The Bugatti Circuit shares three elements with the full Circuit de la Sarthe: the Ford Chicane at the end of the lap, the pit complex, and the straight leading to the Dunlop Bridge. At the point where the full Le Mans course exits toward Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne, drivers on the Bugatti layout turn right at La Chapelle and enter the infield section. This infield comprises Garage Vert, a back straight, the S du Garage Bleu, and the Raccordement connector, which rejoins the shared portion at the Ford Chicane.
When motorcycle racing was added to the Bugatti Circuit's schedule, a left-right sweep was incorporated into the overlapping section of track in 2002 for safety reasons. A separate pit exit for the Bugatti layout re-enters the circuit just beyond the Dunlop Chicane, before the Dunlop Bridge, which was created as part of the 2002 renovations to the broader Le Mans complex.
The circuit was constructed in 1965, initially to provide a shorter permanent racing venue within the Le Mans infrastructure. It hosted the 1967 French Grand Prix, the only occasion on which a Formula One World Championship race has been held on the Bugatti layout. That race proved to be the sole Formula One visit; subsequent French Grands Prix moved to other venues.
The circuit became a consistent host for International Formula 3000 from 1986 through 1991, and has hosted DTM, Formula 3 Euro Series, and World Series by Renault rounds across the years. The Superbike World Championship visited in 1988 and 1990. The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ran at Le Mans on the Bugatti layout from 1995 through to 2009 and again in 2015. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series held rounds there from 2009 to 2014.
As of the mid-2020s the Bugatti Circuit's core annual programme includes the FIM Endurance World Championship 24 Heures Motos in April, the MotoGP French Grand Prix in May, and the 24 Heures Camions European Truck Racing Championship round in September.
The Bugatti Circuit served as home base for Pescarolo Sport, the endurance racing outfit founded by French driver Henri Pescarolo, one of the most successful Le Mans competitors in history. The proximity to the full Le Mans infrastructure made the permanent circuit a natural base for teams competing in the 24-hour race.
The circuit also hosts the 24 Rollers, a 24-hour race conducted on inline skates and quad skates, an event unusual among motorsport venues for its accessibility to non-motorised participants.
The Bugatti layout's compact 4.185 km length and infield section contrast sharply with the 13.626 km full Le Mans configuration. The infield produces slower, more technical sections and tighter corners, while the shared straights and Dunlop complex retain some of the character of the longer circuit. The circuit's permanent infrastructure — including full pit garages, timing facilities, and a permanent grandstand capacity of 100,000 for the broader Le Mans complex — supports professional race meetings year-round, unlike the semi-permanent full circuit that uses public roads only during the 24-hour race.