Circuit Paul Armagnac also known as Circuit de Nogaro is a motorsport

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 ...

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, Sa ...

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 in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. 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 commune in the Essonne 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. Under the Merovingians, it was owned by th ...

circuit.

History

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

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 p ...

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 cla ...

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 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 r ...

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 CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

. 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 cir ...

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 Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

. The Nogaro circuit also hosted the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

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 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 ...

in 1978 * The

final round A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

of the 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship season * The

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...

series Grand Prix de Nogaro between 1990 and 1993 *

Formula 2 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 r ...

from 1975 to 1978 * The FIA European Truck Racing Championship from 1994 to 2016 * The Formula Three Euro Series in

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 Benazir Bhutto ...

* The

FIA GT 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) ...

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 Ur ...

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 may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

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