The Masaryk circuit (
Czech: Masarykův okruh) or Masarykring, also referred to as the Brno Circuit, refers to two
motorsportrace tracks located in
Brno,
Czech Republic.
The original
street circuit was made up of public roads, and at its longest measured 29.194 km (18.140 mi). In 1949, events such as the
Czechoslovakian Grand Prix attracted top teams and drivers. The track is named after the first president of
Czechoslovakia,
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Racing on the old roads ended after 1986, when the new (current) circuit was opened. Since August 2023, the circuit is owned by Shakai.[2]
Original circuits
The original layout ran anti-clockwise on approximately 29.194 km (18.140 mi) of public roads in the outskirts of Brno, where the start/finish was located in
Bosonohy. The circuit went east past Kamenny and then went north past the Bohunice University Campus in Kejbaly, and went through the villages of Libusino, Kohouvotice and
Žebětín, out to Ostrovacice, through Veselka and back through a series of fast straights and kinks. From 1930 to 1937, the Masaryk circuit races attracted some of the top drivers and teams.[3]
On
September 25, 1949, the race was held for the first and the last time in Czechoslovakia as part of the
Grand Prix motor racing (later evolved into
Formula One).[4] The Czechoslovakian Grand Prix in 1949 was run clockwise on a shorter 17.800 km (11.060 mi) layout, which turned right at Veselka, bypassed Ostrovacice and entered Žebětín from the south rather than the west. In spite of a crowd in excess of 400,000 people, this would be the last Grand Prix for cars on the old circuit.
Beginning in 1950, the circuit played host to the
Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix, which became a world championship event from
1965. The circuit had been again reduced in length to 13.941 km (8.663 mi) in 1964, completely bypassing Žebětín and using a new through-road that went to Kohoutovice quicker. The
European Touring Car series visited in the 1980s, by which time the circuit had been finally reduced to 10.921 km (6.786 mi) in 1975, which exited Kohoutovice from the south and bypassed Libusino and Kejbaly and went right through Kamenny and rejoined the main road back to Bosonohy.
Modern circuit
The current 5.403 km (3.357 mi) permanent road racing circuit was opened on 18 July 1987.[5] It lies north of
Kyvalka, within the bounds of the circuit used in the 1930s, but not incorporating any of the public roads. The motorcycle race moved to the new circuit and regained its status as a round of the world championship. A
World Sports Car Championship race was held in 1988, and a round of the
A1 Grand Prix series in 2006. It was also the location of the
24H Epilog of Brno (previously
6 Hours of Brno).
The annual
Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Czech Republic was the circuit's most important event. It had been held here since 1950 and was the most famous motor race in the Czech Republic. The race was part of the
World Grand Prix in the years of 1965–1982, 1987–1991, 1993–2020.
The Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix was more of a promoter event than a profit-raiser itself.[6] Since tobacco advertising has been banned in 2007, it is common among the other MotoGP events. The Brno Circuit is historically one of the oldest circuits, on the place were also held the most motorcycle championships in history after the
TT Circuit Assen.[7]
Layout history
Brno Circuit Layout History
All layouts of the circuit between 1930 and today combined
Brno Circuit (1930–1937)
Brno Circuit (1949–1963)
Brno Circuit (1964–1974)
Brno Circuit (1975–1986)
Brno Circuit (1987–present)
Events
Current
April: Jarná Cena Brna
May: Histo-Cup Austria Brno Historic
July: Alpe Adria International Motorcycle Championship, Brno Revival Grand Prix
The unofficial lap record is 1.34:700 set by
Jérôme d'Ambrosio in
Renault R29Formula One car in 2010. As of September 2023, the fastest official race lap records at the modern layout of Brno Circuit are listed as:[8]