Preluk
Preluk ( Italian also Circuito di Abbazia or Circuito del Quarnaro ) is a former motorsport racetrack on the Kvarner Bay in the seaside resort of the same name east of Opatija in Croatia .
The route used a scenic route on the Croatian Adriatic as a road course. Since it consisted of closed public roads, it was considered very dangerous due to the lack of fall spaces .
Routing
The circuit was six kilometers long and consisted of public roads without exception. It had seven right and seven left turns and was driven clockwise . The start and finish were in a sports complex in Preluk at sea level , then it went along the Adriatic Sea to the northwest towards Opatija. After a 180 ° bend just before the city, you drove in the hinterland of the coast to the southeast until just before Rijeka . In this passage, the slope rose at times to a height of 85 meters. After another hairpin bend, it went back over the coastal road to the finish line.
history
The route was first used in 1939, when Opatija was still part of Italy and was called Abbazia . After the Second World War, the racetrack housed various motorsport series. On September 1, 1946, the AMZ Hrvatske held a motorcycle race for the first time , which was announced internationally from 1950 and was part of the motorcycle world championship between 1969 and 1977, first as the Grand Prix of the Adriatic and later the Grand Prix of Yugoslavia .
Sports car races (1950–1959), Formula Junior races (1961, 1961 and 1963) and Formula 3 races (1964–1968) were also held in Opatija .
In 1973 the Motorcycle Grand Prix was boycotted by the works teams of Yamaha , Harley-Davidson and MV Agusta after several serious accidents in the previous World Championship races and because of the route that was considered dangerous . After the British Billie Nelson was killed in an accident in 1974, Ulrich Graf from Switzerland and the Italian Giovanni Ziggiotto died at the 1977 Motorcycle Grand Prix . There were also a total of 19 injured on this race weekend. These events led to the end of racing activities on the Opatija track.
In order to secure the world championship status of the Grand Prix of Yugoslavia from the following season , the permanent race track in the Automotodrom Grobnik was built in 1977 in the immediate vicinity in Rijeka , on which the motorcycle Grand Prix 1990 was held. There were no other events because of the Yugoslav wars.
References
Web links
- Guido de Carli: PRELUK / CIRCUITO DEL QUARNARO. www.gdecarli.it, accessed on July 21, 2010 (English).
- Opatija (Preluk). www.silhouet.com, accessed July 21, 2010 .
- Vincent Glon: Les circuits de Grand-Prix - OPATIJA. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on July 21, 2010 (French).
- Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: CIRCUIT OF CARNARO - Abbazia (I). www.kolumbus.fi, March 10, 2013, accessed on December 16, 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Opatija (Preluk). www.silhouet.com, accessed July 21, 2010 .
- ^ Vincent Glon: L'histoire du Grand Prix de L'Adriatique et du Grand Prix de Yougoslavie. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on July 21, 2010 (French).
- ↑ Billie Nelson. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed July 21, 2010 (English).
- ^ Ulrich Graf. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed July 21, 2010 (English).
- ^ Giovanni Ziggiotto. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed July 21, 2010 (English).
Coordinates: 45 ° 21 '8 " N , 14 ° 20' 0" E