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'Circuit Park Zandvoort' is a motorsport race track located in the dunes near the town of Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line.

Contents

Design

History

See also

External links

Design

Although there were some races at Zandvoort before WW II, starting in June, 3, 1939, a real circuit was not built until after the war, mainly designed by John Hugenholtz.
The older 'Classic' Zandvoort circuit layout is modeled in detail and can be driven in the Grand Prix Legends racing simulation for X86-based pc's.

History

The circuit was inaugurated on August, 7, 1948. Next year, in 1949 the circuit hosted the Zandvoort Grand Prix. The following year, the race was called the Dutch Grand Prix, and it was included in the Formula One World Championship in . In , the Dutch Grand Prix was held for the last time. The company that commercially ran the circuit (CENAV) went out of business, marking the end of Circuit Zandvoort. The track, owned by the municipal of Zandvoort, was not used for some time and part of the grounds and approximately half of the track was sold in 1987 to Vendorado, a Bungalow park company of that time. A plan to save the remaining track was made by a group of people and companies. Circuit Park Zandvoort was born, and the track was remodeled to an interim Club Circuit"of 2.6 km in the summer of 1989.
In 1995, CPZ got the "A Status" of the Dutch government and began building an international Grand Prix Circuit. This project was finished in 2001 when, after the track was redesigned to a 4.3 km long circuit and a new pits building was realized, a new grandstand was situated along the long straight. One of the major events that is currently held at the circuit, along with DTM and A1GP, is the BP Ultimate Masters of Formula 3, where Formula 3 cars of several national racing series compete with each other. (Originally called Marlboro Masters, before tobacco banning)
The most famous corner in the circuit is the ''Tarzanbocht'' (Tarzan corner) which provides excellent overtaking opportunities. This corner is reportedly named after a local character who had earned the nickname of Tarzan and only wanted to give up his vegetable garden in the dunes if the track's designers named a nearby corner after him. On the other hand, many different stories about Tarzan Corner are known.
In the history of the circuit, several fatal accidents have occurred; among them are Piers Courage during the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix, and Roger Williamson in 1973.
Circuit Park Zandvoort played host to the first race in the 2006/07 season of A1 Grand Prix from 29 September - 1 October 2006.

See also

★ List of Formula One circuits

External links

★ Circuit Zandvoort homepage

★ Aerial photo (Google Maps)