Mugello Circuit
 | |
| Location | Scarperia e San Piero, Tuscany, Italy |
|---|---|
| Time zone | GMT+1 |
| Coordinates | 43°59′51″N 11°22′19″E / 43.99750°N 11.37194°E |
| FIA Grade | 1 |
| Major events | Formula One Tuscan Grand Prix (2020) Italian motorcycle Grand Prix, Tuscan motorcycle Grand Prix, A1GP, DTM, WSBK |
| Website | http://www.mugellocircuit.it |
| Closed course (1974–present) | |
| Length | 5.245 km (3.259 miles) |
| Turns | 15 |
| Race lap record | 1:34.316 (Gary Hauser, Racing Experience, 2014, BOSS GP) |
| Road course (1919–1970) | |
| Surface | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Length | 66.2 km (41.3 miles) |
| Turns | 400+ |
| Race lap record | 29:51.100 (Arturo Merzario, Abarth Corse, Abarth 2000 SP, 1970) |
Mugello Circuit (Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello) is a race track in Scarperia e San Piero, Tuscany, Italy. The circuit length is 5.245 km (3.259 mi). It has 15 turns and a 1.141 km (0.709 mi) long straight.[1] The circuit stadium stands have a capacity of 50,000.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing host an annual event here (for MotoGP and smaller classes). In 2007 and 2008 the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters held an annual event. The track is property of Scuderia Ferrari which uses it for Formula One testing. The first race of the A1GP 2008–09 season was originally planned to be held at the Mugello circuit on 21 September 2008. However, the race had to be cancelled due to the delay in building the new chassis for the new race cars.[2]
It has been announced that the circuit would host its first ever Formula One race on 13 September 2020, named the Tuscan Grand Prix, as part of the season being restructured due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] This Grand Prix will be the 1000th Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari.
History
Road race (1920–1970)
Road races were held on public streets (road racing) around Mugello since the 1920s. Giuseppe Campari won there in 1920 and 1921, Emilio Materassi in 1925, 1926 & 1928.
The Mugello GP was revived in 1955 and from the 1964 to 1969 as a Targa Florio-like road race consisting of eight laps of 66.2 km each, including the Passo della Futa of Mille Miglia fame. The anticlockwise track passed the towns of San Piero a Sieve, Scarperia, Violla, Firenzuola, Selva, San Lucia. It counted towards the 1965, 1966 and 1967 World Sportscar Championship season. The last WC race was won[4] by Udo Schütz and Gerhard Mitter in a Porsche 910. After two Porsche wins, the local fans could celebrate again in 1968, when the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 driven by Luciano Bianchi, Nanni Galli and Nino Vaccarella prevailed over the Porsche driven by Rico Steinemann and Jo Siffert, and in 1969, when Arturo Merzario won with an Abarth 2000, and he won again in 1970 with the same car, where Abarth prevailed 1–2–3 with Leo Kinnunen and Gijs Van Lennep finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The 1970 event brought about the end of the 66 km Mugello public road circuit; a seven-month-old baby was killed when local racer Spartaco Dini crashed his Alfa Romeo GTA into a group of people at the village of Firenzuola during a private test there, when the roads were open to the public (the roads were only closed on race day and for qualifying; and left open for every other day including open practice for the event). Four other people, including two young children, were seriously injured. Although there had only been one previous fatality at the original Mugello circuit (Günther Klass in 1967), this incident put a bad stain on the entire event and the 1970 race turned out to be the last one held on the public road circuit, which was won once again by Merzario. After this incident Dini spent two months in prison, and after his time served he left Italy and did not return for years.
Permanent circuit (1974–present)
The present-day closed Mugello circuit was constructed in 1973 and opened in 1974, about 5 km east from the easternmost part of the original road circuit.
