Snetterton Circuit | |
---|---|
Track Map | |
Location | Snetterton Circuit |
Course length | 3.123 km (1.952 mi) |
Turns | 7 |
Major events | British Touring Car Championship |
Race lap record | 1:05.925 (Lorenzo Turri, Redstone Team Honda with JAS Motorsport, 2000, BTCC) |
History[]
After its use as a USAF base, Snetterton was first used for motorcycle racing in 1953, organised by the Snetterton Combine, an association of clubs in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The track was used by both Team Lotus (Formula One) and Norfolk Racing Co (Le Mans) to test their racing cars. In the 1960s and early 1970s the circuit was 2.7 miles in length. Sear corner was 80 m further from Riches corner and led onto the "Norwich Straight" clearly visible in satellite maps and currently used by a Sunday market. The straight ended in a hairpin bend leading to Home Straight which joined the existing track at the Esses but is now a main access road for the circuit. Russell bend was added in the 1960s and named after Jim Russell who ran a racing drivers school at the circuit. Initially added to improve safety by slowing vehicles as they approached the pits, Russell bend was the scene of many accidents and was later altered to its present configuration.