Circuito Permanente de Jerez

Motorsport venue
Name = Circuito Permanente de Jerez | Location = 4 miles north-east of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Time = GMT +1 |

Events = Formula One; Formula Ford; MotoGP| Length_km = 4.428
Length_mi = 2.751
Turns = 13
Record_time = 1:23.135
Record_driver = flagicon|GER Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Record_team = Williams
Record_year = 1997

Circuito Permanente de Jerez is a 4,428 m (2.752-miles) racing circuit located in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, deep within the sherry-producing south of Spain. It was built by Alessandro Rocci, who was also in charge of Circuito Permanente del Jarama's project.

The circuit opened on 8 December 1985. During 1986 the circuit hosted the first international motorcycle event in Spain in March and the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in April. The circuit's remote location hindered significant spectator turnout, although up to 125,000 can be accommodated. Because of this, F1 moved to Barcelona following the 1990 race.

Due to the hosting of the European Grand Prix in 1994, the circuit instituted safety changes from the F1|1990 configuration, including a new chicane (the "Senna" curve) at the corner where Martin Donnelly had an appalling accident. Jerez also hosted the 1997 European Grand Prix, which was the championship decider between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, who collided during the race.

During the podium celebrations of the 1997 race, Jerez's Mayor Pedro Pacheco disrupted the podium celebrations by presenting a trophy that was supposed to be presented by a dignitary from Daimler-Benz. This incident resulted on the track being banned from hosting a Grand Prix. [cite news |title=Chaves y Pacheco irrumpieron en el podio |url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/PACHECO/_PEDRO_/PSA/CHAVES/_MANUEL_/PSOE/CADIZ/JEREZ_DE_LA_FRONTERA_/CADIZ/Chaves/Pacheco/irrumpieron/podio/elpepidep/19971213elpepidep_11/Tes |publisher=Diario El País |accessdate=2008-07-02 |language= |quote= |archiveurl= |archivedate= ] However, it is still often used as a venue for testing.

During 2005, the track was resurfaced. It was expected that the Champ Car World Series would race there in 2008 until the series was cancelled early in the year after merging with the IndyCar Series. [http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/champcar/41439/]

Formula One history

Grands Prix held with the title "European Grand Prix" are indicated with a light blue background.

Moto Grands Prix history

References

External links

* [http://www.circuitodejerez.com/ Circuito de Jerez official website]
* [http://www.formula1.com/ Formula 1 official website]
* [http://www.motogp.com/ MotoGP official website]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Jerez,+Spain&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=36.707651,-6.032524&spn=0.016239,0.043259&t=k&om=1 Satellite picture by Google Maps]