Chimay’s fading glory: tracing the history of Belgium’s other great racing circuit

While Chimay is not, strictly speaking, a ‘lost circuit’, this historic Belgian race track is but a shadow of its former self, the glory days long consigned to the sport’s archives. Like so many of the great circuits of Europe, Chimay is a victim of the constant need for greater safety and the pressure of calls for a greener, more peaceful environment.

The original Chimay, on the French border in Wallonia, was a round-the-houses circuit that both challenged the drivers and drew huge crowds in its heyday.

When we think of racing in Belgium our thoughts invariably turn to the majestic Spa-Francorchamps but Chimay rightfully has its place in the country’s motor sport history. The streets around the town offered a different kind of excitement and skill from the open spaces of the track in the Ardennes forest. For a time its future seemed assured.

It was a local racing enthusiast who had the idea for the track on roads near Chimay back in 1926. The original Grand Prix des Frontières used a course that took the cars all the way from Chimay to Salles on the Belgian border. The early events, for both bikes and cars, were well attended before the war, French hero Maurice Trintignant winning the last two races in his Bugatti in 1938 and ’39. After WWII the circuit was shortened and from 1973 onwards Chimay was exclusively for car racing, with Formula 3 the main attraction.

By 1978 there were increasing concerns about the safety of the ultra-fast circuit and the lack of proper protection for spectators. There was a spate of horrific accidents involving not only drivers but also those who came to watch, most notably when a bike racer crashed into the pitlane.