Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
until 1987 Circuit Jean Behra

Address: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Technopôle 58 470 Magny-Cours
Magny-Cours , France
Route type:	permanent race track
Opening:	May 28, 1961
Formula 1 venue :	1991-2008
Track layout
Route data
Important events:	Formula 1 , World Touring Car Championship , Superbike World Championship , Bol d'Or
Route length:	4,411  km (2.74  mi )
Curves:	17th
Audience capacity:	regular 90,000, expandable up to max. 148,000
Records
Track record: (Formula 1)	1: 15.377 min. ( Michael Schumacher , Ferrari , 2004 )
http://www.magnyf1.com/

Coordinates: 46 ° 51 ′ 50 "  N , 3 ° 9 ′ 50"  E

The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing - race track on the territory of the municipalities Magny-Cours and Saint-Parize-le-Chatel ( France ), about 15 kilometers south of Nevers in the department of Nièvre in the western part of Burgundy . It was opened as Circuit Jean Behra in 1961 and renamed Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in 1989. Car and motorcycle competitions such as Formula 1 , the touring car world championship and the superbike world championship are regularly held here. In addition to the currently 4.4 km long GP track, a 2.53 km long “club” course, a 1.1 km long kart track and an off-road area are located on the 350 hectare facility.

history

Beginning

1961: The approximately 2 km long first version of the Circuit Jean Behra

From 1917 - during the last phase of the First World War - and for a short time afterwards, a military hospital with over 17,000 beds operated by the US armed forces was located on the site of today's race track . At times up to 42,000 people lived and worked here; more than Nevers and the region around Magny-Cours had at that time in terms of regular residents. From 1959, the owner of the now agriculturally used site, Jean Bernigaud , had a 510-meter-long go-kart track built there from private funds next to his farm near Route Nationale 7 , which was officially opened on August 7, 1960. There were no bureaucratic hurdles to overcome; Bernigaud was also mayor of the Magny-Cours municipality. As early as September 1960, work began on the first version of a clockwise test and club track with a length of just under two kilometers and a lane width of around seven meters. The Circuit Jean Behra , which opened on April 30, 1961, was named as a posthumous tribute to the legendary French racing driver, who died in a fatal accident in 1959 . It was essentially a triangular course with start and finish on the sloping straight that no longer exists today between the curves of Chateau d'eau (the highest point of the route) and Lycée . Part of this first system were also parts of the route of the current start and finish straight, the Grande Courbe and the straight in front of the Imola chicane or Chateau d'eau .

First race on the Circuit Jean Behra

On May 28, 1961 the track was officially inaugurated with the 1st Grand Prix de Magny-Cours ; an international race of Formula Junior , which replaced Formula 2 between 1960 and 1963 . The winner of the 50 km race with around 10,000 paying spectators was the South African Anthony Maggs , who also drives in Formula 1, on a Cooper T56 BMC with a 1.5 liter naturally aspirated engine . On June 11th the first motorcycle race took place in front of around 5000 spectators. In 1963, Jean Bernigaud opened a racing driver's school on the track, which later became known as Winfield Racing Schools and had branches on other tracks. The later French Formula 1 drivers François Cevert , Patrick Depailler , Jean-Pierre Jarier and Jacques Laffite were trained in Magny-Cours . From 1964, the largest motorsport event on the course was not the reintroduced Formula 2, but only Formula 3 once a year in Magny-Cours - albeit with international participation. The lap times were well under a minute; Patrick Depailler drove an Alpine A330- Renault / Mignotet on the now nine-meter-wide lane in the 1969 Formula 3 race, setting the all-time lap record for the first track layout with 49.6 seconds.

The first fatal accident

On May 1, 1966, one of these Formula 3 races saw the first of three deaths so far in Magny-Cours: The 23-year-old Jacques Bernusset, from France and driving with a Belgian license, drove his Cooper T76- Ford turned off the lane in the fast left bend known today as the Grande Courbe , rolled over and hit a tree. Bernusset died, trapped in his car, at the scene of the accident. He had to give up in the first run due to transmission problems, but wanted to start again despite the lack of chances of a placement.

