Clermont-Ferrand?

[Lee Janotta]

Just curious about this track. Can't seem to find any info on the web (can't understand french and the translators stink). Was it a permanent road course? Is it still around?

Thanks!

[JR27]

Hi Lee

MOTOR SPORT magazine...January 2000 issue.....
MOTOR SPORT magazine has done a number of "Track Tests" over the years..... Clermont-Ferrand was covered in this issue. To give ya a taste of what this track was like, I will quote from the introductory paragraph....

"The track was five miles long, had fifty corners and seperated real drivers from also-rans like no other."

"It was the best track in France; better by far thay everywhere else we went like Rouen, Reims, and Paul Ricard." The words belong to Jackie Stewart, a man not known for overstating the facts. He is talking about the circuit at Clermont-Ferrand and says Stewart, one of the four most difficult circuits in the world."

"The evidence for the claim is strong. Just four Grands Prix were held there, of which Stewart won two, in 1969 and 1972, while the 1965 inaugural event fell to Jim Clark and the 1970 race to Jochen Rindt. Four races won by three world champions, the three finest drivers of their era. It was a circuit where precision was everything, a misplaced wheel here spelling disaster there, a place requiring more mental stamina than any other on the calendar with the possible exception of the Nurburgring. It was a beautiful, awe-inspiring place and, while there hasn't been a race of any description on the full circuit for over a decade, it still is."

All told the article runs 6 pages...

Hope this has helped.....

[Lee Janotta]

Yep, very cool, thanks! Sounds like a great magazine.

[Darren Galpin]

track map.

http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/charamap.jpg

This is the road map of the area and the track, which can still be driven today. The new track, known as Charade, is fitted within the loop formed by the D767 and the D5.

Further track maps etc can be found at http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/tracks.html

[Speed Demon]

Here's the current circuit layout:




You can also find more track info at:
http://www.etracks.freeserve.co.uk
Or the official Charade website, which has an English version at:
http://www.charade.fr/eng/localisation.html

[Schummy]

Somehow I always loved that circuit. I say "somehow" because I could not see it in its time (no tv international coverage as today, of course). But magazine reports for races, 70s video footage (lovely!) and its layout always appealed me.

Spelling "Magny-Cours" in this context is grossly OT!