Misano · Profile

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli opened in August 1972 at Santa Monica-Cella, a hamlet of Misano Adriatico in the province of Rimini (Emilia-Romagna), a few kilometres from the Adriatic coast. It was known as Circuito Internazionale Santamonica until 2006 and as Misano World Circuit between 2007 and 2012, the year it took the name of rider Marco Simoncelli. It has hosted the San Marino Grand Prix of the motorcycle World Championship since 2007, and the Superbike World Championship first raced there in 1991.

Construction and early years

The project was drawn up in 1969 and building work began in 1970. The original layout measured 3,488 metres with 11 corners, run anticlockwise, and had small open-air pits. After testing on 4 August 1972, the track opened to racing that same summer. Italian Formula 3 raced at Misano in 1972 and 1973 and returned every year from 1978 to 2012, while the European Formula Two Championship visited in 1973 and from 1975 to 1984. In 1978 it staged a round of the World Sportscar Championship, and the motorcycle Endurance World Championship stopped there in 1977, 1978 and 1980.

Grand Prix racing in the 1980s

The motorcycle World Championship arrived in 1980 with the Italian Grand Prix, which Misano hosted again in 1982, 1984 and from 1989 to 1991, sharing the event with other Italian venues. Between 1985 and 1987 the circuit also staged the San Marino Grand Prix, a race named after the small neighbouring republic. In 1991 the Superbike World Championship held its first round at the Romagna track, which has featured on that series’ calendar in almost every season since.

The 1993 extension and Rainey’s crash

In 1993 the circuit was lengthened to about 4,060 metres and 12 corners, with two possible configurations, a short one and a long one. That year it hosted the Italian Grand Prix again. In the 500cc race, reigning champion Wayne Rainey crashed on the exit of the curvone and injured his spine; the accident ended his racing career. It was the World Championship’s last visit to Misano for fourteen years. World Superbike, on the other hand, returned in 1993 and raced there every season until 2012.

The 2006 rebuild and the return of Grand Prix racing

Between 2005 and 2007 the circuit underwent a major overhaul. In 2006 the direction of travel was reversed to clockwise, the track was widened to 14 metres and safety was upgraded. The new 4,180-metre, 16-corner layout was used for the first time in 2007, when the World Championship came back: the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix has been held at Misano since that year. In 2008 the length became 4,226 metres, with 10 right-handers and 6 left-handers. On 5 September 2010, during the Moto2 race of the San Marino Grand Prix, Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa was killed after falling and being struck by Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis. The track was resurfaced in 2015, together with its run-off areas, and again in 2020.

Marco Simoncelli’s name

Marco Simoncelli, born in Cattolica and raised in Coriano, close to the circuit, died on 23 October 2011 at the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix. In November 2011 the board of Santamonica S.p.A., the company that owns the track, agreed to the fans’ request to dedicate the circuit to him. The change of name was made official in June 2012, at the San Marino round of the Superbike World Championship, and since then the venue has been called Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Double headers, DTM and Formula E

Germany’s DTM raced at Misano in 2018 and 2019, and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship did so in 2018. In 2020, with the calendar reshaped by the covid-19 pandemic, the motorcycle World Championship held two consecutive Grands Prix at the circuit, San Marino and Emilia Romagna, a format repeated in 2021. World Superbike, absent in 2013 and 2020, returned in 2021. In April 2024 the circuit staged the first Misano E-Prix of Formula E, on a 3,381-metre, 14-corner layout, and in September of that year MotoGP again held two races there: the San Marino Grand Prix and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, run on 22 September 2024.