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54-533: Automotodróm Slovakia Ring is a 5.935 km (3.688 mi) motor racing circuit in Orechová Potôň , Dunajská Streda District in Slovakia, approximately 30 km (19 mi) away from Bratislava Airport . It was built between 2008 and 2009. New Zealand race car driver Matt Halliday suggested that the rear engine Porsches struggled with Slovakia Ring's long radius corners with much less front aerodynamics than

108-567: A Honda Civic , and Tom Coronel the second race in BMW 320 TC . The race was featured again as the fourth round of the 2014 season , which took place on 11 May 2014. The winning driver of the first race was Sébastien Loeb in a Citroën C-Elysée , while the second race was cancelled due to heavy rain. In 2015, the race was pushed forward to 21 June, and the two winners were Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb , both in Citroën C-Elysée . In 2016, it

162-554: A lack of resources and the late arrival of the JH25 left Tarquini and Dalmas again struggling to get past prequalifying, Tarquini only making it into four races (finishing just once - 13th in the Hungarian Grand Prix ), his early 1989 form long forgotten by most. The team were under even more severe financial constraints for 1991, though they would initially at least avoid prequalifying. Tarquini made it through into three races, finishing

216-489: A poll conducted by Motor Sport magazine in 2005, Tarquini was voted the 11th greatest touring car driver ever. † As Tarquini was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) † — Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Did not finish, but

270-486: A rather close finish. After 24 hours there was just a 20.9 seconds lead for ARC Bratislava by Ferry Monster Autosport. after 2016 Tour Car Endurance Series has not showed back to the event due to low car count. Between 15 and 16 July 2017, the track will host the fourth round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship . The track was featured again in the 2018 season, between 14 and 15 July, as

324-427: A short course and a longer course which uses part of the shorter one, usually the main straight, such as Brands Hatch . The Le Mans road race venue is centred on a smaller permanent circuit within its complex. Surfaces include: Race tracks are primarily designed for road racing competition through speed, featuring defined start-finish lines or posts, and sometimes even a series of defined timing points that divide

378-499: A support series of the FIA World Touring Car Cup . The track was featured again in the 2022 season, between 2 and 3 July for the 3rd round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship . From 2022, the track has been part of this championship. Klaas Zwart  [ de ] held the unofficial lap record with a lap of 1:39.002 with Jaguar R5 F1 in 2019. As of September 2024, the fastest official race lap records at

432-580: A total of 40 failures to qualify), mainly because he was a regular in the pre-qualifying era, usually in cars which were so slow as to struggle to qualify. Despite this record many consider him to have been a talented driver stuck with uncompetitive machinery (much like contemporary Roberto Moreno ). With the creation of D2 series in 1993, Tarquini passed to Alfa Romeo becoming their top driver and finishing third in Italian Superturismo behind Ravaglia and Giovanardi. The following year Tarquini moved to

486-800: A worthy 8th in the season opener at Phoenix but financial constraints meant after Monaco the AGS didn't make the grid again. Late in the season the cash-strapped team sold his contract to Gabriele Rumi 's ambitious Fondmetal outfit in time for the Spanish Grand Prix , soon forming a good relationship with the team. He was signed for a full year in 1992, showing some good speed in the neat but underdeveloped Fondmetal GR02 chassis. However, his car only finished once (14th at Silverstone , hindered by clutch problems) and despite some fine qualifying efforts (including outqualifying Ivan Capelli 's Ferrari in Belgium )

540-558: Is Nardò where high-speed manufacturer testing often takes place, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . Some oval tracks are variations on an oval shape, for practical reasons or to introduce varying difficulties such as Talladega (a tri-oval). Most race tracks have meandering circuits with many curves, chicanes and changes in height, to allow for a challenge in skill to the competitors, notably motocross and touring car racing – these tend to predominate throughout most of

594-683: Is an Italian former racing driver . He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 3 May 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He has subsequently raced successfully in Touring Cars, winning the BTCC in 1994, the ETCC in 2003 the WTCC in 2009 and the WTCR in 2018. On 22 November 2009 he won the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship title at

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648-548: The AGS team from the second round of the series. There he finished a fine 8th on the road, being promoted to 6th after the exclusion of Thierry Boutsen and Alex Caffi . He was then one of the stars of the weekend in Monaco , threatening to qualify in the top 6 before ending up 13th on the grid. In the race he advanced to a strong 4th before being sidelined by an electrical problem. At the following Mexican Grand Prix he finished 6th, though

