Circuito da Boavista is a

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, which was used twice for the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Portuguese Grand Prix. The original course began at the

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

-front "Esplanada do Rio de Janeiro", continued on "Avenida da Boavista", (hence the circuit's name), and then twisted its way through small neighborhoods back to the start-finish line. The first Grand Prix was held in 1958, and saw an act of

sportsmanship Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, and with proper consideration for wikt:fairness, fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" r ...

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. Moss came to the defense of his countryman and title rival

Mike Hawthorn John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . Hawthorn won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and won three Formula One ...

, who faced a penalty for having driven towards oncoming traffic after a spin. Moss persuaded the stewards not to disqualify Hawthorn, who retained his second place and 6 points. Hawthorn eventually won the drivers championship by 1 point over Moss. The 1960 running was a race of attrition, with only four cars finishing within five laps of winner

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , and , ...

. Accidents and mechanical problems ended the day early for future champions

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, Graham Hill and others.

Recent years

The circuit was revived in 2005, though it was shortened from the original layout, and measured as . Events were held every two years. Besides the Boavista Historic Grand Prix, there are also races for recent car models. In 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 the track staged the FIA WTCC Race of Portugal, an event which included in its programme European motorsport categories such as

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Eur ...

and Portuguese national competitions. In 2015 the Porto City Council decided to suspend the circuit, saying that following a cut in support from Turismo de Portugal, spending about three million euros on the event would be irresponsible.

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at the Circuito da Boavista are listed as:

References

External links

Official website

Satellite picture by Google Maps
Defunct motorsport venues Formula One circuits Portuguese Grand Prix Motorsport venues in Portugal Circuit Boavista World Touring Car Championship circuits {{Autoracing-venue-stub