Editing Imola Circuit (section)

==History==

[[Image:Imola53.png|thumb|left|Original layout of the Imola Circuit with no chicanes (1953–1972)]]

The track was originally called the Autodromo di Imola, and inaugurated as a semi-permanent venue in 1953. It had no [[chicane|chicanes]], so the runs from Acque Minerali to Rivazza, and from Rivazza all the way to Tosa, through the pits and the Tamburello, were just straights with a few small bends; the circuit remained in this configuration until 1972.

In April 1953, the first motorcycle races took place, while the first car race took place in June 1954. In April 1963, the circuit hosted [[1963 Imola Grand Prix|its first Formula One race]], as a non-championship event, won by [[Jim Clark]] for [[Team Lotus|Lotus]]. A further non-championship event took place at Imola in [[1979 Dino Ferrari Grand Prix|1979]], which was won by [[Niki Lauda]] for [[Brabham]]-[[Alfa Romeo]].

In 1980 Imola officially debuted in the Formula One World Championship calendar by hosting the [[1980 Italian Grand Prix]]. It was the first time since the [[1948 Italian Grand Prix|1948 Edition]] held at Parco del Valentino that the [[Autodromo Nazionale Monza]] did not host the Italian Grand Prix. The race was won by [[Nelson Piquet]] and it was such a success that a new race, the [[San Marino Grand Prix]], was established especially for Imola in {{f1|1981}} and remained on the calendar until {{f1|2006}}. The race was held over 60 laps of the {{cvt|5.040|km|mi|abbr=on}} circuit for a total race distance of 300 kilometres.

Imola has hosted a round of the [[Superbike World Championship]] from 2001 to 2006 and later since 2009. It hosts the final round of the [[FIM Motocross World Championship]] since 2018.

The [[World Touring Car Championship]] visited Imola in [[2005 World Touring Car Championship|2005]] for the [[FIA WTCC Race of San Marino|Race of San Marino]], in [[2008 World Touring Car Championship|2008]] for the [[FIA WTCC Race of Europe|Race of Europe]], and in [[2009 World Touring Car Championship|2009]] for the [[FIA WTCC Race of Italy|Race of Italy]]. The venue hosted a round of the [[International GT Open]] from 2009 to 2011 and also in 2021. The [[TCR International Series]] raced at Imola in [[2016 TCR International Series|2016]].

The [[6 Hours of Imola]] was revived in 2011 and added to the [[European Le Mans Series|Le Mans Series]] and [[Intercontinental Le Mans Cup]] as a season event until 2016, but it returned again to [[European Le Mans Series]] calendar again in 2022 as ''4 Hours of Imola''. It also hosted the 12 Hours of Imola in 2017-2018, a round of the [[24H Series]].

The track was also used as part of the finishing circuit for the [[1968 UCI Road World Championships]], which saw Italian cyclist [[Vittorio Adorni]] winning with a lead of 10 minutes and 10 seconds over runner up [[Herman Van Springel]], the second largest winning margin in the history of the championships, after [[Georges Ronsse]]'s victory in [[1928 UCI Road World Championships|1928]]. In addition Adorni's countryman [[Michele Dancelli]] took the bronze and five of the top six finishers were Italian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-stage-11-preview-organizers-bring-back-1968-worlds-finish-circuit-in-imola |title=Giro d'Italia stage 11 preview: Organizers bring back 1968 Worlds finish circuit in Imola |last=Fotheringham |first=Alasdair |author-link=Alasdair Fotheringham |date=19 May 2015 |website=[[cyclingnews.com]] |access-date=20 May 2015 |archive-date=21 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521050527/http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/giro-ditalia-stage-11-preview-organizers-bring-back-1968-worlds-finish-circuit-in-imola |url-status=live }}</ref> The circuit was used for stage 11 of the [[2015 Giro d'Italia]], which was won by [[Ilnur Zakarin]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-11/results |title=Giro d'Italia stage 11: Zakarin motors to win on F1 track in Imola |last1=O'Shea |first1=Sadhbh |date=20 May 2015 |website=[[cyclingnews.com]] |access-date=20 May 2015 |archive-date=22 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522183749/http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-11/results |url-status=live }}</ref> and stage 12 of the [[2018 Giro d'Italia]], won by [[Sam Bennett (cyclist)|Sam Bennett]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/wins-stage-twelve-of-the-giro-ditalia-380344 |title=Sam Bennett breaks into early charge to win stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia |last1=Arthurs-Brennan |first1=Michelle |date=17 May 2018 |website=[[Cycling Weekly]] |access-date=16 October 2018 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204180138/https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/wins-stage-twelve-of-the-giro-ditalia-380344 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The circuit also served as the start and finish of the [[2020 UCI Road World Championships]] on 27 September 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uci.org/road/news/2020/The-UCI-reveals-the-routes-for-the-Imola-Emilia-Romagna-2020-UCI-Road-World-Championships|title=The UCI reveals the routes for the Imola – Emilia-Romagna 2020 UCI Road World Championships|website=UCI|access-date=12 September 2020|archive-date=11 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911122449/https://www.uci.org/road/news/2020/The-UCI-reveals-the-routes-for-the-Imola-Emilia-Romagna-2020-UCI-Road-World-Championships|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Anchor|The Tamburello corner}}