The first renovation

The racetrack was expanded for the first time in 1971; the route, which has been extended to 3.848 kilometers, already corresponded in its main features to the design before the most recent renovation in 2003. The Estoril curve was added, followed by the longest straight on the course (almost 900 meters ) (which is now called Golf ) up to the Adelaide curve (which was considerably further than the later hairpin bend ) and a new back straight to a tight bend, which was simply called 180 degrees and led back to the old course. Two sections of the route could be used independently of each other thanks to short connecting passages. Even the extended course, inaugurated on May 1, 1971, had tough competition in its own country with the Circuit Paul Ricard, which opened in 1970 . Organizing Formula 1 races was initially out of the question in Magny-Cours. In addition to Paul Ricard , the Circuit de Charade near Clermont-Ferrand and - like Magny-Cours in Burgundy - Circuit de Dijon-Prenois near Dijon also hosted the French Grand Prix in the 1970s and 1980s .

Financial problems

The initially reluctant support from the authorities and the lack of financial strength of race track owner Jean Bernigaud turned out to be poor prerequisites for being able to keep up with this competition. Above all, the infrastructure of the route was inadequate for a long time, necessary buildings such as pit systems were still completely missing in the mid-1960s and were only partially added later. At the same time, however, the demands of increasingly professional racing and track safety increased rapidly and could only have been met through constant, high investments. The newly built facility was therefore not up to date either.

For these reasons, Bernigaud suffered some disappointments and died in December 1971, just a few months after the new line opened. The local motorsport club ASA Nivernais took over the course; Bernigaud's widow Jacqueline tried to continue her husband's work there as a consultant.

The end of the Circuit Jean Behra

Major international motorsport events were initially rare in Magny-Cours for the reasons mentioned above (see also " Infrastructure ") and so the number of visitors and income also fell short of expectations. Formula 2 first came to Magny-Cours on May 4, 1975. This premiere race, which is not part of the European championship, was won by Jean-Pierre Jabouille . Jacques Laffite drove the fastest race lap with 1: 20.2 minutes. In addition, the European Formula 3 Championship was a guest in Magny-Cours once a year from 1978 until the end of 1984. Until then, however, the condition of the track had deteriorated due to insufficient investment. In the following three years there was no more international event there. The ASA Nivernais withdrew as a track operator in 1987 and the last races on the Circuit Jean Behra took place on November 11, 1987 .

Political funding

The location of the Nièvre department in France

The location of Magny-Cours in the Nièvre department

Since the 1970s, the development of the route was promoted by François Mitterrand . Between 1959 and 1962 he was senator of the constituency of Nièvre, between 1959 and 1981 mayor of the nearby municipality of Château-Chinon and, from 1964, also president of the general council of this department, which as an economically weak, poor in attractions and predominantly agricultural land in the middle of France was considered. This could have been countered with the help of motorsport , but this only happened after a few years' delay. The fact that the executive in the French départements was held by the prefects sent by the central government in Paris and not with the General Council played a role . In 1965, race track owner Jean Bernigaud had already turned to Mitterrand to be able to expand the facility with the help of a financial partnership. However, this request was immediately rejected by the General Council, so that Bernigaud had to bear the renovation and expansion investments alone and therefore carried them out on a smaller scale than planned. It was not until 1967 that a control tower and a building for the Winfield racing school were erected, and in 1969 five boxes with a pit lane were built. After all, the authorities were quick and accommodating in obtaining the necessary permits.

In 1986, 15 years after Bernigaud's death, the General Council, which was no longer dependent on Paris, decided to undertake a comprehensive commitment in Magny-Cours, which was put into practice in 1988: the entire property was acquired with the use of taxpayers' money public sector over. The steady political rise of Mitterrand, who was elected the first socialist president of the French post-war period in 1981, was also helpful. During this term of office, which lasted until 1995, he campaigned for the financing of the renovations and extensions in Magny-Cours and used his influence to bring Formula 1 to Magny-Cours from 1991. He has been assisted by Pierre Bérégovoy since the 1970s , who was initially Mitterrand's campaign assistant and later held various ministerial posts in the French government in addition to his office as mayor of Nevers. Most recently - until a few weeks before his violent death in 1993 - he was Prime Minister under Mitterrand's presidency.

