Angouleme

The streets of Angoulême that twist through the ramparts and narrow confines of the fortified Charente city was an unlikely setting for a Formule Libre race in 1939. From its start and pit area in front of Cathédrale St-Pierre, the 1.279kms track descends to the southeast before a return leg and tortuous ascent via three successive hairpin bends. The Grand Prix des Ramparts was held from 1947 to 1951 for voiturette and Formula 2. That Louis Chiron’s contemporary lap record, set in 1951, was less than 45mph illustrates the circuit’s limitations. The race returned on 5 June 1955 for sports and touring cars but the following week’s atrocities at Le Mans led to severe restrictions on street racing in France and ended that phase of the event. Angoulême now holds an annual historic festival on the third weekend of September with the circuit trace unchanged.