Loaction: Nevers Circuit, Magny Cours
Raceday: Sunday, 16 July 2006
Time: 2000 (+6 GMT)
2005 winner: F Alonso
Number of laps: 70
Circuit length: 4.411 Km
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In 1960 Jean Bernigaud built a racing circuit on farm land near to
Magny Cours in the Upper Loire, France. The original track was just
over a mile in length and by 1969 the track record stood at just 49
seconds. Bernigaud expanded the circuit to create two
interconnecting tracks with a total length of 3.84 kilometres (2.39
miles). The new track was officially opened in 1971.
Magny Cours was the home of a whole generation of French motor
racing stars in the 1970s. A race school was established in 1963
and famous graduates included Francois Cevert, Patrick Depailler,
Jean-Pierre Jarier and Jacques Laffite.
The track hosted rounds of the European F3 championship but it was
not until former President Francois Mitterand decided to invest in
the flagging economy of the area, that Magny Cours was seriously
considered for Formula One. A new motorway was built to link the
track to the existing autoroutes and a huge industrial park was
built to attract France's best racing teams.
The track layout remained the same but the corners were all
changed, the track retaining its dual layout but now comprising a
length of 4.26 kilometres (2.65 miles). In 1991 the French grand
Prix came to Magny Cours and it has remained there ever
since.
Situated in central Nievre region, the circuit is half way between
Paris and Lyon. The two main airports are Paris Charles de Gaulle
and Orly, both in Paris, or alternatively the Satolas Airport in
Lyon.
From Paris, using the A10 motorway, take the Bourge exit for the
N76 to Pierre Le Moultier. Driving from Lyon and its Satolas
airport, take the A6 to Paris, leaving at Macon Sud for the N79 and
subsequently the D979.