The new beginning

Nigel Mansell, the winner of the formula races in Magny-Cours in 1991 and 1992

The route from 1992 (without chicane to Adelaide )

In 1988, the General Council had the entire facility extensively renovated and expanded with a view to future Formula 1 races. The French Formula 1 drivers Jacques Laffite and René Arnoux acted as design consultants . Although the basic route was retained, the start and finish area was relocated to the straight between Lycée and Grande Courbe , a spectacular sloping chicane was built in front of the finish curve and another after the Adelaide hairpin. The route was now 4.271 km. In addition, all 15 bends were modified, the roadway widened, the entire surface renewed and the grandstands and run-off zones expanded. The old pit systems were torn down. A building was erected at the new finish line, which now comprised the pits, the control tower and the rooms for the race and track management. In contrast to most of the other courses, the pit lanes and facilities are no longer inside, but outside the route. The paddock behind the main building was enlarged to 40,000 m² and received, among other things, a filling station for commercial gasoline and FIA- compliant racing fuel. A motorsport museum, an 18-hole golf course and an industrial park called Technopôle , which was primarily intended to attract racing companies, were built in the vicinity . In addition, potential investors were lured with extensive tax subsidies and bureaucratic relief. The Ligier racing stable was one of the first to move onto the site, followed by the development departments of Oreca and Mygale , among others .

The circuit's Formula 1 debut

The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was officially opened on April 29, 1989, but the first Formula 1 race at the French Grand Prix did not take place until July 7, 1991 in front of over 100,000 spectators. The largely flat course with relatively little grip seemed to suit the British driver Nigel Mansell in particular , who won both the premiere race and the race in the following year with his Williams FW14. By the 1992 race , however, the route had been modified again: The chicane to Adelaide that was only added during the renovation was removed and the course straightened. This reduced the length of the course to 4.250 km. In 1992, Nigel Mansell also set the official race lap record of 1: 17.070 minutes, which existed up to the 2001 Grand Prix.

From 1992 the Formula 3000 made a guest appearance as a Formula 1 youngster until 2004 a total of eleven times in Magny-Cours. In 1993, the General Council of Nièvre transferred responsibility for the economic operation of the route and the further development of the entire system to the Association Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours (ACNMC). Since then, the Association Sportive Automobile Nevers Magny-Cours (ASANMC) has taken care of sporting matters . In 1994 a 1.1 km long kart track was built next to the route to the GP track, which is open every day and thus also brings guests to the facility outside of major events.

2005 Bol d'Or race in the new section just before the finish line

More deaths

On October 15, 1995, the second fatal accident occurred on the GP circuit: the 19-year-old Brazilian Marco Campos had an accident in his Lola T95 / 50 at the last Formula 3000 race of the season . His car overturned on the last lap after a collision with Thomas Biagi and the cockpit slid down against a wall. Campos suffered severe head and back injuries, fell into a coma and died the following day in a Paris hospital.

The long-distance motorcycle classic Bol d'Or has been held in Magny-Cours every year since 2000 . On September 13, 2001, the former Swiss champion of the 250 cc motorcycle class, Herbert Graf, crashed on his Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in the Estoril curve while training for this race . The 39-year-old suffered such serious injuries that he died the following night in a special clinic in Dijon .

The "club slope"

In order to open up new customer groups from industry and hobby motorsport who do not want to pay the high rental prices of the GP track (depending on the infrastructure required, around 15,000 euros per day for club events), the facility was opened in 2000 in the immediate vicinity of the GP track the “club slope” built. It is up to 2.53 km long (including a 700-meter straight line) and 10 meters wide, has its own pit area, conference and catering rooms and is mainly used for tests, product presentations, driver training courses and club meetings. The course is not suitable and approved for racing events despite the electronic timing option. The daily rent for the “Club Piste” is around half that of the current GP route for a comparable purpose.

