ZandvoortZandvoort has been the centre of the Dutch racing scene and its most important circuit (at least for four-wheeled racing) since the late 1940s; helping put the seaside resort town on the world stage.
Nestling among the sand dunes the town is named after, the circuit owes its origins to a far-sighted local official. Mayor H. van Alphen saw the potential for racing to transform the fortunes of the town after a street race in 1939 proved a success. He began planning a permanent facility, but the outbreak of war brought a halt to such aspirations. Nevertheless, Mayor Alphen continued to quietly pursue his ambitions, telling the Germans he would like to hold a parade for the winners of war, for which they built a new road – little did they realise this was a ruse to avoid locals being sent to Germany to work as prisoners of war. Instead, the road they crafted would eventually form the main straight of the new circuit!
Gradually, the circuit became a fully enclosed venue, as the public roads which formed part of its routes were closed off. There were no other significant changes in this period, save for the installation of a dividing pit lane wall in 1968 and the erection of Armco barriers around the perimeter in 1972.
In September 1987 a new foundation company was established to take over running of the circuit and, with the funds from the sale of the land, plans for the short course were finalised. This was to be an interim measure, until circuit funds had stabilised. Bulldozers finally moved in in mid-1989 and the new short course quickly emerged. A section of the old course from Hunzerug to Schievlak and the Marlboro Corner remained, locked away and dormant, while the rest of the old course was transformed into a golf course and holiday villas.
A new annual event, the non-championship Marlboro Masters of F3, was launched in 1990 and soon became the circuit's biggest draw, attracting all of the up-and-coming stars of European racing. This brought much needed funding and prestige back to the circuit and bit-by-bit the facilities were improved. Circuit finances had recovered to the extent that the long planned extension could become a reality. The first sign of change came in 1998 when new pit buildings emerged and by the following season the extensions had been completed.
The new course once again featured the demanding Slotemakerbocht and Schievlak corners, before turning sharp right into a new loop at the remnants of the former Marlboro Corner; in deference to modern sensibilities around tobacco sponsorship, this was now known as Mastersbocht. A straight then rejoined the short course ahead of the Nissan chicane – which was subsequently renamed the Audi-S as a result of a new sponsorship agreement. In time this changed again, the corner now being named after a former circuit director, Hans Ernst.
In May 2019, the return of the Dutch Grand Prix was announced, with Zandvoort being awarded a new deal for at least three years, returning Formula One to the track in 2020 after a 35 year break.
To bring the circuit up to F1 standards, a programme of works at key corners will be undertaken, to both improve safety, speed up certain sections and generally improve the flow of the lap, reducing some of the current stop-start nature. A new paddock and other undisclosed infrastructure developments were also announced.