702-744: The British Touring Car Championship , winning the title at his first attempt in an Alfa Romeo featuring controversial aerodynamic enhancements. In 1995 Alfa Corse decided to move him back to Italian Superturismo Championship but after 2 victories, 4 third place and 6 DNF, Tarquini left the series and joined to Prodrive to help Alfa Romeo to achieve better results in BTCC. In 1996 Tarquini raced in Class 1 Touring Cars with Alfa Romeo in ITC , where he achieved best results of 1 victory and 1 second place. With

756-575: The Larrousse cars of Michele Alboreto and Philippe Alliot , Roberto Moreno 's Coloni, the Osellas of Nicola Larini and Piercarlo Ghinzani and the Onyx cars of Stefan Johansson and Bertrand Gachot among others with only the four fastest going through both Tarquini and new teammate Yannick Dalmas struggled and Tarquini would not qualify again that year. AGS attempted to move to larger premises for 1990 but

810-723: The Middle Ages , and records exist of a public racecourse being opened at Newmarket , in London, in 1174. In 1780, the Earl of Derby created a horse-racing course on his estate at Epsom; the English Derby continues to be held there today. Racecourses in the British Isles are based on grass, known as turf tracks. In the United States, the race tracks are soil. With the advent of the automobile in

864-746: The Monaco and Singapore Grands Prix in Formula One . Some evidence remains of racetracks being developed in several ancient civilizations. The most developed ancient race tracks were the hippodromes of the Ancient Greeks and the circuses ( circi ) of the Roman Empire . Both of these structures were designed for horse and chariot racing. The stadium of the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome could hold 200,000 spectators. Racing facilities existed during

918-692: The Monaco GP , and the Circuit de la Sarthe circuit in Le Mans , France. These are not permanent facilities built for racing (although parts of the Circuit de la Sarthe are purpose-built, and closed to the public). After World War II , many wartime airfields, particularly in Great Britain, were left without further use. This coincided with a post-war boom in motorsport, and many airfields were converted to race tracks, where

972-458: The 1920s, many of the races on the AAA Championship circuit were run on such board tracks. Modern racetracks are designed with spectator safety being paramount, following incidents of spectator and track marshals fatalities. These often involve run-off areas, barriers, and high fencing. Racetracks are used for: Some racetracks offer little in the way of permanent infrastructure other than

1026-402: The AGS was less competitive and the results of others meant Tarquini's entry (exempt for the first half of the season thanks to Streiff's efforts in 1988) would have to prequalify for the second half of the season. The expanding entry list meant prequalifying was very different from 1988, consisting of an hour-long free-for-all session on Friday morning between the less successful cars. Featuring

1080-503: The Argentina race in the 2012 World Touring Car Championship calendar. The event took place on 29 April 2012, with Gabriele Tarquini winning the first race in a SEAT León and Robert Huff the second race in a Chevrolet Cruze . It also hosted the Race of Slovakia in the following 2013 season calendar. The event took place on 28 April 2013, with Gabriele Tarquini winning the first race in

1134-593: The Automotodróm Slovakia Ring are listed as: Race track A racetrack is a permanent facility or building. Racecourse is an alternate term for a horse racing track, found in countries such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Race tracks built for bicycles are known as velodromes . Circuit is a common alternate term for race track, given

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1188-507: The SUNRED 1.6T for Brno onwards. He finished the season 5th in the standings with just one win in a year dominated by the Chevrolet RML team. In January 2012 it was confirmed that Tarquini would drive for Lukoil Racing in a SEAT León powered by the new SEAT Sport turbocharged engine. His teammate will once again be Aleksei Dudukalo . He started from pole position at the first race of

1242-537: The age of 47 years and 266 days. This made him the oldest ever world champion in an FIA series, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio 's record of being FIA Formula One World Drivers' Champion at the age of 46 years and 41 days in 1957. Tarquini backed up this record by winning the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup at the age of 56 years and 259 days. Tarquini began karting in 1976. By 1985 he was driving in Formula 3000 , spending three seasons with underfunded outfits. His best result

