Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed - Circuito Internacional Corto

Overview

Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed stands beside the federal road from Puebla to Tehuacán in Amozoc, east of the city of Puebla. It is one of the principal racing venues in Mexico, with room for about 42,500 spectators, and its FIA homologated courses host national championships such as NASCAR México, F4 NACAM and TCR México. The 24 Hours of Mexico has been run there every year since 2006, and in early 2026 a 500 km endurance race of 149 laps opened the TCR México and F4 NACAM seasons.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

The facility combines a paperclip oval of 2,060 m, with two straights of about 650 m joined by curves of 118 m radius, and a road course that uses the oval's straights and banked ends together with a twisting infield. The international course measures 3,363 m and was the layout used by the World Touring Car Championship, while the international short course of 2,930 m cuts out part of the infield. The road course leaves the main straight for a sequence of tight corners in the infield, rejoins the oval, threads two hairpin sections in the middle of the site and finishes with a loop inside the far end of the oval before the banked turn onto the main straight. A kart circuit, an off-road course and a drag strip complete the venue.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

Grandstands line both long straights. The pit lane runs on the inside of the main straight behind a wall, with a timing bridge next to the race control tower, and the paddock buildings sit in the infield. Besides race meetings the circuit runs its own open-track events, with car track days, karting, motorcycle days, drag racing, off-road timed events and weekly training sessions on Wednesdays, and it rents the track for private and corporate events. The championships it lists include the Super Copa, the México Endurance Challenge and the México Racing Cup.

History

The circuit opened in 1985 as a road course of 1.42 km built by Promotodo, organiser of the Mexican Formula 2 and Marlboro Cup series, and it was later sold to the Abed family. It hosted Mexican Formula 3 and Formula 3000 races before the road course was bulldozed in 1995 to make way for the oval. A full redevelopment followed in 2005 with an infield road course, new pits and paddock, grandstands and access roads, and in June 2005 the venue held its first international event, a round of the World Touring Car Championship. For 2006 a new loop reinstated the oval's banked ends, but the fresh surface broke up during the WTCC weekend and the series dropped Puebla for 2007. It returned in 2008 and 2009, and a 2010 round was cancelled over security concerns. On 14 June 2009 Carlos Pardo died after hitting the end of a wall on the oval's back straight during a NASCAR Mexico race and was declared the winner. In June 2021 Formula E held a double-header there in place of Mexico City, whose circuit was serving as a COVID-19 hospital, with wins for Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara.