The Circuito del Jarama (Circuit of Jarama), formerly known as ''Circuito Permanente del Jarama'' (Permanent circuit of Jarama) is a motorsport racetrack located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, 20 miles (32 km) north of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. It was home to the Spanish Grand Prix nine times between 1968 and 1981, and the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix 15 times between 1969 and 1988. Designed by John Hugenholtz (who also created Suzuka), the circuit was built by Alessandro Rocci in 1967 on

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

scrub land.

History

It has a short main straight and most of the course consisted of tight, twisty corners so overtaking was extremely difficult. An example of this came when Gilles Villeneuve successfully defended his lead throughout the 1981 Spanish Grand Prix, despite a tail of four potentially faster cars. Villeneuve's turbocharged Ferrari 126CK, while powerful and fast on the straight, did not have as efficient ground effect aerodynamics as his pursuers -

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

( V12 Ligier-

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...

), John Watson ( McLaren- Ford), Carlos Reutemann ( Williams-Ford), and Elio de Angelis ( Lotus-Ford) and was slower through the turns. This victory was to be the last one of Villeneuve's career. Jarama hosted its last Formula One race in 1981 when it was deemed too narrow for modern racing. It still holds

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

, touring car and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

races. The circuit was lengthened in 1991, and then upgraded in 2015. In 1987, Jarama hosted Round 2 of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship for Group A cars, the

1987 Jarama 4 Hours The 1987 Jarama 4 Hours was the second round of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship. The race was held for cars eligible for Group A touring car regulations. It was held on April 19, 1987, at the Circuit of Jarama, in Madrid, Spain. The ...

. The race was won by Roberto Ravaglia and Emanuele Pirro driving a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3. Pole position for the race had been taken by triple Le Mans 24 Hour winner Klaus Ludwig in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth turbo with a time of 1:31.434, while the fastest lap was by England's

Andy Rouse Andrew Rouse (born 2 December 1947) is a British racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship. He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Andy Rouse is one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the BSCC. His ...

(also in a Sierra Cosworth) with a time of 1:33.710.

Layout history

File:Circuito Permanente del Jarama 1980.svg, Original Grand Prix Circuit (1967–1990) File:Circuito Permanente del Jarama.svg, Grand Prix Circuit (1991–present) File:Jarama circuit complete map.png, Differences of Circuito del Jarama layouts

Events

; Current * March: UV Endurance Race Jarama * April: Renault Clio Cup Europe, TCR Spain Campeonato de España de Superturismos, G.P. CECC – Jarama * May: Campeonato Open de Portugal GT, Campeonato Open de Portugal Turismos * June:

FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup is a touring car series for electric cars. During the inaugural season in 2021, the series called itself Pure ETCR and featured cars from three manufacturers competing at five different locations. Starting wit ...

, Electric Racing Academy Championship * October: FIA European Truck Racing Championship ''GP Camiones de España'', Espiritu Del Jarama * December: UV Endurance Race Jarama ; Former * BPR Global GT Series (1994–1996) *

EuroBOSS Series The BOSS GP Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series. BOSS is an acronym that stands for ''Big Open Single Seaters''. History The BOSS series ...

(2008) * European Formula Two Championship (1967–1969, 1971, 1983) * European Touring Car Championship (1968–1972, 1974–1979, 1985–1986, 1988, 2001–2002) *

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship ( es, Campeonato de España de Fórmula 4) is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promot ...

(2016, 2020) *

FIA European Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three(F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

(1977–1984) * FIA GT Championship (2001–2002) * FIM Endurance World Championship (1969, 1983) *

Formula 750 Formula 750 was a FIM motorcycle road racing series based on a 750 cubic centimeter engine capacity. History The series began in 1971 as a collaboration between the American Motorcyclist Association and the Auto Cycle Union. The FIM adop ...

(1974, 1976–1978) *

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

'' Spanish Grand Prix'' (1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976–1979, 1981) * Formula Nissan (2002–2004) * Grand Prix motorcycle racing ** ''

European motorcycle Grand Prix The European motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was introduced as part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship from 1991 to 1995. From 1996 onward the event was replaced by the Catalan Grand Prix. In 2020, the even ...

'' (1991) ** '' FIM motorcycle Grand Prix'' (1993) ** '' Madrid motorcycle Grand Prix'' (1998) ** ''

Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix The Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling road racing event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship. History The event was first held in 1987 at the Jarama circuit in Spain. The reason for this was becau ...

'' (1987) ** '' Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix'' (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977–1986, 1988) * GTR Euroseries (1998) * IMSA European Le Mans Series (2001) * International Formula 3000 (1986–1987) * International Sports Racing Series (1997) * Le Mans Series '' 1000 km of Jarama'' (2006) * Sidecar World Championship (1981, 1991) * Superbike World Championship (1991–1992) *

Superleague Formula Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It used the slogan 'The Beautiful ...

(2009–2010) *

TCR Europe Touring Car Series The TCR Europe Touring Car Series is an annual touring car racing event that is held at various locations across Europe. The series is run in accordance with the TCR Touring Car A TCR Touring Car is a touring car specification, first introduce ...

(2020) *

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

''360 km of Jarama'' (1987–1989) * World Touring Car Championship (1987)

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Circuito del Jarama are listed as:

References

External links

*
Circuito del Jarama at Google Maps
Formula One circuits Spanish Grand Prix Motorsport venues in the Community of Madrid Sports venues in the Community of Madrid Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Superbike World Championship circuits World Touring Car Championship circuits American Le Mans Series circuits San Sebastián de los Reyes {{Autoracing-venue-stub