MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a

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 u ...

used for

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 ...

s located in

Alcañiz Alcañiz () is a town and municipality of Teruel province in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. The town is located on the banks of the river Guadalope. Alcañiz is the unofficial capital of the Lower Aragon historical region. It lies som ...

, Spain. The circuit was designed by German architect

Hermann Tilke Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954, in Olpe, Germany) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. Racing During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring car racing, mainly ...

in conjunction with the British architectural business

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...

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, ...

driver

Pedro de la Rosa Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...

was a technical and sporting consultant on the project. The facility has been designed to incorporate three main zones – a technology park, a sports area and a

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...

and culture area. The technology park will feature research and educational institutes related to the

motor industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such a ...

, the sports area will include the racing circuit (with multiple layouts), a

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

track and various gravel circuits, whilst the leisure and culture section will feature a hotel, business centre and shopping facilities.

History

It was announced on 26 May 2008 that the circuit will host a round of the

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. T ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, the first international championship to race at the venue. The event has returned to Aragón every year since, until the end of the championship in 2015. Renault Sport Technologies had access to the circuit for thirty days per year for testing and promotional events. When the

championship was discontinued at the end of 2015 and was relaunched in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Formula V8 3.5 The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

, the circuit continued to be part of the schedule. The race remained on the championship for the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

season, at the end of which the championship was discontinued. On 18 March 2010, MotorLand Aragón was announced as a replacement for the

Balatonring Balatonring was to be a long motor racing circuit, located in Sávoly, Hungary near Central and South Europe's biggest lake Balaton. The site is located about away from Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Spain's Balatonring Zrt was to oper ...

on the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

calendar. Aragón was already in place as a reserve event and replaced the Hungarian race which was postponed because of overrunning construction work. This made the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix the fourth Spanish race on the calendar. In March 2011

Dorna Sports Dorna Sports, S.L. is the commercial rights' holder for the motorcycling sport of Grand Prix racing. Established in 1988 as an international sports management and marketing company, it is headquartered in Madrid, with branch offices and/or subs ...

signed a contract with the circuit to make it a permanent entry on the main calendar until at least 2016. On 19 May 2010, it was announced that the circuit will hold a round of the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

from 2011, with a three-year deal being agreed. The circuit was used as part of stage 7 of the

2012 Vuelta a España The 2012 Vuelta a España started on 18 August 2012 and was the 67th edition of the race. The race began in Pamplona with a team time trial and ended on 9 September, as traditional, in Madrid. The 2012 edition saw the return of the Bola del Mundo ...

. The circuit was planned to host round 6 of the

2020 World Touring Car Cup The 2020 World Touring Car Cup was the third season of the World Touring Car Cup and 16th overall of the series, which dates back to the 2005 World Touring Car Championship. The drivers' championship was won by Yann Ehrlacher. The teams' champion ...

on 5 July, replacing

Circuit Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, and previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea ...

on the calendar. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the race was postponed. The circuit instead hosted two WTCR rounds ( Race of Spain, Race of Aragón) on 31 October–1 November and 14–15 November respectively. The circuit continues to host WTCR races after 2020.

Fatalities

On 25 July 2021, during the 2021 European Talent Cup, Hugo Millán died in a crash; he was 14 at the time.

Events

; Current * April: Campeonato de España de Superbike * May:

Eurocup-3 Eurocup-3 is a formula racing series regulated according to Formula Regional regulations. The series is founded for levelling up the competition for all drivers, with each team committing on a maximum budget of €400,000 every season. Histor ...

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 ...

, TCR Spain Campeonato de España de Superturismos * June: Campeonato de España de Resistencia * August:

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

''4 Hours of Aragón'' * September:

, TCR Spain Campeonato de España de Superturismos * October:

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship FIM JuniorGP World Championship is a junior class race event organized by Dorna Sports under FIM regulations. It runs under Moto3 regulations and acts as an Moto3 World Championship feeder. This class is restricted to single-cylinder 250 cc fou ...

FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship FIM Moto2 European Championship is a motorcycle racing competition intended for young racers in Europe. This competition is organized by Dorna, which also runs the competition MotoGP, and Superbike World Championship. Moto2 was initially a 600 c ...

* November: Motorland Classic Festival ; Former *

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula 3.5 V8, Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to ...

(2009–2016) * F4 Eurocup 1.6 (2009–2010) *

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

** '' Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix'' (2010–2022) ** ''

Teruel motorcycle Grand Prix The 2020 Teruel motorcycle Grand Prix (officially known as the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel) was the twelfth round of the 2020 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and the eleventh round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship. It was held at th ...

'' (2020) *

Pure ETCR Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, ...

(2021) * Racecar Euro Series (2011) *

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 of ...

(2013–2014) *

V de V Sports V de V Series is a motor racing organisation that owns and runs a group of international motor racing championships. Based in Paris, the majority of events are held in France although the series regularly visits Spain and Portugal and has also visi ...

(2016) *

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

(2012) *

World Series Formula V8 3.5 The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

(2009–2017) *

World Touring Car Cup The FIA World Touring Car Cup (abbreviated to WTCR, referring to the use of TCR regulations) was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It ...

** '' Race of Aragón'' (2020) ** ''

FIA WTCR Race of Spain The FIA WTCR Race of Spain is a round of the World Touring Car Championship, which was held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near the city of Valencia in Spain. The race ran at Valencia every year from the return of the series in 2005 season through ...

'' (2020–2022)

Lap records

The official fastest race lap records at the MotorLand Aragón are listed as:

References

External links

Official website:Project profile at Fosters and Partners:Renault-Sport official website:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciudad Del Motor De Aragon FIA Grade 4 circuit

MotorLand Aragón MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a race track used for motorsports located in Alcañiz, Spain. The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural bus ...

Sports venues in Aragon