Circuito de Jerez · Profile

The Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto is a racing circuit in Jerez de la Frontera, in the Spanish province of Cádiz, next to the A-382 road. It opened on 8 December 1985. It has hosted the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix since 1987, except in 1988, when the Jerez round was run as the Expo 92 Grand Prix. The motorcycle layout is 4,423 metres long with 13 corners. The venue holds up to 125,000 spectators.

Origins and construction

The circuit was the idea of Pedro Pacheco, the mayor of Jerez. Work began in 1984 on a design by Sandro Rocci, and the engineer Manuel Medina Lara led the project. The track opened on 8 December 1985 with a round of the Spanish Touring Car Championship, before the works were fully finished. The first layout was 4,218 metres long and had 16 corners. The city council was originally the main shareholder. On 14 November 2008, the Andalusian regional government bought 33 per cent of the shares from the council for 17 million euros.

The Formula One years

Formula One reached Jerez barely four months after it opened. On 13 April 1986 the track staged the Spanish Grand Prix, the first held in the country since 1981. Ayrton Senna started from pole and won by 0.014 seconds after Nigel Mansell drew alongside him on the run to the line. The Spanish Grand Prix stayed at Jerez until 1990, then moved to Barcelona. In qualifying for that last race, Martin Donnelly had a serious crash. In 1994 a chicane, named the Senna curve, was built at that spot, and the circuit hosted the European Grand Prix that year.

Jerez staged the European Grand Prix again in 1997 as the final race of the season. Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve arrived with the title at stake, and the two collided during the race. Schumacher ended up in the gravel. Villeneuve brought his damaged Williams home in third and became world champion. Mika Häkkinen took his first Formula One win, ahead of David Coulthard. On 11 November 1997 the FIA removed Schumacher from the final championship standings for deliberately causing the collision. The circuit has never hosted another Formula One Grand Prix, although teams kept using it for winter testing until 2015.

Changes to the layout

In 1992 the back chicane was removed and replaced by a long sweeping corner, the Sito Pons curve. That change took the track from 4,218 to 4,423 metres and cut it to 13 corners. The pit buildings were rebuilt between 2001 and 2002, along with a new structure over the start line. In 2004 the pit exit lane was redesigned and the run-off areas at turns 9, 12 and 13 were improved. The whole track was resurfaced in 2005, and in 2008 the run-off areas at several corners were paved. The circuit's Motor Museum opened in 2013.

Motorcycle racing and Superbikes

Motorcycle racing has shaped the circuit's history more than any other discipline. The Spanish Grand Prix has been held at Jerez since 1987, with the exception of 1988, the year of the Expo 92 Grand Prix. The track also hosted rounds of the Endurance World Championship in 1986 and 1987. The Superbike World Championship first visited in 1990 and returned in 2013. Since then it has raced there from 2013 to 2017, from 2019 to 2021 and from 2023 to 2026.

Named corners and the tribute to Ángel Nieto

Several corners carry the names of Spanish riders. They are turn 5 (Sito Pons), turn 8 (Jorge Martínez Aspar), turn 9 (Ángel Nieto), turn 10 (Peluqui) and turn 11 (Àlex Crivillé). On 2 May 2013 it was announced that the final corner would be named after Jorge Lorenzo. On 3 May 2019, turn 6, previously known as Dry Sack, was renamed after Dani Pedrosa. Ángel Nieto died in 2017. On 3 May 2018 the track took the name Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto in his memory.

The 2020 double header

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rewrite of the 2020 calendar. The Spanish Grand Prix, originally set for 3 May, was moved to 19 July and became the first MotoGP race of the year. Fabio Quartararo won it, taking his first victory in the premier class. The organisers also agreed to stage a second event at the same track, and on 26 July 2020 Jerez hosted the first Andalusian motorcycle Grand Prix.