Circuit de Charade

About

The Charade Circuit is a permanent race track in the Auvergne mountains, France. Originally built in 1958, the track used to be a 48 turn, 8KM mammoth track, which hosted several Formula 1 races. At the time the track was described as faster and twistier than the Nurburgring, with some drivers wearing an open face helmet in case of severe motion sickness! The reason the Formula 1 left the venue, was due to the risks involved, drivers would cut the corner, and stones would cause deflated tyres and several incidents! In 1989 the main track closed, for a new smaller facility to be built, which utilises the bottom half of the old layout. Todays course is much shorter, at 4KM and with a lot less corners! It is generally used for track days and driver training, as well as some lower level Formula racing.