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Pescara Circuit

Coordinates: 42°28′30″N 14°9′3″E / 42.47500°N 14.15083°E / 42.47500; 14.15083
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pescara Circuit
Grand Prix Circuit (1934–1961)
LocationPescara, Abruzzo, Italy
Time zoneGMT+01:00
Coordinates42°28′30″N 14°9′3″E / 42.47500°N 14.15083°E / 42.47500; 14.15083
Opened13 July 1924; 100 years ago (1924-07-13)
Closed15 August 1961; 63 years ago (1961-08-15)
Major eventsFormula One
Pescara Grand Prix (1957)
World Sportscar Championship (1961)
Coppa Acerbo (1924–1928, 1930–1939, 1947–1954, 1956–1957, 1960–1961)
Grand Prix Circuit (1934–1961)
Length25.801 km (16.032 miles)
Race lap record9:44.600 (United Kingdom Stirling Moss, Vanwall VW 5, 1957, F1)
Original Road Course (1924–1933)
Length25.578 km (15.894 miles)
Race lap record10:25.400 (Alfa Romeo P3, Italy Tazio Nuvolari, 1932, GP)

The Pescara Circuit was a 16.032 mi (25.801 km) race course made up entirely of public roads near Pescara, Italy that hosted the Coppa Acerbo auto race. Pescara is the longest circuit to ever host a Formula One Grand Prix.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

History

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The country and town roads used were both narrow and bumpy. Like many long circuits (such as the original Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps circuits), Pescara was revered as a fantastic driver's circuit, but also like Spa and the Nürburgring, it was extremely dangerous and unforgiving.

The long track travelled through a number of villages situated on hills surrounding Pescara, following a roughly triangular shape with its corners at the seaside municipality of Pescara. It included two 3.4 mi (5.5 km) long straights (only slightly shorter than the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans) between the seaside municipality of Montesilvano, nicknamed "The Flying Kilometre".[1][2] It was on "The Flying Kilometre" that Guy Moll was killed during the 1934 Coppa Acerbo.[1][8] The highest point, at Spoltore, was 185 m (607 ft) above sea level. [5] The track started just outside the middle of Pescara, moving west through the suburb of Rione Partenze, and then into the hilly villages of Frascone, Valle Carbone, Spoltore, and Case Fornace, going through a mixture of slow and fast bends before dropping out of the hills into the inland municipality of Cappelle sul Tavo, then down the first 3.4 mi (5.5 km) straight northeast to Montesilvano before going down another 3.4 mi (5.5 km) straight and returning to Pescara.[2]

The first race took place in 1924 and non-Championship Formula One races followed in the early 1950s, with one official Formula One World Championship event in 1957[2][4][6][7] due to the cancellation of other races.[1] The Pescara Grand Prix drew in excess of 200,000 spectators,[7] and remains the longest circuit in terms of lap distance ever to stage a Formula One Grand Prix. But the circuit was feared even by Enzo Ferrari who did not send his cars to this race out of fear for his drivers' safety.[9]

It was the first F1 circuit with an artificial chicane, built in 1934 on the start-finish straight to reduce speed in the pits after 3.4 mi (5.5 km) of flat out.[4][8]

The track's last race was a four-hour World Sportscar Championship race in 1961,[1][6] won by Lorenzo Bandini and Giorgio Scarlatti driving a Ferrari 250 TR for Scuderia Centro Sud.[10] After that race the circuit was permanently retired as a racing venue as it was impossible for the organizers to guarantee the safety of drivers and spectators.[2][4][6][7]

Lap records

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The fastest official race lap records at the Pescara Circuit are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Grand Prix Circuit: 25.801 km (1934–1961)[1]
Formula One 9:44.600 Stirling Moss Vanwall VW 5 1957 Pescara Grand Prix
Sports car racing 9:55.500[10] Richie Ginther Ferrari Dino 246 SP 1961 4 Hours of Pescara
GP 10:35.000[11] Achille Varzi Auto Union B 1935 Coppa Acerbo
Voiturette 11:06.800[12] Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 158 1939 Coppa Acerbo
Formula Junior 11:10.400[13] Denny Hulme Cooper T52 1960 Pescara Grand Prix
Original Road Course: 25.578 km (1926–1933)[1]
GP 10:25.400[14] Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 1932 Coppa Acerbo

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Pescara - Motor Sport Magazine". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Liesemeijer, Herman. "Pescara Circuit". Circuits of the Past. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Longest Formula One circuit". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "Circuito di Pescara". autoyas.com. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b Liesemeijer, Herman. "A lap at Pescara". Circuits of the Past. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Forgotten circuits of the world". Classic & Sports Car. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Salisbury, Matt (2 October 2013). "Korean GP: Six of the Best: Short-lived Grand Prix circuits". Crash. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b The Golden Age of Grand Prix Racing. "1934 Coppa Acerbo". Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Six of the Best...F1 circuits". Patronise F1. 16 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b "1961 Pescara 4 Hours". Motor Sport Magazine. 15 August 1961. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  11. ^ "1935 Acerbo Cup". Motor Sport Magazine. 15 August 1935. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  12. ^ "1939 Acerbo Cup". Motor Sport Magazine. 15 August 1939. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  13. ^ "XXVI Gran Premio di Pescara Junior". 15 August 1960. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  14. ^ "1932 Acerbo Cup". Motor Sport Magazine. 14 August 1932. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
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