Formula 1 French Grand Prix History
History - Facts - Winners - Schedule - Circuit
The French Grand Prix is part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) annual Formula One automobile racing championship season.
June, 26th of 1906 was the date; Le Mans, started in the motor sport world. The circuit was 64 miles (103km) long and 12 laps. Ferenc Szisz, a Hungarian dare-devil driving a Renault, reined victorious, beating the great Felice Nazzaro in his FIAT by less than a minute after 12 hours of hard racing.
Since the beginning of the Motor Sports World Championship in 1950, France has held Grand Prixs every season. They used to run in a public street in Reims up until the mid 60's. Then in 1957 the race was ran at the new road circuit at Rouen-les-Essarts, which along with Reims, shared the race until 1960 and apart from a single appearance by the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans in 1967, and the introduction of the wonderful Clermont-Ferrand in 1965.
1971 saw the first appearance of Paul Ricard; the purpose to build the circuit featuring a mile long straight leading into a tight hairpin, a feature that would produce some exciting moments in the many races held there during the 70's and 80's. But it is the 'sister' circuit of Dijon Prenois that brings interest to the French Grand Prix.
Dijon-Prenois is a lovely circuit, all sweeping curves; ups and downs, a far cry from many of the modern excuses for race tracks that we visit today. In 1979 there was a historic race with an unprecedented result, the very first win for a turbocharged Grand Prix car, with the unassuming Jean-Pierre Jabouille taking a quite commanding victory in his Renault, a result that would change the face of Formula One as we knew it.
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