The Circuit de Charade, also known as Circuit Louis Rosier and Circuit Clermont-Ferrand, 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 t ...

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 ...

Saint-Genès-Champanelle Saint-Genès-Champanelle (; oc, Sent Genèst de Champanela) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 communes ...

near

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attrac ...

in the

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label= Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.department in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

in central

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 circuit, built around the base of an extinct volcano, was known for its challenging layout which favored the most skillful drivers and motorcyclists. It hosted the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

four times and 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 cir ...

ten times.

Circuit history

There had been local interest in motorsport racing beginning with proposals in 1908 for a race 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 ...

, although the proposals were never enacted. Efforts were renewed after the Second World War when the President of the Sports Association of the Automobile Club of Auvergne, Jean Auchatraire, and accomplished racer Louis Rosier designed a course by adapting pre-existing roads around the

Puy de Dôme Puy de Dôme (, ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Puèi Domat or ) is a lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the region of Massif Central in central France. This chain of volcanoes including numerous cinder cones, lava domes and maars is ...

, an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

which dominated the city skyline. Construction began in May 1957 and the first race was held in July 1958 when an endurance race was won by Innes Ireland in a Lotus 1100, and a

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 ...

race won by

Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest care ...

in a

Cooper T43 The Cooper T43 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by Cooper Car Company for the 1957 Formula One season, first appearing at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix in a works car for Jack Brabham. The T43 earned a significant pla ...

. Originally, the long circuit was described as an even twistier and faster version of the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

. With a relentless number of sharp curves and elevation changes and with almost no discernible straights, the circuit was both feared and respected by competitors. The sinuous track layout caused some drivers like

Jochen Rindt Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s *Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II *Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...

in the

1969 French Grand Prix The 1969 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Charade Circuit on 6 July 1969. It was race 5 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. There were only t ...

to complain of

motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...

, and wore open face helmets just in case. Despite the numerous curves, the track was relatively fast with

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...

setting the lap record in a Matra MS120 with a average during the 1972 French Grand Prix. In his 1969 book ''Motor Cycle Racing'', Peter Carrick wrote:

The French Grand Prix circuit at Clermont Ferrand was seen to be in complete contrast to the lap at
Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...
, when it was first used in 1959: the longest straight was and a variety of really tight corners quickly demonstrated—or exposed—a rider's skill!

The venue first gained international prominence when it hosted the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, won by

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

riding an

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is a motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in ...

. The circuit would host the French motorcycle Grand Prix ten times between 1959 and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. In 1959,

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of com ...

competed on the track for the first time and declared: "I don't know a more wonderful track than Charade". Also in 1959,

Ivor Bueb Ivor Léon John Bueb (6 June 1923 – 1 August 1959) was a British professional sports car racing and Formula One driver from England. Career Born in East Ham, Essex east of London, Bueb started racing seriously in a Formula Three 500cc Cooper ...

winner of the

1955 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 23rd 24 Hours of Le Mans and took place on 11 and 12 June 1955 on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. During the race, Pierre Levegh crashed into a ...

, died following a crash at the Charade Circuit. The death would mark the only driver fatality at the circuit. The only motorcyclist fatality occurred when Marcelin Herranz was killed on June 1,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

during the 250cc race of the French motorcycle Grand Prix. The 1964 Trophées d'Auvergne Formula 2 race podium was a sign of things to come: Denny Hulme,

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

and

showed their skill before the circuit hosted its first

Formula 1 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, ...

race when

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianap ...

won the

1965 French Grand Prix The 1965 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Charade, Clermont-Ferrand on 27 June 1965. It was race 4 of 10 in both the 1965 World Championship of Drivers and the 1965 International Cup for Formula One Manufactur ...

for

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

. In 1965,

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...

filmed a small part of his movie ''

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

'' in front of 3,000 local inhabitants, who posed as race spectators watching actors like

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held stron ...

and

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career o ...

. In total four Formula One French Grand Prix were held at Charade, in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. While the circuit's natural setting created conditions for a sinuous, challenging race course, it also created safety concerns due to the dark, volcanic rocks which fell from the mountain onto both sides of the track. The rocks posed a perennial hazard at the Charade Circuit, as was shown during the 1972 French Grand Prix when ten drivers, including

, suffered tire punctures. Drivers who skirted the track edge would send rocks flying in the middle of the road and into the path of pursuing competitors. One particular incident at the 1972 French Grand Prix involved

Helmut Marko Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former professional racing driver and current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One teams, and head of Red Bull's driver development program. Biography Marko was born in Graz, Austria. He was ...

trailing behind

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

, when a stone thrown from Fittipaldi's Lotus penetrated Marko's helmet visor, cutting his racing career short as his left eye was subsequently blinded. The mountainous topography also left no room to provide safe run-off areas in the event of competitors losing control of their vehicles and unintentionally leaving the race course. The venue became increasingly shunned by international racing series as concerns about the public roads' dangerous nature rose. In 1971, the newly built and much safer

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...

held the French Grand Prix for the first time, before becoming the event's permanent home from 1973 to 1990, alternating the French Grand Prix with the Circuit

Dijon-Prenois Dijon-Prenois is a motor racing circuit located in Prenois, near Dijon, France. The undulating track is noted for its fast, sweeping bends. Opened in 1972, Dijon-Prenois hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix five times, and the Swiss Grand ...

. It continued to host smaller motorsports competitions such as

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mov ...

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

and

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...

as well as the Trophées d'Auverne. In 1980, three track marshals were killed at a touring car race, and in 1984 there was a drivers protest over track safety. Faced with increasing safety issues and with the natural topography preventing any chance of adding run-off areas, the final race on the original track was held on September 18, 1988.

Modernization

The General Council of

1994 French Supertouring Championship The 1994 French Supertouring Championship was the twentieth season of the French Supertouring Championship. The season began in Circuit Paul Armagnac, Nogaro on 4 April and finished in Circuit de Lédenon, Lédenon on 23 October. The championship ...

and the 1998

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 ...

. Currently, the venue holds events such as track days, driving courses as well as

historic motorsport Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport, is motorsport with vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road ...

events. In 2000, the roads were closed to the public, with the track becoming a truly permanent facility with new pit garages and a widened pit lane. The original sections of the street circuit are still in use as public roadways.

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Circuit de Charade are listed as:

Notes

References

External links

Official site

Official association site to save circuit

Satellite picture by Google Maps
(present layout; zoom out to see the old circuit) {{Authority control Formula One circuits Grand Prix motorcycle circuits

Charade Charade or charades may refer to: Games * Charades, originally "acting charades", a parlor game Films/TV * ''Charade'' (1953 film), an American film featuring James Mason * ''Charade'' (1963 film), an American film starring Cary Grant and Au ...

Sports venues in Puy-de-Dôme French Grand Prix Trophées d’Auvergne Sports venues completed in 1958