Pescara Circuit

The Pescara Circuit was a Template:Convert 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.<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine'>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

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 Template:Cvt long straights (only slightly shorter than the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans) between the seaside municipality of Montesilvano, nicknamed "The Flying Kilometre".<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' /><ref name=":0" /> It was on "The Flying Kilometre" that Guy Moll was killed during the 1934 Coppa Acerbo.<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' /><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The highest point, at Spoltore, was Template:Cvt above sea level. <ref name=":2" /> 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 Template:Cvt straight northeast to Montesilvano before going down another Template:Cvt straight and returning to Pescara.<ref name=":0" />

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 Template:F1<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> due to the cancellation of other races.<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' /> The Pescara Grand Prix drew in excess of 200,000 spectators,<ref name=":5" /> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 Template:Cvt of flat out.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />

The track's last race was a four-hour World Sportscar Championship race in 1961,<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' /><ref name=":3" /> won by Lorenzo Bandini and Giorgio Scarlatti driving a Ferrari 250 TR for Scuderia Centro Sud.<ref name='1961_pescara_4h'>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />

Lap records

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)<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' />
Formula One	9:44.600	Stirling Moss	Vanwall VW 5	1957 Pescara Grand Prix
Sports car racing	9:55.500<ref name='1961_pescara_4h' />	Richie Ginther	Ferrari Dino 246 SP	1961 4 Hours of Pescara
GP	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Achille Varzi || Auto Union B || 1935 Coppa Acerbo
Voiturette	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Giuseppe Farina || Alfa Romeo 158 || 1939 Coppa Acerbo
Formula Junior	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Denny Hulme || Cooper T52 || 1960 Pescara Grand Prix
Original Road Course: 25.578 km (1926–1933)<ref name='pescara_msportmagazine' />
GP	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Tazio Nuvolari || Alfa Romeo P3 || 1932 Coppa Acerbo

External links

• Etracksonline page on Pescara circuit
• Approximate circuit layout on Google Maps
• Approximate circuit layout on Motopaner Template:Webarchive