# Dijon-Prenois

Dijon-Prenois is a 3.801 km (2.362 mi) motor racing circuit located in Prenois, near Dijon, France. The undulating track is noted for its fast, sweeping bends.
Opened in 1972, Dijon-Prenois hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix five times, and the Swiss Grand Prix in 1982. The non-championship 1975 Swiss Grand Prix was also held at Dijon. The circuit currently hosts the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or, and last hosted the FFSA GT Championship in 2018.

## History

Planned in 1967, work commenced in December 1969. The track was part of a plan to make Dijon an automotive centre. It was the brainchild of rugby-player and wrestler François Chambelland (sometimes assumed to be the masked wrestler l'Ange Blanc), and was developed with the aid of racers Jean-Pierre Beltoise and François Cevert, as well as motoring journalist José Rosinski. In spite of lack of support from the city government and a chronic lack of funds, the track was declared open on 26 May 1972, with Guy Ligier making the first timed lap around the circuit. The first race, for 2-litre prototypes, was held ten days later. Arturo Merzario was the inaugural winner.
The first F1 race was run in 1974 on the circuit's original 3.289 km (2.044 mi) layout; with the fastest lap times under the one-minute mark, there was a major problem with congested traffic between the race leaders and the back-markers. Therefore, in 1976 an extension was added to lengthen the circuit as well as to reprofile many of its corners before the time F1 could return to Dijon in 1977. The 1979 French Grand Prix featured a memorable battle for second place in the final laps between Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari and René Arnoux's Renault, which was finally won by Villeneuve. The race itself was won by Jean-Pierre Jabouille in the other Renault - Renault's first, and the first F1 victory for a turbocharged car.
The 1982 Formula One season was not to see the French Grand Prix held at Dijon as that race was held at the Paul Ricard Circuit, located at Le Castellet in southern France. Instead, Dijon held the (as yet) last Swiss Grand Prix, despite being located in France and not Switzerland. This was due to the Swiss Government's ban on motor racing in the wake of the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans disaster in which 83 people, many of whom were spectators, and the driver Pierre Levegh, died when a car crashed at high speed and vaulted into the pit straight grandstand. 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, driving his Williams-Ford, won his first ever Grand Prix in the 1982 Swiss race, four seconds in front of local favourite Alain Prost driving a factory backed Renault.
The French Grand Prix alternated between Paul Ricard and Dijon, until the last F1 race at Dijon took place in 1984. The race was won by McLaren's Niki Lauda, who won his 3rd and final World Championship that year. The fastest lap of the race was set by Lauda's teammate Alain Prost (1:05.257) at an average speed of 214 km/h (133 mph). Fittingly, the last F1 pole at Dijon was set by a French driver driving a French car, with Patrick Tambay recording a 1:02.200 in his factory Renault RE50 turbo. Tambay led the race for the first 47 laps before being passed by Lauda, the Frenchman eventually finishing 2nd, seven seconds behind the McLaren.
Long-distance racing continued, with a race in the FIA GT Championship held there in 1998 for instance. Although Formula One has not returned to Dijon since 1984, the circuit continues to be used today for minor, mostly local races. These include club level events and motorcycle racing, and truck racing events have been held there since 1988. The track was renovated in 2001, when a go-cart track was added.

## Events
### Current

* April: Fun Cup France Trophée de Bourgogne, Historic Tour Dijon
* May: FFSA GT Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup France, French F4 Championship, Renault Clio Cup Europe
* June: Classic Endurance Racing Grand Prix de l'Âge d'Or [fr]
* October: Dijon Motors Cup

### Former

* Alpine Elf Europa Cup (2018, 2023)
* BMW M1 Procar Championship (1979)
* BOSS GP (2009–2010, 2012, 2015)
* BPR Global GT Series (1994)
* Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2009)
* Euro Formula 3000 (2002, 2004)
* European Touring Car Championship (1988)
* European Truck Racing Championship (1996–2001)
* FIA European Formula 3 Championship (1978)
* FIA GT Championship (1998, 2006)
* Formula 3 Euro Series (2009)
* Formula 750 (1977)
* Formula One
** French Grand Prix (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981–1982)
** Swiss Grand Prix (1984)
* Formula Palmer Audi (2006)
* French Formula Three Championship (1978–1985, 1987–1999, 2002)
* French Formula Renault Championship (1976–1981, 1984–1985, 1991–1994, 2002–2009)
* French Supertouring Championship (1976–1987, 1989–1999, 2002–2005)
* FIA Sportscar Championship (2002)
* GT2 European Series (2023)
* International Formula 3000 (1985, 1988–1989)
* NASCAR Euro Series (2009–2010, 2013)
* Ultimate Cup Series (2019–2021)
* World Sportscar Championship (1973, 1975–1976, 1978–1980, 1989–1990)
* World Touring Car Championship (1987)

