| FRA - FRANCE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CHARADE, MONTAGNE D’AUVERGNE, ROSIER | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SORRY, SOME DATA ARE NOT TRANSLATED YET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Description | First proposal for a circuit near Clermont-Ferrand was made in 1908, but it was not developed until after the end of Second World War. In that period, some proposals were made for circuits from 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 3.7 mi) long, but they were abandoned after Le Mans tragedy, in 1955. Nevertheless the particular peculiarity of this "mountain" circuit let a quick development and finally in 1958 the long cicuit was opened. In 1988 it was shortened in order to satisfy modern requirements. Today there is also a Tout terrain (off road) circuit, not shown on my map. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Clermont-Ferrand 63 - Puy-de-Dôme - Auvergne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | On Mountagne d’Auvergne, 5 km - 3 mi West of Clermont Ferrand (Auvergne) nearby Charade, Manson and Thedes villages an not far from Massif Central | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latitude - Longitude | + 45°44'43" + 3°02'11" 45.745278 3.036389 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTM Coordinates | X = 502830.586 - Y = 5065747.409 - Zone 31T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aerial photo / Map (*) |  OpenStreetMap - Google Maps - Bing Maps - Flash Earth - Wikimapia - GéoPortail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Altitude AMSL | 800 m - 2625 ft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inauguration | July 27th 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Designer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources and links (Translation) (**) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Circuit de Montagne d’Auvergne | |||||
Long circuit | |||||
| Description | Road circuit, at that time it was opened to normal traffic. Works begun in May 1957 and they ended one year later, in July 1958. The circuit costed approx. 108 million French Francs of that time (approx 165000 Euro of that time). Inauguration was on July 27th 1958. It hosted touring races from 1958, World Motorbike Championship from 1959 to 1974 (but not in every year) and F.1 French GP in 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1972. It had great differences in level, that put brave drivers in good light, and it was one of the traditional circuits like the old Nürburgring and Spa Franchorchamps. At beginning of 1970s new safety requirements (that this circuit couldn’t satisfy due to its peculiarity) condamned this circuit and new circuits were choosen for important races. It should have hosted also 1975 F.1 French GP, but drivers and teams protested for is dangerousness and GP was moved to Le Castellet and F.1 never went back here. Long circuit was used the last time on September 18th 1988. | ||||
| Years | 1958÷1988 | ||||
| Direction |  Clockwise | ||||
 Proposal |
NO | ||||
| No longer operational | YES | ||||
| Car Circuit | YES | ||||
| Motorbike circuit | YES | ||||
| Type | Road course | ||||
| Inauguration | May 27th 1958 | ||||
| Closing | September 18th 1988 | ||||
| Last update of this page | January 4th 2008 | ||||
| Info last update | |||||
| Designer | |||||
| Distinctive points | Virage de Mansion - Charade Village - Le Belvedere - Carrefour de Gravenoire - La Carrière - Carrefour de Champeaux - Le Petit Pont - Epingle Marlboro - Virage Rosier | ||||
| length | 8055 m | 26427 ft | 5.005 mi | (6) | |
| length | 7997 m | 26236 ft | 4.969 mi | Calculated from aerial photo (*) | (5) |
| Width | 7 m | 23 ft | (6) | ||
| Difference in level | 179.48 m | 589 ft | 0.112 mi | (7) | |
| Straight length | 587.6 m | 1928 ft | 0.365 mi | Longest straight | (7) |
| Max. gradient (uphill) | 10 % | 5.7 ° | (7) | ||
| Max. gradient (downhill) | 7.8 % | 4.5 ° | (7) | ||
| Bend minimum radius | 15 m | 49 ft | (7) | ||
| Max minimum radius | 343 m | 1125 ft | 0.213 mi | (7) | |
| Circuit de Montagne d’Auvergne | |||||
| Description | In 1972 there was a proposal for shorten the circuit to approx 5 km - 3 mi and this new layout (not shown on my map) should have been ready for 1972 F.1 French GP, that on the contrary was raced on the usual track. This layout was never developed | ||||
| Years | 1972 | ||||
| Direction | Clockwise | ||||
| Proposal |
YES
| ||||
| Proposal not developed | YES | ||||
| Car Circuit | YES | ||||
| Motorbike circuit | |||||
| Type | Road course | ||||
| Inauguration | |||||
| Closing | |||||
| Last update of this page | January 4th 2008 | ||||
| Info last update | |||||
| Designer | |||||
| Distinctive points | |||||
| length (approx) | 5000 m | 16404 ft | 3.107 mi | Approximated length | (9) |
| Circuit de Montagne d’Auvergne «Louis Rosier» | |||||
Short circuit | |||||
| Description | From 1988 only this shortened layout was used, that meanwhile became a permanent circuit thanks to Conseil Général du Puy de Dôme. Now the circuit has modern facilities and a Safety Driving School. It has 18 bends; start/finish is 800 m - 2625 ft above sea levels, but quickly the track goes down from 815 to 755 m (from 2674 to 2477 ft) in 800 m - 2625 ft. For more details about partial length, difference in lever and radius of the corners, see official website | ||||
| Years | 1988÷... | ||||
| Direction | Clockwise | ||||
| Proposal |
NO | ||||
| No longer operational | |||||
| Car Circuit | YES | ||||
| Motorbike circuit | |||||
| Type | Permanent | ||||
| Inauguration | |||||
| Closing | |||||
| Last update of this page | January 4th 2008 | ||||
| Info last update | |||||
| Designer | |||||
| Distinctive points | Virage de Mansion - Epingle de Champeaux - Le Petit Pont - Epingle Marlboro - Virage Rosier | ||||
| length | 3862 m | 12671 ft | 2.4 mi | ||
| length | 3975 m | 13041 ft | 2.47 mi | (13) | |
| length | 4050 m | 13287 ft | 2.517 mi | (3) | |
| Min width | 9 m | 30 ft | (13) | ||
| Max width | 12 m | 39 ft | (13) | ||
| Difference in level | 60 m | 197 ft | (13) | ||
| Straight length | 600 m | 1969 ft | 0.373 mi | Start finish straight | (12) |
| Max. gradient (uphill) | 6.4 % | 3.7 ° | (13) | ||
| Max. gradient (downhill) | 7.8 % | 4.5 ° | (13) | ||
Circuit de Montagne d’Auvergne 1958÷1988
See this track layout with milermeter.com
(milermeter.com can be used in your browser, without installing anything; Google Earth is a program that must be installed in your computer)
Circuit de Montagne d’Auvergne «Louis Rosier» 1988÷...
| Updates | |||||||
| Date | Track layout | Years | Description by | Map by | Thanks to | Note | |
| June 17th 2008 | Guido de Carli | Roelard Smit | Update | Photos (link) | |||
| January 4th 2008 | Guido de Carli | Update | Description | ||||
| May 21st 2006 | Guido de Carli | Lorenzo Tommasi | Update | Description | |||
| May 21st 2006 | Guido de Carli | Update | Description | ||||
| March 17th 2006 | Guido de Carli | Lorenzo Tommasi | Update | Description | |||
| April 25th 2005 | Guido de Carli | Update | Description | ||||
| April 14th 2004 | Guido de Carli | Guido de Carli | Update | Map | |||
| November 10th 2002 | Guido de Carli | New | Map | ||||
| August 19th 2002 | Guido de Carli | Update | Description | ||||
| Not all eventual updates issued in last years are already visible in this list | |||||||