The circuit was used over 1–3 May, for the in-season test during the 2012 Formula One season, by all teams except HRT. The track was praised by Mark Webber, who stated that he "did 10 dry laps today around Mugello, which is the same as doing 1000 laps around Abu Dhabi track in terms of satisfaction".[5] Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel was impressed too, saying that “unfortunately we don’t have this track on the calendar. It’s an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners”.[6] It holds a grade 1 FIA license, meaning it meets the standards to host a Formula 1 race.[7] An unofficial track record of 1:21.035 was set by Romain Grosjean during the test.[8]
On 10 July 2020, it was announced that the circuit would be the ninth race in the 2020 Formula One calendar, marking the 1000th Grand Prix for Ferrari.[9]
Winners of the Mugello Grand Prix
The winners of the Mugello Grand Prix for automobiles (1919–1967: Circuito del Mugello, 1968–present: Gran Premio del Mugello) are:[10][11][12][13][14][15]
Winners on the closed circuit (5.245 km/3.259 mi)
| Year | Driver | Constructor | Class | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |  Ricardo Sperafico
|
Lola | Formula 3000 | Report | |
| 1998–1999 | Not held | ||||
| 1997 | Ricardo Zonta
|
Lola | Formula 3000 | Report | |
| 1996 | Ricardo Zonta
|
Lola | Report | ||
| 1992–1995 | Not held | ||||
| 1991 |  Alessandro Zanardi
|
Reynard | Formula 3000 | Report | |
| 1987–1990 | Not held | ||||
| 1986 | Pierluigi Martini
|
Ralt | Formula 3000 | Report | |
| 1985 | Not held | ||||
| 1984 |  Mike Thackwell
|
Ralt | Formula Two | Report | |
| 1983 |  Jonathan Palmer
|
Ralt | Report | ||
| 1982 | Corrado Fabi
|
March | Report | ||
| 1981 | Corrado Fabi
|
March | Report | ||
| 1980 | Brian Henton
|
Toleman | Report | ||
| 1979 | Brian Henton
|
March | Report | ||
| 1978 |  Derek Daly
|
Chevron | Report | ||
| 1977 | Bruno Giacomelli
|
March | Report | ||
| 1976 |  Jean-Pierre Jabouille
|
Elf | Report | ||
| 1975 | Maurizio Flammini
|
March | Report | ||
| 1974 | Patrick Depailler
|
March | Report | ||
Winners on the road circuit (66.2 km/41.3 mi)
Note: The 1926 race was held on the Cascine circuit.[16][17]
| Year | Driver | Constructor | Class | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Arturo Merzario
|
Abarth | Sports car | Report | |
| 1969 | Arturo Merzario
|
Abarth | Report | ||
| 1968 |  Lucien Bianchi Nino Vaccarella Nanni Galli
|
Alfa Romeo | Report | ||
| 1967 |  Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz
|
Porsche | Report | ||
| 1966 | Gerhard Koch Jochen Neerpasch
|
Porsche | Report | ||
| 1965 | Mario Casoni Antonio Nicodemi
|
Ferrari | Report | ||
| 1964 | Gianni Bulgari
|
Porsche | Report | ||
| 1956–1963 | Not held | ||||
| 1955 | Umberto Maglioli
|
Ferrari | Sports car | Report | |
| 1930–1954 | Not held | ||||
| 1929 |  Gastone Brilli-Peri
|
Talbot | Grand Prix | Report | |
| 1928 | Emilio Materassi
|
Talbot | Formula Libre | Report | |
| 1927 | Not held | ||||
| 1926 | Emilio Materassi
|
Itala | Formula Libre | Report | |
| 1925 | Emilio Materassi
|
Itala | Report | ||
| 1924 | Giuseppe Morandi
|
OM | Report | ||
| 1923 | Gastone Brilli-Peri
|
Steyr | Report | ||
| 1922 | Alfieri Maserati
|
Isotta Fraschini | Report | ||
| 1921 | Giuseppe Campari
|
Alfa Romeo | Report | ||
| 1920 | Giuseppe Campari
|
Alfa Romeo | Report | ||
Lap records
| Category | Time | Driver | Car/Bike | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group C | 1:39.07 | Riccardo Patrese | Lancia LC2 | 1985 1000 km of Mugello |
| DTM | 1:43.079 | Timo Scheider | Audi A4 DTM | 2008 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season |
| F2 | 1:43.92 | Mike Thackwell | Ralt-Honda RH6 | 1984 Mugello Grand Prix |
| MotoGP | 1:45.519 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 2019 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix |
| GT1 | 1:48.436 | Andrea Bertolini | Maserati MC12 | 2006 FIA GT Mugello 500km |
| Moto2 | 1:51.514 | Sam Lowes | Speed Up | 2015 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix |
| Moto3 | 1:56.615 | Danny Kent | Honda | 2015 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix |
See also
References
- ^ "Mugello Circuit". GPcircuits.
- ^ "A1GP : News". A1gp.com. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
- ^ https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.formula-1-adds-mugello-and-sochi-to-revised-2020-f1-race-calendar.2tpfQ80LAax8Q0j0OIxdct.html
- ^ "World Championship 1967". Wspr-racing.com. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
- ^ "Mark Webber about Mugello circuit". Twitter. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ "Sebastian Vettel on Mugello". James Allen on F1. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ "List of FIA licensed circuits" (PDF). 6 February 2015.
- ^ "Mugello day three – Grosjean ends test on a high". formula1.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Formula 1 adds Mugello and Sochi to revised 2020 F1 race calendar". Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ "Grand Prix winners 1919–1933, The golden era of Grand Prix racing". Kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ "Non Championship Races, The World of Sports Prototypes Racing". Wspr-racing.com. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ "World Sportscar Championship, The World of Sports Prototypes Racing". Wspr-racing.com. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ http://www.formula2.net/index.html
- ^ "Gran Premio di Mugello, The Racing Line". Theracingline.net. Archived from the original on 7 June 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ "Mugello Grand Prix 1968". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ Etzrodt, Hans. "Materassi wins the Coppa del Marchese Ginori at the Cascine Circuit". The Golden Era of Grand Prix racing. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ Higham, Peter (1995). The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. p. 415. ISBN 0851126421.
External links
- Website (English/Italian)
- RacingCircuits.info – History of Mugello Circuit
- Trackpedia's guide to Mugello
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160206232947/http://www.circuitostradaledelmugello.it/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160307030039/http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/italy/mugelloold.html
- Free audio walkthrough of the track, for use with games
- Stadium Journey article