the Baron Hans von Stuck (with an Auto Union P-Wagen). The italian won. After IIWW, some known italian drivers raced there, like Luigi Fagiolli. The brazilian Francisco Landi was the most succesful driver there, winning 4 times.

Itapecerica circuit (in the city of Sao Paulo) - hosted only one race, but what a race! The first race ever held in South America, in 1908. It started at the soccer stadium of Parque Antarctica (that still exists) and went to the near city of Itapecerica da Serra, returning then to the stadium.

There were also races from minor categories in the streets of Salvador and also at the Ilha do Governador (located in Rio de Janeiro), but I don't know much about that. There's a small chance that next year's champcars brazilian race will be held at the streets of Salvador...

[Rob29]

Faster; Do you know anything about the circuits used fo a Formula Ford series in 1970? Rio,Curitiba,Fortaleza + Interlagos (which we all know of course).This was before the present Rio circuit was built.I somehow got the idea that they were street type courses,but have never found any details.

[Darren Galpin]

Hello - this is my first post, having just got here. Seems to me you may like to look http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/tracks.html. This is blowing my own trumpet somewhat, but for those of you who don't know me or haven't heard of me via AtlasF1, there's a whole host of track information there........ The tracks are grouped by country, there are maps for most, and the tracks go from the present day back to the beginnings. There are some missing, but I am working on closing these gaps soon.

[Faster]

Rob29,

For sure, the races at Curitiba and Fortaleza were held in permanent tracks, as they were first open in 1969. About the Rio race, there's two possibilities: a street course at the Ilha do Governador (also known as "Fundao") or a project of a permanent racetrack at Jacarepaguá. Though this racetrack was first opened at the 1978 Brazilian F1 GP, there were an "old" Jacarepaguá early in the seventies, a short track with a different design from the modern one. Sorry but I have no more details about that...

[Muzza]

Other Brazilian street circuits:

- Petropolis (Rio de Janeiro State): used in the 1960s for touring cars. Racing there stopped after some huge crashes in 1968;

- Florianopolis (Santa Catarina State): used in the 1980s by Formula 2 and later by Formula Ford. Start line by the "Sambodrome" (where the samba schools parade). The left, then right, then around a roundabout, and coming back by the seashore.

- Foz do Iguacu (Parana State): used in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Formula Ford (I had a map, but I lost it...)

- Vitoria (Espirito Santo State): used by Formula Ford in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Great layout and fantastic race. Inaugural edition brought more than 60,000 people to track. I have a map for the track, but it's in a file some 15,000 kilometers from here...

Hope this helps.

Muzza

[strad]

Brynfan Tyddyn 1956

[strad]

Anybody mention the Carrera Panamericana??

[wickedwitch]

Originally posted by Vitesse
There are also several Irish Republic road circuits:
Phoenix Park, Dublin
Bray
Cork (Carrigrohane)
Athy
Skerries
Tallaght
Wicklow
Dunboyne
Limerick
Curragh (could be another race-course circuit???)

Yes, the Curragh is mainly a horse racing track (home of Irish Derby) but most of the above (With the glaring exception of the Phoenix Park) are known for holding rally stages and rally-sprints and hillclimbs, but have not held car races as far as I am aware. I think that The Irish Grand Prix was held on a street circuit in Limerick way back in the sixties or thereabouts - but I'm not sure of the details, maybe someone else is. Another horse racing venue to hold a rally event is Punchestown.

As far as street track dont forget the new Washington DC track on a 1.7 mile street circut Great job thought

[Vitesse]

Originally posted by wickedwitch
Yes, the Curragh is mainly a horse racing track (home of Irish Derby) but most of the above (With the glaring exception of the Phoenix Park) are known for holding rally stages and rally-sprints and hillclimbs, but have not held car races as far as I am aware. I think that The Irish Grand Prix was held on a street circuit in Limerick way back in the sixties or thereabouts - but I'm not sure of the details, maybe someone else is. Another horse racing venue to hold a rally event is Punchestown.

Phoenix Park, Dublin - Eireann Cup/Saorstat Cup 1929-31 - overall result gave the winner of the Irish GP
Bray - Cuiart Bhre 1934-5
Cork (Carrigrohane) - Cork GP 1936-8, Munster Trophy 1954-5
Athy - Gordon Bennett Trophy 1903
Skerries - Leinster Trophy 1934
Tallaght - Leinster Trophy 1935-9, 1948
Wicklow - Leinster Trophy 1950-7
Dunboyne - Leinster Trophy 1958 etc
Limerick - Limerick GP 1935-6, 1938
Curragh - Frank O'Boyle Trophy/Wakefield Trophy 1949-54

[wickedwitch]

Ahhh, I stand corrected.

[strad]

When did we switch to airfields?
Cumberland..Montgomery..Beverly and Eagle Mountain...anybody list those? US tracks.......

[Crash Test]

Blimey! I started this one on the 21/62000... perhaps it is time to start to recompile my list? Keep it us guys

[strad]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! How about parking lot tracks??? Remeber Las Vegas? HAHAHAHAHAHA

[strad]

Thought you might be interested in this picture of a non lethal accident between Bonnier and Schell in Venezuela.
Jo Bonnier's 300S Maserati #6 and Harry Schell's 450S #2 collided when Bonnier had a tire failure. He was thrown clear before his car felled the lamp post. Schell ended up in flames against the wall.
Bonnier banged his head and Schell burned his arms but was okay.