## Lap records

The outright unofficial all-time track record for the full Grand Prix Circuit is 1:01.380, set by Alain Prost in a Renault RE30B, during first qualifying for the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix. The outright unofficial all-time track record for the Short Circuit is 0:58.790 seconds, set by Niki Lauda in a Ferrari 312B3, during qualifying for the 1974 French Grand Prix. As of September 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Circuit de Dijon-Prenois are listed as:
| Category | Time | Driver | Vehicle | Event |
| Grand Prix Circuit: 3.801 km (1976–present) ||||||
| BOSS GP/F1 | 1:02.985 | Ingo Gerstl | Toro Rosso STR1 | 2015 BOSS GP Dijon Motors Cup |
| Group C | 1:08.973 | Jean-Louis Schlesser | Mercedes-Benz C11 | 1990 480 km of Dijon |
| F3000 | 1:10.430 | Érik Comas | Lola T89/50 | 1989 Dijon F3000 round |
| GT1 (Prototype) | 1:10.861 | Bernd Schneider | Mercedes-Benz CLK LM | 1998 FIA GT Dijon 500km |
| Formula Three | 1:11.067 | Jules Bianchi | Dallara F308 | 2009 Dijon F3 Euro Series round |
| Sports prototype | 1:11.527 | Charlie Robertson | Ginetta G57 P2 | 2017 Dijon 4 Hours |
| LMP900 | 1:11.614 | Jan Lammers | Dome S101 | 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship Dijon |
| DTM | 1:11.644 | Paul di Resta | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2009 | 2009 Dijon DTM round |
| LMP3 | 1:11.951 | Alessandro Ghiretti | Ligier JS P3 | 2020 Dijon Ultimate Cup round |
| GT1 (GTS) | 1:15.119 | Jaroslav Janiš | Saleen S7-R | 2006 FIA GT Dijon 500km |
| Group C2 | 1:15.324 | Fermín Vélez | Spice SE89C | 1989 480 km of Dijon |
| IMSA GTP | 1:15.327 | David Kennedy | Mazda 767B | 1989 480 km of Dijon |
| Formula Two | 1:15.523 | Richard Evans | March 742 | 2017 Dijon Motors Cup |
| Formula Renault 2.0 | 1:15.844 | Daniel Ricciardo | Tatuus FR2000 | 2008 Dijon Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup round |
| LMP675 | 1:15.956 | Fabio Mancini | Lucchini SR2001 | 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship Dijon |
| GT3 | 1:16.672 | Emmanuel Collard | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 2021 Dijon Ultimate Cup round |
| Formula 4 | 1:17.285 | Taito Kato | Mygale M21-F4 | 2024 Dijon French F4 round |
| Group 6 | 1:17.400 | Arturo Merzario | Alfa Romeo T33SC/12 | 1977 Dijon 500 km |
| Porsche Carrera Cup | 1:18.010 | Alessandro Ghiretti | Porsche 911 (992) GT3 Cup | 2024 Dijon Porsche Carrera Cup France round |
| Sports 2000 | 1:18.050 | Doug Hart | March 75S | 2011 Martini Trophy |
| GT2 (GTS) | 1:18.390 | Olivier Beretta | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 1998 FIA GT Dijon 500km |
| Formula Palmer Audi | 1:18.450 | Jon Barnes | Formula Palmer Audi car | 2006 Dijon Formula Palmer Audi round |
| SRO GT2 | 1:18.575 | Pierre Kaffer | Audi R8 LMS GT2 | 2023 Dijon GT2 European Series round |
| Sports prototype | 1:18.631 | Martin O'Connell | Chevron B19 | 2011 Martini Trophy |
| GT2 | 1:20.189 | Jaime Melo | Ferrari F430 GTC | 2006 FIA GT Dijon 500km |
| Group 5 | 1:21.160 | Edgar Dören [de] | Porsche 935 K3 | 1980 Dijon 1000 km |
| FIA GT Group 2 | 1:22.666 | Bas Leinders | Gillet Vertigo Streiff | 2006 FIA GT Dijon 500km |
| GT4 | 1:22.667 | Simon Gachet | BMW M4 GT4 Gen II | 2024 Dijon FFSA GT round |
| TCR Touring Car | 1:22.916 | Sébastien Thome | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) | 2024 Dijon TC France round |
| GT1 | 1:23.240 | Jean-Claude Basso [de] | Venturi 600 LM | 1996 2 Hours of Dijon |
| Silhouette racing car | 1:23.515 | Vincent Radermecker | SEAT Toledo Silhouette | 2002 Dijon French Supertouring round |
| Stock car racing | 1:23.958 | Ander Vilariño | Chevrolet SS NASCAR | 2013 Dijon NASCAR Whelen Euro Series round |
| Alpine Elf Europa Cup | 1:24.939 | Léo Jousset | Alpine A110 Cup | 2023 Dijon Alpine Elf Europa Cup round |
| Group A | 1:27.400 | Klaus Niedzwiedz | Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth | 1988 Dijon ETCC round |
| Renault Clio Cup | 1:30.551 | Nicolas Milan | Renault Clio R.S. IV | 2018 Dijon Renault Clio Cup France round |
| Short Circuit: 3.289 km (1972–present) ||||||
| Formula One | 1:00.000 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell 007 | 1974 French Grand Prix |
| Group 5 sports prototype | 1:00.600 | François Cevert | Matra-Simca MS670 | 1973 Dijon 1000 km |
| Group 6 | 1:01.180 | Jochen Mass | Porsche 936 | 1976 Dijon 500 km |
| Sports 2000 | 1:02.600 | Arturo Merzario | Abarth-Osella 2000 Sport SE-021 | 1972 Dijon European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship round |
| Group 5 special production | 1:06.840 | Jacky Ickx | Porsche 935 | 1976 6 Hours of Dijon |
| Group 4 | 1:17.100 | Gérard Larrousse | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 1974 Dijon GT race |
| Formula Three | 1:18.650 | Pierre Petit | Ralt RT3 | 1982 Dijon French F3 round |