Editing Circuito do Estoril (section)

==History==
Estoril, a vacation-destination beach town located {{Convert|20|mi|km|adj=on|order=flip}} west of the Portuguese capital city of [[Lisbon]] has had motor racing dating back to the 1930s, with a {{convert|2.8|km|mi|abbr=on}} street circuit used in 1937 for a local race. The current Estoril circuit was built and completed in 1972 on a rocky [[plateau]] near the village of [[Alcabideche]], {{convert|9|km|mi|adj=on}} from [[Estoril]], the town lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long {{cvt|0.986|km|mi|abbr=on}} start/finish straight.<ref name="race-game" /> Its original perimeter was {{convert|4.349|km|mi|abbr=on}}, and the maximum gradient is nearly 7%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circuito-estoril.pt/en/technical-information/track-data/|title=TRACK DATA - Circuito Estoril - Portugal|last=Seara.com|website=www.circuito-estoril.pt|access-date=17 May 2015|archive-date=2 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402225803/http://www.circuito-estoril.pt/en/technical-information/track-data/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Monsanto Park]], another street circuit in Lisbon hosted a variety of motor racing events in the 1950s, including the [[1959 Portuguese Grand Prix]], an event it shared briefly with the Boavista street circuit in [[Porto]].

Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional [[Formula 2]] race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975 and 1978, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international [[motorsport]] returned in 1984. In the 1980s, the [[Rally de Portugal]] also had a special stage at the circuit.<ref name='estoril_rcircuits'>{{cite web |title=Estoril - Racing Circuits |url=http://www.racingcircuits.info/europe/portugal/estoril.html |website=RacingCircuits.info |access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History - Circuito Estoril - Portugal |url=http://www.circuito-estoril.pt/en/fan-info/history/ |last=Seara.com |website=www.circuito-estoril.pt}}</ref>

Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including [[Niki Lauda]] winning the {{F1|1984}} championship, his third and final, from [[McLaren]] teammate [[Alain Prost]] by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the [[1984 Portuguese Grand Prix]]; three-time world champion [[Ayrton Senna]]'s first F1 win in [[1985 Portuguese Grand Prix|1985]]; [[Nigel Mansell]]'s notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in [[1989 Portuguese Grand Prix|1989]]; [[Riccardo Patrese]] being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with [[Gerhard Berger]] on the main straight in [[1992 Portuguese Grand Prix|1992]]; and [[Jacques Villeneuve]] overtaking [[Michael Schumacher]] around the outside of the final turn in [[1996 Portuguese Grand Prix|1996]].

[[File:SL Estoril.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Start of the second race of SuperLeague in Autódromo do Estoril]]
Throughout the years, Estoril has had numerous problems with safety, failing safety inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the [[1994 San Marino Grand Prix]], a chicane was added which increased the circuit length to {{convert|4.360|km|mi|abbr=on}}. Estoril sometimes has strong winds. Many teams were fond of using Estoril for winter testing.

Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the [[1997 Formula One season|1997 season]], though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the [[FIA GT Championship]], the [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters|DTM]] and the [[World Series by Renault]].<ref name="race-game">{{cite news|url=http://www.race-game.org/caterham/tracks.htm|title=The New Tracks|publisher=race-game.org|year=2006|access-date=16 November 2009|archive-date=16 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416125746/http://www.race-game.org/caterham/tracks.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> A new redesign of the parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to {{convert|4.182|km|mi|abbr=on}} was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] homologation.

On 3 September 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first [[Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix]], an event held annually. On 23 October 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever [[A1 Grand Prix]] [[2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season|racing season]], with both races in the event being won by the [[A1 Team France|French]] team. The track hosted [[Superleague Formula]] series events in 2008 and 2009.

In 2020, due to rescheduling of major international sport series due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Estoril hosted the final race of [[2020 Superbike World Championship]] (after hosting the series in 1988 and 1993) and the final race of [[2019–20 FIM Endurance World Championship]] (after hosting the series in 1987 and 2000).