The renovation in 2002

The redesigned finish chicane of the Nevers Magny-Cours racetrack

The new Complexe du Lycée in front of the finish line with large run-off areas

Above all, the last section of the course with the chicane before the narrow finish curve, which was driven until 2002, turned out to be accident-prone, because the distance in the area of ​​the braking zone and in the chicane itself fell sharply and the vehicles quickly lifted off and were uncontrollable when crossing the high curbs were. As there was a sharp right turn right in front of the pit wall immediately after the chicane, there was no adequate run-off zone. Therefore it was rebuilt from autumn 2002. In the last third of the route, the Chateau d'eau curve was relocated a little further outwards and the radius reduced, the straight following was moved slightly to the left and lengthened. It now ends in a new section of the route called Complexe du Lycée before the start and finish, which offers a low-risk opportunity for overtaking attempts thanks to a sharp right-hand bend with a very large run-off zone. In connection with these renovations, most of the gravel run-off zones were replaced with asphalt and the entrances and exits to the pit lane were relocated. Before that, the exit led directly to the last part of the Grande Courbe , where there was frequent contact or near-collision between the relatively slow exiting cars and the vehicles approaching at high speed on the route. For this reason, the exit has been extended - structurally separated from the actual roadway - and only ends at the beginning of the Estoril right-hand bend. The speed-limited part of the pit lane at the currently 48 garage spaces is now shorter than before; this means that pit stops cost less time overall. In 2004 Michael Schumacher achieved the first Formula 1 victory in the history of this racing series, which was planned with a 4-stop strategy.

Route characteristics

Pit lane and home straight at Formula 1 training 2007.

The current length of the course is 4.411 km, it consists of nine right and eight left turns and is between 10.4 and 18 meters wide. After the most recent renovations, the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours is one of the most modern and safest race tracks in the world. It is often referred to as a retort section. Some sections were created after the pattern of other racetracks and therefore named after them: The Adelaide hairpin curve, the long Estoril right-hand bend in front of the straight, the Nürburgring chicane or the Imola chicane in front of Chateau d'eau . This curve is at the highest point of the route and takes its name from a water tower a few hundred meters away that still supplies the municipalities of Magny-Cours and Saint-Parize-le-Châtel. The road at Magny-Cours is very flat. Therefore, you can drive with hard suspension settings and minimal ground clearance , which increases the contact pressure due to the ground effect and thus increases the possible cornering speeds. Setting the aerodynamic aids is difficult on this route because there are both very fast and very slow corners and a relatively long straight. If there was too much downforce , the top speed would be greatly reduced. The road surface is extremely temperature-sensitive, so that a vehicle setup has to be changed frequently. When exposed to sunlight, the covering heats up quickly due to the dark surface. When it rains, the road becomes very slippery because the water is difficult to drain due to the relatively flat stretch. The vehicles then tend to understeer , pushing over the front wheels, or floating up due to aquaplaning (slippery water). The ideal line is therefore on a wet road in some bends away from the line that is usual in dry conditions, for example in the 180 degree bend, where the water collects on the inside near the curb at the apex and which is therefore driven through in a further arc when wet. During one lap, a Formula 1 driver has to change gear up to 37 times and withstand lateral accelerations of up to 4.2 g (4.2 times the acceleration due to gravity ), the engine is moved around 65% of the time at full load and uses about 2.8 kg of fuel per lap.

Key points

Finish line of the new course with the main grandstand opposite the pit lane

The finish line is at the beginning of the home straight, directly after the last chicane. The starting line, however, is around 180 meters further in the direction of Grande Courbe . This left bend after the home straight is driven by Formula 1 without braking at over 280 km / h. This makes it one of the fastest corners on the track on the racing calendar. The following, elongated and slightly rising Estoril right-hand bend is decisive for the top speed on the subsequent, approximately 900-meter-long golf straight. Most vehicles tend to understeer on this curve; they are carried far to the left at the difficult-to-see curve exit to the curbs. The Adelaide curve after the long straight is considered the most sensible point for an overtaking maneuver by braking . Here Formula 1 vehicles are decelerated from over 300 km / h to below 50 km / h. You have to steer into the Imola chicane “blindly” because the course of the right-left combination, which is located in a slight depression, cannot be seen from the preceding, slightly rising straight. The braking zone in front of the 90-degree right-hand bend at around 70 km / h in the newly designed Complexe du Lycée in front of the start and finish has proven to be another overtaking opportunity after the latest renovation . At the 2004 Formula 1 race, this was impressively demonstrated by Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello , when he slowed down Renault driver Jarno Trulli on the last lap , overtook him on the inside and came in third.

