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Monza Circuit

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Monza Circuit

The Monza Circuit, officially called the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italian for 'Monza National Racetrack'), is a 5.793 km (3.600 mi) race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Europe.[dubiousdiscuss] The circuit's biggest event is the Italian Grand Prix. With the exception of the 1980 running when the track was closed while undergoing refurbishment, the race has been hosted there since 1949. The circuit is also known as "the Temple of Speed" due to its long straights and high-speed corners.

Built in the Royal Villa of Monza park in a woodland setting, the site has three tracks – the 5.793 km (3.600 mi) Grand Prix track, the 2.405 km (1.494 mi) Junior track, and a 4.250 km (2.641 mi) high speed oval track with steep bankings, which was left unused for decades and had been decaying until it was restored in the 2010s. The major features of the main Grand Prix track include the Curva Grande, the Curva di Lesmo, the Variante Ascari and the Curva Alboreto (formerly Curva Parabolica). The high speed curve, Curva Grande, is located after the Variante del Rettifilo which is located at the end of the front straight or Rettifilo Tribune, and is usually taken flat out by Formula One cars.

In addition to Formula One, the circuit previously hosted the 1,000 km Monza, an endurance sports car race held as part of the World Sportscar Championship and the Le Mans Series. Monza also featured the unique Race of Two Worlds events, which attempted to run Formula One and USAC National Championship cars against each other. The racetrack also previously held rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing (Italian motorcycle Grand Prix), WTCC, TCR International Series, Superbike World Championship, Formula Renault 3.5 Series and Auto GP. Monza currently hosts rounds of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, International GT Open and Euroformula Open Championship, as well as various local championships such as the TCR Italian Series, Italian GT Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup Italia and Italian F4 Championship, as well as the Monza Rally Show. In 2020, Monza hosted the 2020 World Rally Championship final round, ACI Rally Monza, with the circuit hosting 10 of the 16 rally stages.

Monza also hosts cycling and running events, most notably the Monza 12h Cycling Marathon and Monza 21 Half Marathon. The venue was also selected by Nike scientists for the Breaking2 event, where three runners attempted to break the 2-hour barrier for the marathon. Eliud Kipchoge ran 2:00:25.

A very fast circuit, Monza has been the site of many fatal accidents, especially in the early years of the Formula One world championship, and has claimed the lives of 52 drivers and 35 spectators. Track modifications have continuously occurred, to improve spectator safety and reduce curve speeds, but it is still criticised by the current drivers for its lack of run-off areas, most notoriously at the chicane that cuts the Variante della Roggia.[obsolete source]

The first track was built from May to July 1922 by 3,500 workers, financed by the Milan Automobile Club – which created the Società Incremento Automobilismo e Sport (SIAS) (English: Society for the Promotion of Motor Racing and Sport) to run the track. The initial form was a 3.4 square kilometres (1.31 sq mi) site containing a paved 4.490 km (2.790 mi) oval and a 5.500 km (3.418 mi) road course which could be run as a combined 10.000 km (6.214 mi) course via their shared front straight.

The track was officially opened on 3 September 1922, with the maiden race the second Italian Grand Prix held on 10 September 1922. Monza's close proximity to Milan, the center of Italy's economy, the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of Europe's leading major cities made Monza a particularly convenient location for racing and other events.

In 1928, the most serious Italian racing accident to date ended in the death of driver Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators at that year's Italian Grand Prix. The accident led to further Grand Prix races' confinement to the high-speed loop until 1932. For these reasons the Italian Grand Prix was not held again until 1931; in the meantime the 1930 Monza Grand Prix was held on the high speed ring only, while in 1930 Vincenzo Florio introduced the Florio Circuit. The 1933 Italian Grand Prix was held on the original complete layout but it was marred by the deaths of three drivers (Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini and Stanisław Czaykowski) in the supporting Monza Grand Prix held on the same day - which became known as the "Black Day of Monza" - over the shorter oval circuit and the Grand Prix layout was changed: in 1934 a short circuit with two lanes of the straight line joined by a hairpin, Curva Sud of the banking (with a double chicane) driven in the opposite direction than usual, the "Florio link" and the Curva Sud (with a small chicane). This configuration was considered too slow and in 1935 Florio Circuit was used again, this time with four temporary chicanes and another one permanent (along the Curva Sud of the banking). In 1938 only the last one was used.

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