- Circuit Zolder
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Circuit Zolder 
Location Heusden-Zolder, Belgium Time zone GMT +1 Major events FIA Formula One
Belgian Grand Prix
Superleague Formula, DTM
Champ CarLength 4.011 km (2.492 mi) Turns 10 Lap record 1:14.089 (Sebastian Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing, 2007) - Zolder redirects here. For the town of the same name see Heusden-Zolder.
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlaemen, is an undulating 4.011 km (2.492 mi) motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1980 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix. The F1 circus moved to Zolder after Spa-Francorchamps was deemed too fast and too dangerous. It switched between Nivelles-Baulers for 4 years until Nivelles was considered boring by the F1 community. From 1975 to 1982, Zolder was the location of the Belgian Grand Prix. Zolder is probably best remembered as the place Gilles Villeneuve died during qualifying at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, an event that signified the beginning of the end for the Flemish circuit as a Formula One venue (although the accident was not caused by problems with the track). The Belgian Grand Prix was held here only once more in 1984 before going back to the shortened Spa-Francorchamps circuit which has hosted the Belgian Grand Prix nearly every year since.
Zolder has also been used for cycling events including the UCI Road World Championships twice in; 1969 and 2002 and the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 1970 and 2002.
In the beginning of 2006, the track underwent some adaptations to increase safety. In 2007, the track hosted a Champ Car World Series Grand Prix, and a round of the FIA GT Championship. The track was venue of a round of the World Series by Renault championship from 2003 to 2006, and replaced Zandvoort as site for the Masters of Formula 3 in 2007 and 2008. Zolder was featured on the car program Top Gear in 2008. In the episode, the show's British hosts competed against their German counterparts from D MOTOR. Now, Zolder hosts the FIA WTCC Race of Belgium and the GT Belcar championship, including the 24 Hours of Zolder.
See also
External links
Categories:- Formula One circuits
- Belgian Grand Prix
- Motorsport venues in Belgium
- Champ Car race tracks
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