Infrastructure

For Magny-Cours as an event location, the problem was and still is less the route itself than the insufficient tourist, gastronomic and transport infrastructure. There are only two hotels near the route, some of which meet international standards; Even in Nevers and in Moulins , which is a little further away , only a few companies are able to meet high demands. This is why international guests often stay in Paris, 250 km further north, despite the costly transfer that this entails . Racing teams sometimes prefer their motorhomes in the paddock to hotels as accommodation. The nearest major commercial airport is Lyon Saint-Exupéry , which can only be reached over a lengthy process via hilly, sometimes winding and mostly only two-lane national and départemental roads with numerous local passages. The section of national road 7 between Nevers and Magny-Cours is only partially expanded to four lanes (as a section of the A77 autoroute ), which makes helicopters the preferred mode of transport for many teams and guests. Magny-Cours even received an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for 4880 helicopter take-offs and landings within ten hours during a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend . During the transfer of Formula 1 employees and guests between the hotel and the racetrack on the evening of July 1, 2007, a helicopter crashed, killing three people and seriously injuring two. Among the dead was a close friend of the then Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso . Apparently makes even today the long time centralized on the capital Paris oriented transport and infrastructure policy of France felt, neglected large parts of the country as a province. In recent years, however, the Nevers-Fourchambault regional airport has been expanded so that the private jets of the Formula 1 protagonists can also land there.

The Formula 1 future of the course

Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton at the start of the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix in Magny-Cours

As early as 2004, Magny-Cours was in danger of losing the Formula 1 Grand Prix because the required advance payments could not be made on time by the track operators. The event could only be saved by extending the payment deadline and an agreement reached with Formula 1 management (FOM) in January .

Since the Formula 1 organizers are adding more and more races outside of Europe to the calendar or favoring new street circuits, some of the previous Formula 1 appearances are in principle in danger or have already been deleted from the calendar, such as the San Grand Prix Marino in Imola . This risk was relatively high for Magny-Cours, because Formula 1 promoter Bernie Ecclestone , many team bosses, sponsors, drivers and spectators are skeptical of the course in the French province, away from metropolitan areas and adequate transport links. For the local organizers themselves, the racing series is also becoming less and less lucrative, because up to 25 million euros entry fee is now required per Grand Prix. As alternative venues for the French Grand Prix to the 2001 fundamentally modernized Circuit Paul Ricard , who over the family trust 1 APM indirectly belongs Ecclestone, and yet not detailed planned street circuit in Paris called, possibly through the amusement park Disneyland Resort Paris could lead .

At the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend , Ecclestone stated that the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours would not be on the FIA's 2008 season calendar . As a result, authorities and route operators published an open letter in which the willingness to make extensive investments in the infrastructure of the route and the surrounding area was declared, if Formula 1 remained true to the course. In this letter from the General Council of the Département Nièvre, the Regional Council of Burgundy and the Société du Circuit de Magny-Cours, under the direction of President Gérard Dumas, a project called "Magny-Cours 2" was promised, which would involve the construction of a new pit facility, the Roofing of two grandstands and the extension of the existing section of the A77 between Nevers and Moulins by around five kilometers to the racetrack. The total cost of this project was estimated at 30 million euros. On July 24, 2007, after a meeting with French Prime Minister François Fillon , Ecclestone surprisingly announced that the French Grand Prix 2008 would now take place in Magny-Cours. In May 2008, Ecclestone said in an interview with the French sports newspaper L'Équipe that Magny-Cours would be the last venue for a Formula 1 World Championship on June 22, 2008. It is possible that there will only be a French Grand Prix again in 2010, but then on a different track.

In fact, there was no French Grand Prix between 2009 and 2017 . In 2018 a French Grand Prix was held for the first time. It was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard , which was the last venue in 1990 .

More events and records

Open-air concerts are also held on the site . In 2006, for example, Roger Waters of the British band Pink Floyd performed there - among others with his bandmate, the drummer, car collector and racing fan Nick Mason . The concert was on July 14th, France's national holiday . The celebrations for “100 Years of the Grand Prix” took place this weekend with the Formula 1 Grand Prix and a total of 200,000 spectators (84,000 of them on the actual race day). In 1906 , the first French Grand Prix and thus the first event of its kind worldwide was held in Le Mans .

In the race control building there is a board with the lap records of various vehicle classes on the track version driven up to 2002. Not only is Nigel Mansell's 1992 Formula 1 record recorded with 1: 13.864 min, but also the fastest time ever achieved with a racing bike: multiple world and Olympic champion Florian Rousseau from France drove a lap in 1994 in 6: 07.460 min.

