Circuit Paul Armagnac also known as Circuit de Nogaro is a

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

race track located in the commune 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, Sain ...

in the

Gers Gers (; oc, Gers or , ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the ''Gersois'' and ''Gersoises'' in French. In 2019, it had a population of 191,377.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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 Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, 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. U ...

circuit.

History

Motorsports racing events in Nogaro were first organized when racing driver Paul Armagnac and

Robert Castagnon Robert Castagnon (born 23 March 1920 in Margouët-Meymes, Gers, France) was an armagnac producer, publisher and founder of Circuit Paul Armagnac. He died in August 2004 at the age of 84 following a car crash. Motorsports Robert Castagnon found ...

created the Association Sportive Automobile de l'Armagnac. In 1953 the Rallye de l'Armagnac was held on a

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

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 Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

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 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. ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. It also hosted the

French motorcycle Grand Prix The French motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. The Grand Prix was held on different circuits in its history: on the Charade Circuit (Puy-de-Dôme) between 1959 and 1967, Le Mans circ ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. The Nogaro circuit also hosted the European Touring Car Championship 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

and

. * The Sidecar World Championship in 1978 * The final round of the

2003 FIA Sportscar Championship season The 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship was the third season of FIA Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by the International Racing Series Ltd. It was the seventh an ...

* The International Formula 3000 series Grand Prix de Nogaro between 1990 and 1993 * Formula 2 from 1975 to 1978 * The FIA European Truck Racing Championship 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 F ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* The FIA GT Series and

Blancpain Sprint 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) ...

between 2013 and 2015 * The FFSA GT Championship (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 Urb ...

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