Autodrome de Montlhéry
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Autodrome de Montlhéry (established October 4, 1924) is an automobile racetrack, officially called L’autodrome de Linas Montlhéry, located between the towns of Linas and Montlhéry, outside Paris.
Industrialist Alexandre Lamblin hired René Jamin to design the 2548,24 metre oval shaped track for up to 1000 kg vehicles at 220 km per hour. It was initially called Autodrome parisien, and had especially high bankings. A road circuit was added in 1925.
The first race was held July 26, 1925 by The Automobile Club de France Grand Prix. It was a race in which Robert Benoist in a Delage won; Antonio Ascari died in a Alfa Romeo P2. It was also the location for the 1925 French Grand Prix, which revisited the track in 1927 and each year between 1931 and 1937.
In 1939 the track was sold to the government, deprived of maintenance, and again sold to Union technique de l’automobile et du cycle (UTAC) in December of 1946.
The «Coupes du Salon», «Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or» and the «1000 km» were arranged irregularly since then, as the track has had several high-speed problems.
Fatal accidents at Autodrome de Montlhéry include Benoît Nicolas Musy (1956), and the one in which Peter Lindner, Franco Patria and three flag marshalls died in 1964.
The last certification for racing was gained in 2001.
[edit] Further reading
- William Boddy, Montlhéry, the story of the Paris autodrome ISBN 1-84584-052-6