All winners of Formula 1 races in Magny-Cours

Formula 1 record holder: Michael Schumacher won a total of eight Grand Prix at Magny-Cours

No.	year	driver	constructor	engine	tires	time	Route length	Round	Ø pace	date	GP of
1	1991	Nigel Mansell	Williams	Renault	G	1: 38: 00.056 h	4.271 km	72	188.271 km / h	07th of July	France
2	1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams	Renault	G	1: 38: 08.459 h	4,250 km	69	179.283 km / h	05th July
3	1993	Alain Prost	Williams	Renault	G	1: 38: 35.241 h	4,250 km	72	186.231 km / h	0July 4th
4th	1994	Michael sSchumacher	Benetton	ford	G	1: 38: 35.704 h	4,250 km	72	186.216 km / h	03rd of July
5	1995	Michael sSchumacher	Benetton	Renault	G	1: 38: 28.429 h	4,250 km	72	186.446 km / h	02nd July
6th	1996	Damon Hill	Williams	Renault	G	1: 36: 28.795 h	4,250 km	72	190.299 km / h	June 30th
7th	1997	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	G	1: 38: 50.492 h	4.247 km	72	185.621 km / h	June 29th
8th	1998	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	G	1: 34: 45.026 h	4,250 km	71	191.081 km / h	June 28th
9	1999	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan	Mugen	B.	1: 58: 24.343 h	4,250 km	72	155.060 km / h	June 27th
10	2000	David Coulthard	McLaren	Mercedes	B.	1: 38: 05.538 h	4.251 km	72	187.101 km / h	02nd July
11	2001	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 33: 35.636 h	4.251 km	72	196.093 km / h	0July 1
12	2002	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 32: 09.837 h	4.251 km	72	199.136 km / h	21 July
13	2003	Ralf Schumacher	Williams	BMW	M.	1: 30: 49.213 h	4,411 km	70	203.866 km / h	0July 6th
14th	2004	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 30: 18.133 h	4,411 km	70	205.035 km / h	0July 4th
15th	2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Renault	M.	1: 31: 22.233 h	4,411 km	70	202.638 km / h	03rd of July
16	2006	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 32: 07.803 h	4,411 km	70	200.968 km / h	16th of July
17th	2007	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 30: 54,200 h	4,411 km	70	203.680 km / h	0July 1
18th	2008	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari	B.	1: 31: 50.245 h	4,411 km	70	201.728 km / h	June 22

Record winner
Driver: Michael Schumacher (8) • Driver nations: Germany (10) • Constructors: Ferrari (8) • Engine manufacturer: Ferrari (8) • Tire manufacturer: Bridgestone / Goodyear (8 each)

literature

• Peter Higham, Bruce Jones (Translator: Walther Wuttke): Race tracks of the world , Heel-Verlag (Königswinter, 2000), ISBN 3-89365-890-4

Web links

Commons : Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours homepage
• Route history (English)
• Detailed timetable (French)

References and comments

1. ↑ "France's Magny-ficent copycat" ( Memento of March 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (route history and historical map on etracksonline.co.uk, engl.)
2. ↑ Among other things , word used by Ralf Schumacher to answer the question about the location of the route
3. ↑ Route timetable on the official website ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Description of the route at autosport.at ( Memento from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
5. ^ "Magny-Cours zum Lesten"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) (description of the route at emagazine.credit-suisse.com on June 28, 2007)
6. ↑ In racing, the amount of fuel is usually given in kilograms, because the weight is decisive for the vehicle setup and not the volume (one liter of racing fuel weighs around 750 to 800 grams)
7. ^ "Bridgestone employees survived" (motorsport-magazin.com on July 2, 2007)
8. ↑ No space for Formula 1 - farewell in Magny-Cours ( dpa report from June 30, 2007)
9. ↑ "Quel avenir pour le Grand Prix de Magny-Cours?" (Va-t-on assister au dernier Grand Prix de Magny-Cours?) (Rtl.fr on July 5, 2007, French)
10. ^ Section "Formula 1 scene", sport auto , issue 12, 2007, page 121
11. ^ "GP France - Au revoir! Magny-Cours just once more " ( Memento from May 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Eurosport.yahoo.com on May 12, 2008)
12. ↑ http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2016/12/formel-1-kehrt-ab-2018-nach-frankreich-zurueck-16120505.html

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on August 17, 2007 in this version .