Robert Castagnon (born 23 March 1920 in Margouët-Meymes, Gers, France) was an

armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

producer, publisher and founder of

Circuit Paul Armagnac Circuit Paul Armagnac also known as Circuit de Nogaro is a motorsport race track located in the commune of Nogaro in the Gers department in southwestern France. The track is named in honor of Nogaro-born racing driver Paul Armagnac who died ...

. He died in August 2004 at the age of 84 following a car crash.

Motorsports

Robert Castagnon founded the Association Sportive Automobile de l'Armagnac in 1952 and held the first street circuit race around the town of Nogaro in 1953. After public safety concerns were raised following 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 ...

it was difficult to gain permission for racing on the public roads. Robert Castagnon with his racing driver friend, Paul Armagnac set about to create a permanent circuit in Nogaro. After much political wrangling a parcel of land attached to the aerodrome was used to create

and Robert Castagnon announced a race for September 1960, the Association had to postpone the first event until October. Facilities were fairly rudimentary still, but Bruno Basini became the first victor when he cross the lined in first place in the inaugural Nogaro Grand Prix, run to Formula Junior regulations at the first purpose built permanent race circuit in France.

Publishing

La Talenquére and Gascogne-La Talenquére

The 'magazine of the South West' was founded in 1968 and ran until 2007. Branded as "La Talanquère" (1968–1989) and "Gascogne-La Talanquère" (1989–2007) was a periodic magazine on local Gascogne life including details about motor racing,

course landaise The ''course landaise'' is an ancient form of bullfighting and bull-leaping held in oval or rectangular arenas covered in sand, that involves no bloodshed. Experienced cows, with large horns, aged generally from 2 to 14 years old, are used inste ...

, culture and history.

Books

Robert Castagnon authored several books between 1977 and 2003 about life and history in the region of Gascony.

Course Landaise

Course landaise The ''course landaise'' is an ancient form of bullfighting and bull-leaping held in oval or rectangular arenas covered in sand, that involves no bloodshed. Experienced cows, with large horns, aged generally from 2 to 14 years old, are used inste ...

is an ancient form of bull fighting or bull jumping that involves no bloodshed. Robert Castagnon was a passionate supporter of the sport and created the annual Golden Horn (Corne D'or) event in 1959 held every 14 July at

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 ...

. The event continues and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. The arena in Nogaro was named after Robert Castagnon in 2005 following his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castagnon, Robert French motorsport people French businesspeople 1920 births 2004 deaths