Circuit Paul Armagnac also known as Circuit de Nogaro is a motorsport

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

located in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, Sa ...

in the Gers department in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The track is named in honor of Nogaro-born racing driver Paul Armagnac who died in an accident during practice for the 1962 1000 km de Paris at the

Montlhéry Montlhéry () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris. History Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to Orléans. Under the Merovingians, it was owned by the ...

circuit.

History

Motorsports racing events in Nogaro were first organized when racing driver Paul Armagnac and Robert Castagnon created the Association Sportive Automobile de l'Armagnac. In 1953 the Rallye de l'Armagnac was held on a street circuit using public roads around Nogaro. Public safety concerns after the

1955 Le Mans disaster The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...

caused the number of road racing events on public roads in Europe to decrease. Plans were made to create a permanent race circuit and construction began in 1959 at a site near the Nogaro airport. The race circuit opened on 3 October 1960 as the first purpose-built race circuit in France. The first race held at the new circuit was the Nogaro Grand Prix for

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

cars, won by Bruno Basini. Initially long it was expanded in 1973 and 1989 to its current length. In 2007 the circuit was modernized including a new control tower, a new pitlane and widening the track to . The venue hosted

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

championship races from

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

to 1978. It also hosted the French motorcycle Grand Prix in 1978 and 1982. The Nogaro circuit also hosted the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Track description

The track is relatively flat, with difference in elevation between its highest and lowest points. It is raced clockwise and consists of two long straights, the long start-finish straight named after Nogaro-born motorcycle constructor Claude Fior and the almost parallel aerodrome straight, linked by sections of several slow corners.

Events

Events hosted by the circuit have included: * The French motorcycle Grand Prix in 1978 and 1982. * The

Sidecar World Championship FIM Sidecar World Championship is the international sidecar racing championship. It is the only remaining original FIM road racing championship class that started in 1949. It was formerly named Superside when the sidecars moved from being part o ...

in 1978 * The

final round A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship season * The

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become ...

series Grand Prix de Nogaro between 1990 and 1993 *

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

from 1975 to 1978 * The

FIA European Truck Racing Championship The FIA European Truck Racing Championship is a motorsport Truck racing, truck road racing series for tractor unit, semi-tractors which is sanctioned to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and is organised by ETRA Promotion GmbH. C ...

from 1994 to 2016 * The

Formula Three Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

in 2007 * The

FIA GT Series The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) w ...

and Blancpain Sprint Series between 2013 and 2015 * The

FFSA GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' a ...

(1997–2011, 2014, 2016–present) * The Championnat de France de Drift French National Drift Series * The European

Eco-marathon Shell Eco-marathon is a world-wide energy efficiency competition sponsored by Shell. Participants build automotive vehicles to achieve the highest possible fuel efficiency. There are two vehicle classes within Shell Eco-marathon: Prototype and Ur ...

competition from 2000 to 2009

Lap records

The official fastest race lap records at the Circuit Paul Armagnac are listed as:

References

External links

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Sports venues in Gers Sports venues completed in 1960 {{Gers-geo-stub