Automotodrom Grobnik

Overview

Automotodrom Grobnik, branded as Grobnik Circuit, is a permanent road circuit in the municipality of Čavle, about 10 kilometres north of Rijeka in Croatia. It sits in the hills above the city, next to the Grobnik airfield and alongside the A6 motorway between Rijeka and Zagreb. The circuit is owned by Automotodrom Grobnik d.o.o. and meets both FIA and FIM standards, holding FIA Grade 4. The track is used almost every day for training, testing, demonstrations and events, and it runs open days for amateur riders and drivers alongside track days run by outside organisers. The circuit hosts rounds of TCR Eastern Europe, the FIA Central European Zone, the Alpe Adria International Motorcycle Championship and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Central Europe.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

Measured on the racing line, the lap is 4,168.75 metres long and has 18 corners, eight right-handers and ten left-handers. The track is 10.6 metres wide, widening to 15 metres on the starting straight. The longitudinal profile rises by up to about 5.3 percent and falls by up to about 2.2 percent. The surface was relaid in 2018 for the first time since the track was built, and the same works added 2,500 metres of new kerbs, replaced the guardrails and widened and straightened the run-off zones. The circuit sets its own limits on the field size: 48 riders in road racing practice and 40 in a race, 60 and 56 in endurance, and 29 and 24 sidecar crews, while car events may run 40 cars in free practice and 40 in a race. The outright race lap record of 1:16.388 was set by Josef Neuhauser in a Minardi M190 during the Interserie in 2000.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

The pit lane serves ten large and twelve small boxes, and the paddock covers 35,000 square metres. The complex has a medical centre, spectator stands, a technical registration area, two restaurants and a tyre service. Services offered on track include medical cover, timekeeping with 130 transponders, towing, a fire squad, motorcycle service, a motorcycle riding school and an official photographer. The circuit's event regulations require at least 15 track marshals and one ambulance for free practice, two for races.

History

Racing in the Kvarner region dates back to the early twentieth century, and for three decades motorcycle races ran on the Preluk road course, which first counted towards the world championship in 1969. When road Grand Prix racing ended after 1977, a purpose-built circuit was laid out at Grobnik. Ground was broken in June 1977 and the track opened on 14 September 1978. Three days later it hosted the final round of the 1978 world championship, with wins for Ricardo Tormo, Ángel Nieto and Gregg Hansford, who took both the 250 cc and 350 cc races. The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix stayed at Grobnik until 1990, by which time it had held 13 world championship rounds, the last on 17 June 1990. The war in Croatia then halted international racing. The FIM Sidecar World Championship returned in 2005. A full renovation began on 4 December 2017 and the last new asphalt was laid on 9 April 2018. In 2020 the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series added Grobnik as a late replacement for its cancelled round at Most, and it raced there until 2022.