Magny-coursMagny-Cours is an FIA grade 1 racing circuit that has been host of the French F1 GP for many years.
Magny-Cours rose (almost literally) from nowhere, developing from a small national racing circuit in the French countryside to seemingly overnight becoming one of the world's premier facilities. Politics played their part in the transformation of the circuit into a Grand Prix host but also in its very foundation.
The idea for bringing racing to this central part of France came from a politician: Jean Bernigaud, the young mayor of Magny-Cours. Possibly the idea came to him following a trip to the French Grand Prix at Reims in 1954, where he saw that the public roads could be turned into a racing circuit.
In 1986 the regional government of Nièvre decided to invest in the circuit, buying it outright from Bernigaud. The fact that the region was the home province of President Mitterrand was perhaps a factor in the sale and of the desire for the area to wrest away the French Grand Prix from its long-time home at Paul Ricard.
In 1988 the Circuit Jean Behra was no more, ploughed under at great expense to fashion the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Included in the new facilities was a thriving industrial estate for racing companies, including units for the ORECA team and factories for Martini Cars and Ligier.
The new circuit opened in 1989, based loosely on the old but incorporating corners that were facsimiles of others from tracks around the world. The French Grand Prix duly arrived in 1991, Nigel Mansell taking the victory for Williams-Renault, ahead of home hero Alain Prost's Ferrari.
Minor modifications were made to the circuit by the time of the second grand prix, with the Esses after the Adelaide hairpin removed altogether and the apex of the hairpin moved back, creating a wider exit. Modifications were also made to the pit lane in 2001, when the exit was moved to the entry of the Estoril Curve, supposedly to provide a safer re-entry to the racing line; the effectiveness of this is debateable.
In 2003 the circuit was extended in a bid to improve safety at the final corner and boost overtaking opportunities for F1. A new complex at Lycée was added, while the Chateaux d'Eau corner was reprofiled.
