Trackday @ Dijon-Prenois

The circuit was conceived by rugby player and wrestler François Chambelland and developed with the aid of racing drivers Jean-Pierre Beltoise and François Cevert and motoring journalist José Rosinski. Construction began in December 1969 and the circuit opened on 26 May 1972, initially as a 3.289 km layout. After the F1 French Grand Prix returned to Dijon in 1974 only to suffer congestion problems, the circuit was extended and several corners reprofiled in 1976 — the new Parabolique extension added roughly 13 seconds to lap times before F1 returned in 1977. Dijon-Prenois is best remembered for the 1979 French Grand Prix, where Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) and René Arnoux (Renault) engaged in an unforgettable wheel-banging battle for second place across the final laps that remains one of the all-time great moments in Formula One history — Villeneuve eventually winning the duel. The circuit's key landmarks include the fast and sweeping Pouas corner, the tight technical Lycée hairpin, the long flowing Parabolique, the high-speed Combe and the legendary Courbe de Pouas. Dijon hosted the French Grand Prix five times between 1974 and 1984. Today it hosts French national car and motorcycle championships and a busy trackday programme, especially for the Burgundy and Swiss enthusiast scenes.