 Grand Prix Circuit (1931–1955) | |
| Location | Bern,Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 46°57′00″N7°24′39″E / 46.95000°N 7.41083°E /46.95000; 7.41083 |
| Opened | 1931 |
| Closed | 1955 |
| Major events | Formula One Swiss Grand Prix (1934–1939, 1947–1954) Grand Prix motorcycle racing Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix (1931–1937, 1947, 1949, 1951–1954) Sidecar World Championship (1949, 1951–1954) |
| Grand Prix Circuit (1931–1955) | |
| Length | 7.280 km (4.524 mi) |
| Turns | 13 |
| Race lap record | 2:34.500 ( Bernd Rosemeyer,Auto Union C,1936,GP) |
TheCircuit Bremgarten was a 7.280 km (4.524 mi)motorsportrace track inBern,Switzerland, which formerly hosted theSwiss Grand Prix from 1933 to 1954 (Grand Prix/Formula One/Formula Two) and theSwiss motorcycle Grand Prix in 1949 and from 1951 until 1954. AdditionalBern Grands Prix were run forVoiturette, Formula Two and sportscars.
Bremgarten was built as amotorcycle racing track in 1931 in theBremgartenwald (Bremgarten forest) in the north of Bern, well outside of the separate municipalityBremgarten bei Bern. The circuit itself had no true main straight, instead being a collection of high-speed corners. It hosted its firstautomobile race in1934, which claimed the life of driverHugh Hamilton. In 1948 it claimed the life of Italian racerAchille Varzi. From the outset, Bremgarten's tree-lined roads, often poor light conditions and changes in road surface made for what was acknowledged to be a very dangerous circuit, especially in the wet.
In reaction to the June1955 Le Mans disaster, motor racing for position with passing and the risk of collisions like in Le Mans was banned in Switzerland, with the exception ofhillclimbing andrallying which are time trial runs of single vehicles. The August 211955 Swiss Grand Prix was cancelled, thus Bremgarten has not hosted an officialmotorsport event since 1954.
Although there were1975 Swiss Grand Prix (non-championship) and1982 Swiss Grand Prix, they took place inFrance, atDijon-Prenois. On June 6, 2007 an amendment to lift the ban was passed by thelower house of the Swiss parliament, 97 in favour and 77 opposed.[1] The legislation failed to pass theupper house, and was withdrawn in 2009 after being rejected twice.[2]
For electric cars, the circuit racing ban was lifted, and Switzerland hosted its first motor race in 64 years when the2018 Zurich ePrix was held as a round of the all-electricFormula E championship.
The Grand Prix of Bern took place at Bremgarten from 1931 to 1937 and also in 1947 and 1948. In August 1931 the Bern (Swiss) Grand Prix took place and the Irish motorcyclistStanley Woods won the 500cc event on aNorton. He won three more events here; 1932 350cc and 500cc races and 1933 500cc race also on a Norton.Jimmie Guthrie won the 350cc and 500cc races in 1937.
The Bremgarten Circuit was one of the original rounds of theGrand Prix motorcycle World Championship during the inaugural season of1949 and from1951 to1954. Famous riders who raced here included:Hans Stärkle [de;nl],Freddie Frith andGeoff Duke.[3] Italian racerOmobono Tenni was killed at Bremgarten during practice for the 1948 event.
Additional races were held asGrosser Preis von Bern (Bern Grand Prix), like the1939 Bern Grand Prix and1952 Bern Grand Prix.
Most of the circuit is gone, built over, or was reduced to a bicycle track in the forest without consideration to conservation. Only the northwestern part, the right hand curves Eymatt and Tenni, and sections in the forest remain both paved and on the original layout.[4]
At the Nürburgring, the lap record set in the 1930s by theSilver Arrows GP cars was not beaten until 1957, and in case of Bremgarten, never, as F1 in 1954 was still 5 seconds too slow, and Swiss racing was banned afterwards.
The fastest official race lap records at the Circuit Bremgarten are listed as:
| Category | Time | Driver | Vehicle | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Circuit: 7.280 km (1931–1955) | ||||
| GP | 2:34.500 | Bernd Rosemeyer | Auto Union C | 1936 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Formula One | 2:39.700 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Mercedes-Benz W196 | 1954 Swiss Grand Prix |
| 500cc | 2:41.200 | Rod Coleman | AJS Porcupine | 1953 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix [it] |
| Formula Two | 2:41.300[5] | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari 500 F2 | 1953 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Voiturette | 2:46.500[6] | Giuseppe Farina | Alfa Romeo 158 | 1939 Bern Grand Prix |
| 350cc | 2:54.500 | Geoff Duke | Norton Kneeler | 1952 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix |
| Sports prototype | 2:56.100[7] | Hermann Lang | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | 1952 Bern Grand Prix |
| 250cc | 3:00.900 | Reg Armstrong | NSU Rennmax 250 | 1953 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix [it] |
| Sidecar | 3:13.700 | Eric Oliver | Norton Manx | 1953 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix [it] |
| 125cc | 3:42.500 | Nello Pagani | Mondial 125SS | 1949 Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix |