Dijon-Prenois is a 3.801 km (2.362 mi) motor racing circuit located inPrenois, nearDijon,France. The undulating track is noted for its fast, sweeping bends.
Part of the added section of Dijon-Prenois with theParabolique corner
Planned in 1967, work commenced in December 1969. The track was part of a plan to make Dijon an automotive centre. It was the brainchild of rugby-player and wrestler François Chambelland (sometimes assumed to be the masked wrestlerl'Ange Blanc)[citation needed], and was developed with the aid of racersJean-Pierre Beltoise andFrançois Cevert, as well as motoring journalistJosé Rosinski [fr].[2][3] In spite of lack of support from the city government and a chronic lack of funds, the track was declared open on 26 May 1972, withGuy Ligier making the first timed lap around the circuit.[3][4] The first race, for 2-litreprototypes, was held ten days later.Arturo Merzario was the inaugural winner.[5]
Warm-up lap of the European Honda Trophy race,Gauche de la bretelle corner (2004)
The first F1 race was run in1974 on the circuit's original 3.289 km (2.044 mi) layout; with the fastest lap times under the one-minute mark, there was a major problem with congested traffic between the race leaders and the back-markers. Therefore, in 1976 an extension was added to lengthen the circuit as well as to reprofile many of its corners before the time F1 could return to Dijon in1977. The1979 French Grand Prix featured a memorable battle for second place in the final laps betweenGilles Villeneuve'sFerrari andRené Arnoux'sRenault, which was finally won by Villeneuve. The race itself was won byJean-Pierre Jabouille in the otherRenault - Renault's first, and the first F1 victory for a turbocharged car.[3]
The French Grand Prix alternated between Paul Ricard and Dijon, until the last F1 race at Dijon took place in1984. The race was won byMcLaren'sNiki Lauda, who won his 3rd and final World Championshipthat year. The fastest lap of the race was set by Lauda's teammate Alain Prost (1:05.257) at an average speed of 214 km/h (133 mph). Fittingly, the last F1 pole at Dijon was set by a French driver driving a French car, withPatrick Tambay recording a 1:02.200 in his factoryRenault RE50 turbo. Tambay led the race for the first 47 laps before being passed by Lauda, the Frenchman eventually finishing 2nd, seven seconds behind theMcLaren MP4/2.
Long-distance racing continued, with a race in theFIA GT Championship held there in 1998 for instance. Although Formula One has not returned to Dijon since1984, the circuit continues to be used today for minor, mostly local races. These include club level events and motorcycle racing, and truck racing events have been held there since 1988.[2] The track was renovated in 2001, when a go-cart track was added.[1]
The outright unofficial all-time track record for the full Grand Prix Circuit is 1:01.380, set byAlain Prost in aRenault RE30B, during first qualifying for the1982 Swiss Grand Prix. The outright unofficial all-time track record for the Short Circuit is 0:58.790 seconds, set byNiki Lauda in aFerrari 312B3, during qualifying for the1974 French Grand Prix.[7][8] As of May 2025, the fastest official race lap records at the Circuit de Dijon-Prenois are listed as:
^abFuret, Jacques (2012-04-05). "Quarante ans qu'il tourne round!" [It's been running around for forty years!].La Vie de l'Auto (in French) (1501). Fontainebleau Cedex, France: Éditions LVA: 14.
^de Cesaris, Andrea (2011-05-11),"Un tracé, des légendes" [Tracking of legends],Le Gazette de Côte-d'Or (in French) (248), Dijon, France: B. Press, archived fromthe original on 2013-02-13, retrieved2012-05-22
Ingo Gerstl,Toro Rosso STR1, 2015,F1)
Jody Scheckter,Tyrrell 007,1974,F1)
