The circuit was designed by John Hugenholtz, the Dutch track designer also associated with Zandvoort and Suzuka. Its undulating layout through the Belgian Limburg countryside gave drivers a varied challenge, with elevation changes and a combination of fast and technical corners. In the early 2000s the track underwent safety adaptations, and a noise limit of 96 dBA was established with monitoring points positioned along the circuit near turns 4 and 7–8.
Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on ten separate occasions between 1973 and 1984. Formula One moved to Zolder in 1973, and with two interruptions at Nivelles-Baulers in 1972 and 1974 (both won by Emerson Fittipaldi), Zolder remained Belgium's F1 home until 1982.
The 1982 Belgian Grand Prix is the most notorious event in Zolder's history. During qualifying, Canadian Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve collided at speed with the March 821 of Jochen Mass. The Ferrari 126C2 was torn apart, and Villeneuve was thrown from the car, suffering fatal injuries. His death prompted the Belgian Grand Prix to move to Spa-Francorchamps in 1983.
The race returned to Zolder one final time in 1984, with Ferrari's Michele Alboreto winning carrying Villeneuve's number 27 on his car — an appropriately poignant conclusion to Zolder's Formula One chapter. Since 1985 the Belgian Grand Prix has remained permanently at Spa.
Beyond Formula One, Zolder built a broad competition calendar. It hosted the 1980 Belgian Motorcycle Grand Prix and served for decades as a venue for touring car, GT, and formula racing. The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) raced at Zolder from 1984 to 1994 and returned in 2002 and again from 2019 to 2021 before losing its calendar slot to Spa in 2022. The World Touring Car Championship visited in 2010 and 2011, with Rob Huff and Gabriele Tarquini taking victories. Zolder has also welcomed Champ Car (2007), the FIA GT Championship, the Blancpain Sprint Series, and numerous formula categories over the decades.
A signature endurance event, the 24 Hours of Zolder, takes place annually around late August or early September. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series has held its season finale at Zolder each year since 2015.
Zolder's wide tarmac areas and accessibility have made it a multi-sport venue. The circuit hosted the UCI Road World Championships in 1969 and 2002 and the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 1970, 2002, and 2016. The 2016 cyclo-cross edition became notable for a different reason: it was the first confirmed case of mechanical doping in competitive cycling, when Femke Van den Driessche was found to have a concealed motor inside her bicycle. The circuit has also hosted the UCI BMX World Championships in 2015 and 2019, and since 2009 has staged a World Cup cyclo-cross race each December.
Zolder occupies a sombre but significant place in motorsport history, permanently associated with the death of Gilles Villeneuve — one of the most beloved and instinctively spectacular drivers in Formula One's first half-century. Despite never reclaiming a top-tier championship event after 1984, the circuit remained actively used across multiple categories and continues to operate as a versatile competition and test venue in the Benelux region.