Motor racing in the Estoril region dates back to the 1930s, with a 2.8 km (1.7 mi) street circuit used in 1937. The current Estoril circuit was built and completed in 1972 on a rocky plateau near the village of Alcabideche, 9-kilometre (5.6 mi) from Estoril. The course features two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long 0.986 km (0.613 mi) start/finish straight. Its original perimeter was 4.349 km (2.702 mi), and the maximum gradient is nearly 7%. Monsanto Park, another street circuit in Lisbon hosted motor racing events in the 1950s, including the 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix, an event it shared with the Boavista street circuit in Porto.
In its first years, the circuit hosted national races and occasional Formula 2 events. The course fell into disrepair after the owning company was taken over by the state between 1975 and 1978, and international motorsport returned following a significant redevelopment effort in the early 1980s. During the 1980s, the Rally de Portugal also included a special stage at the circuit.
Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar and was the setting for several notable moments. Niki Lauda won his third and final championship in 1984 from McLaren teammate Alain Prost by half a point, finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna achieved his first F1 win in 1985 at Estoril. Other incidents include Nigel Mansell’s black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989, Riccardo Patrese being launched airborne after colliding with Gerhard Berger in 1992, and Jacques Villeneuve overtaking Michael Schumacher around the outside of the final turn in 1996.
Throughout its history, Estoril has faced safety issues, failing inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a chicane was added, increasing the circuit length to 4.360 km (2.709 mi). Estoril is also known for sometimes having strong winds, and many teams used it for winter testing.
Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season but continued to host top-level single-seater, sports car, and touring car events, including the FIA GT Championship, the DTM, and the World Series by Renault. A redesign of the parabolica turn in 2000 reduced its length to 4.182 km (2.599 mi) to obtain FIM homologation.
On 3 September 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix, an event that was held annually. The circuit also hosted the third round of the first A1 Grand Prix racing season on 23 October 2005, with both races won by the French team. Superleague Formula series events were held at the track in 2008 and 2009. The 12 Hours of Estoril has been a recurring event, held in 1987, 2000, 2020, and 2021.
In 2020, due to the rescheduling of major international sport series during the COVID-19 pandemic, Estoril hosted the final race of the 2020 Superbike World Championship (having previously hosted the series in 1988 and 1993) and the final race of the 2019–20 FIM Endurance World Championship (after hosting the series in 1987 and 2000).
The Circuito do Estoril hosts a variety of current and former events across different motorsport categories.
Current Events:
January: GT Winter Series, GT4 Winter Series, Formula Winter Series, Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe
June: FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship, FIM Moto2 European Championship, Campeonato de España de Superbike, Moto4 European Cup
September: Classic Endurance Racing Estoril Classics
October: Superbike World Championship, Supersport World Championship, Yamaha R3 bLU cRU FIM World Cup
December: Supercars Endurance Series Estoril Endurance Festival, Campeonato Portugal de Velocidade
Former Events include: A1 Grand Prix, Auto GP, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, European Formula Two Championship, European Le Mans Series, European Touring Car Championship, Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix, Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup, Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Grand Prix motorcycle racing Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix, International Formula 3000, Superleague Formula, World Touring Car Championship, and World Touring Car Cup.
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