🇫🇷Circuit de Folembray

Circuit de Folembray is a 2.050 km, 9 m wide motor racing circuit in the Aisne department of northern France — around 15 minutes from Soissons and 120 km from both Paris and Lille. The circuit was inaugurated in 1975 with the first races taking place in 1976, and among those sampling the track for the first time that year was a young Alain Prost, who took his tenth Formula Renault victory of the season at Folembray. From 1977 the French national touring car championship made Folembray a fixture — with the likes of Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Alain Cudini, René Metge, Xavier Lapeyre and Charles Cevert appearing — alongside busy two-wheeled action including Honda Challenge, Kawasaki Cup and open 125/250/500/750cc and sidecar racing. Noise nuisance complaints from neighbouring villages led the French championships to leave for new venues, and the circuit closed in 1984. The local municipality purchased the property in 1988 and the track reopened in 1992, exclusively for testing and trackdays — a status it has maintained ever since. The lap features uphill blasts out of the start/finish to a hairpin at the highest point, before returning along sweeping sections and two right-handers back to the pits. Folembray is one of the most popular trackday venues for the Paris/north-east France region thanks to its proximity to the capital and its varied compact layout.