[Crash Test]

BTW- when this thread was started (so many years ago...) there was also a thread started about airfield circuits. It is probably long gone, but I would still have the basic list at home somewhere...

[Ray Bell]

Did Woody Point ever get a mention, Crash?

[Crash Test]

Probably Ray.

Here is a very incomplete list of airfields. The original thread added a ton of other names on there.... so go nuts! Pull it to pieces!

Australia

Ballarat -First post-war Victorian track, which was used in 1947, 1950, 1951 and 1961, which featured many F1 drivers of the time including Hill Gurney and Ireland.

Beverley -One of Western Australian track used in 1947.

Busselton -West Australian track from 1955-1957.

Caversham -Another Western Australian track which held races in the '50s and 60's, including the 1962 Australian Grand Prix. The track, based on a military air field was reopened for a one off historic meeting in 1993.

Fishermen's Bend -Adjacent to a WW2 aircraft factory in Melbourne, it held races from 1948 through to 1962, when major permanant facilities in area came into use.

Gawler -South Australian ex-war airfield was used from 1950 to 1953, and it remains a recreational airport today.

Leyburn -Ex-RAAF (Royal Australian Airforce) airfield in Queensland's Darling Downs which held a one off meeting; the 1949 AGP. Track recreated in 1987 for an historic meeting.

Lowood -Another old Queensland RAAF base which held races from 1948-1966, when Lakeside came into use, and the property was subdivided. Held the AGP in 1960, which was won by Alec Mildren.

Mallala -Another ex-RAAF base which has been changed into a permanant facility. First formed as a racing circuit for the 1961 AGP, but the track was closed in 1971 when Adelaide International came onto the scene. However it was reopened in 1983, and has been operational since.

Marsden Park -New South Wales air strip which held race meetings in 1946 and '47.

Mooliabeenie -West Australian emergancy airstrip which held minor meetings in the '50s and 60s.

Mount Druitt -Another emergancy landing field from the war, this time in New South Wales, race meetings from 1950-1958 which were promoted by the Australian Racing Drivers Association.

Nowra -Another old RAAF base, which was tekan over by the Royal Australian Navy. The airfield held meetings over 2 circuits in 1947 (4.35 miles) and 1952 (1.6 miles).

Pearce - Ex-West Australian RAAF base which held a meeting in 1950.

Point Cook - 3.85km Victorian RAAF base which held the AGP in 1948.

Quorn Hill - Tasmanian private air strip which held meetings from 1952-1960.

Ringwood -New South Wales emergancy airfield which held club meetings in the '50s.

Schofields -WW2 RAAF base outside of Sydney held meetings in 1958 and 1959.

Strathpine -Another ex-war airstrip just north of Brisbane which held meetings from 1953 through to 1961.

Tomago -New South Wales airstrip used 6 times from 1952 to 1954.

Valleyfield -WW2 RAAF field in northern Tasmania which held a meeting in 1949.

Wangaratta -A small dirt air strip held meetings outside the Victorian Town from 1953 to 1956.

Europe

Albi -French track which started hosting race meetings in 1959, and over the years has hosted many classes, including Formula Junior, F2 and F3.

Artikainen -Small airfield circuit to the west of Helsenki in Finland.

Diepholz -German DTM circuit, which is now used for national events.

Goodwood -A perimeter road around a WW2 airfield, measuring 2.38 miles in length it opened in 1948. The track died out in the '60s, but has recently been reopened and plays host to the Goodwood Historic Festival.

Pembrey -Small Wales track that came into existance during the late 1980s.

Silverstone -"The Home of British Motorsport", an ex-WW2 airfield which first held races in 1948. This was followed in 1950 by the circuit's first F1 GP. Although the circuit uses very little of the runways, it has undergone many tranformations and changes, with many in recent years to coincide with ever increasing safety standards.

Snetterton -Another British airfrield which started to host meetings in 1951. The 1.92 miles of race track has been for the most part been unchanged since the tracks inception, with its main role in history is as a national standard circuit.

Thruxton -Opened in 1950, the track skirts 3 run ways of another WW2 air field. The circuit closed from 1965-1968, but when the fast and flowing circuit reopened, it held meetings for many national classes, as well as some internetional classes such as F3000.

North America

Cleveland -Indycar track with origins dating back to the early 80's at the Burke Lakefront Airport.

Sebring -WW2 airfield which was opened in 1950. In 1952 it held its first 12 hour meeting for sports cars, the track was altered in 1966, and has continued to host its famous 12 hour race since.

Talladega -Construction started in 1966, on an abandonded air field which was initiated by the France family and Alabama businessman Bill Ward. The longest compeitition oval in the world measuring 2.66 miles, has been a regular fixture on the Nascar circuit since it opened in 1969.

South America

South Dakota -1.98 mile Guyanan airport track near Georgetown.

Africa

Kumalo -Held the Rhodesian GP in the 60's.

New Zealand

Ardmore - Opened in 1954 and held the New Zealand GP, up until the air field was reclaimed in 1962.

Wigram -Has held meetings since 1949.

Asia

India -A selection of old British Airbases have been used over the years.