The original Masaryk Circuit was a road course measuring approximately 29.194 km, laid out on public roads in the outskirts of Brno. Its start and finish was located in the district of Bosonohy, with the route running east past Kamenny, north past the Bohunice University Campus, and through the villages of Libušino, Kohoutovice and Žebětín before looping out to Ostrovacice and back. The circuit ran anti-clockwise and was used in its full length from 1930 to 1937.
The track takes its name from Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who was the founding president of Czechoslovakia, lending the venue a nationalistic significance that elevated its early prestige within European motorsport.
From 1930 to 1937, the Masaryk Circuit attracted top Grand Prix drivers and factory teams during the golden age of pre-war motor racing. After a wartime hiatus, the circuit returned on 25 September 1949 to host the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix as part of the post-war international Grand Prix calendar — at that time a precursor to the Formula One World Championship that would begin in 1950. This race ran clockwise on a shortened layout of 17.800 km, bypassing Ostrovacice and approaching Žebětín from the south. Despite a crowd exceeding 400,000 spectators, it would be the last car grand prix held on the original road circuit.
Beginning in 1950, the road circuit pivoted to motorcycle racing, hosting the Czechoslovakian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The event gained world championship status from 1965, establishing Brno as a fixture on the international calendar. The circuit was progressively shortened over subsequent decades: reduced to 13.941 km in 1964, and further to 10.921 km in 1975, each revision bypassing more of the original village routes in the interest of safety and logistics.
A new permanent racing facility was opened on 18 July 1987, located north of Kyvalka and lying broadly within the footprint of the original road circuit, though without incorporating any of its public roads. The circuit measures 5.403 km and features a flowing layout suited to both cars and motorcycles.
The motorcycle grand prix transferred to the new venue and quickly regained its FIM World Championship status. A round of the World Sports Car Championship was held at the circuit in 1988, and in 2006 it hosted a round of the A1 Grand Prix series. The circuit also welcomed the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT1 World Championship, Formula Two, and the Superbike World Championship at various points.
The annual Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix became the circuit's defining event, recognised as the most famous motor race in Czech history. It has been held at Brno continuously since 1950, with interruptions only for the transition between road and permanent layouts and a pandemic-related pause in 2021.
The Czechoslovakian Grand Prix of 1949 stands as one of the last occasions a European public-road circuit attracted a field of that era's top grand prix machinery alongside a crowd of more than 400,000 people — a scale that reflects the sporting importance of the venue in the post-war Czech national consciousness.
In 1988, Brno hosted a round of the World Sportscar Championship, cementing its place in international sports car history. The circuit's longevity as a motorcycle venue is exceptional: Brno is noted as having hosted more motorcycle world championship rounds than any other circuit after the TT Circuit Assen.
The original road circuit's infrastructure — all the public roads used for the pre-war and post-war layouts — remains intact and navigable as of 2025, allowing the route to be traced across the modern Brno landscape. Since August 2023, the current permanent facility is owned by Czech company Shakai.
The unofficial absolute lap record at the circuit stands at 1:34.700, set by Jérôme d'Ambrosio driving a Renault R29 Formula One car during a demonstration in 2010.