1296-399: The circuit configuration of most race tracks, allowing races to occur over several laps. Some race tracks may also be known as speedways , or raceways . A race course , as opposed to a racecourse , is a nonpermanent track for sports, particularly road running , water sports , road racing , or rallying . Many sports usually held on race tracks also can occur on temporary tracks, such as

1350-552: The circuit layout usually combined parts of the runways and the surrounding perimeter taxiways. The famous British track at Silverstone is a former Class A airfield , as are Castle Combe and Goodwood . The long runways were perfect for drag strips such as at Santa Pod Raceway . This type of track also appears on the popular motoring show Top Gear , which is filmed at Dunsfold Aerodrome , in Surrey, United kingdom Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962)

1404-518: The end of D1 Class, Tarquini left Alfa Romeo and signed a 5 year contract with Honda where he raced in BTCC again with Prodrive. The first season with Honda saw him finishing 6th in the general standings with 1 victory, 1 second and 3 third places. In 1998 and 1999 Tarquini raced in Germany with JAS Motorsport in STW Cup where he got 2 victories and several podium. After 2 years in Germany, Tarquini raced for

1458-612: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, race tracks were designed to suit the nature of powered machines. The earliest tracks were modified horse-racing courses. Racing automobiles in such facilities began in September 1896, at Narragansett Park in Cranston, Rhode Island . The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was opened in August 1909. Beginning in the early 1900s, motorcycle races were run on high, banked, wooden race tracks called board tracks . During

1512-462: The new FIA World Touring Car Cup regulations and format, the race was added to the calendar on 7 June, once again as a replacement of the Argentina race. It took place on 13–15 July and the winners were Pepe Oriola in a Cupra León in the first race, and Gabriele Tarquini and Norbert Michelisz in the second and third races, both in Hyundai i30 . In 2019, the race was featured as the third round of

1566-448: The other cars. A major feature of the circuit is a prominent hump on one of the straights that causes some cars to fly with the front wheels off the ground. Only one car has flipped over entirely and crashed after going over the hump at a high speed. Prior to start of the 2014 season the hump between turns 2 and 3 was rebuilt. On 21 August 2011, the track hosted the fifth round of the 2011 FIA GT3 European Championship season . Winners of

1620-415: The race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) As Tarquini

1674-430: The race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of

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1728-579: The racing calendar, in the weekend 10–12 May. All three races took place on Sunday, as the event ran together with the FIM Endurance World Championship support series. The winners were Frédéric Vervisch ( Audi RS3 ), Néstor Girolami ( Honda Civic ), and the Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua ( Alfa Romeo Giulietta ). On 14 and 15 September 2013, the track hosted the seventh round of the 2013 ADAC GT Masters season . Between 8 and 10 August 2014,

1782-426: The same track, or incorporating many tracks in one venue. Commonly, running tracks are incorporated within general use or soccer stadiums, either permanently visible or covered by stands or pitches. Many horse and motorsport tracks are configurable, allowing different routes or sections. Some venues contain smaller tracks inside larger ones, with access tunnels and bridges for spectators. Some racetracks incorporate

1836-577: The season (Coloni, Rial, Dallara and EuroBrun) would be eliminated from proceedings after the Friday morning session regardless of their overall position - Tarquini failed to prequalify several times despite often being faster than some of the exempt entrants (such as the Osella and Zakspeed cars). He drew good notices for his performance overall, however - his 8th place at the Canadian Grand Prix would stand as

1890-519: The season in Italy but finished third behind Yvan Muller and Rob Huff in race one, he retired from the second race. Contact with Huff in race two in Portugal left him 19th with damage although no penalties were applied. In July 2012, it was confirmed that Tarquini would drive a factory supported Honda Civic run by the returning JAS Motorsport team, alongside Tiago Monteiro in 2013. He qualified fifth for

1944-607: The season opening Race of Italy but was given a five–place grid penalty for race one having tapped René Münnich into a spin during qualifying. He finished race one in fourth and race two in third. He gave the Honda team its first pole position in the WTCC at the Race of Morocco . He finished second in race one but retired from race two when he lost control over one of the kerbs and collided with Alex MacDowall . In his last season of WTCC he moved to

1998-608: The season to finish runner-up to ex-SEAT Sport teammate Yvan Muller in the drivers standings. This was after four victories, plus an inherited victory in Belgium from Jordi Gene after Gene's disqualification. His crash in Japan race two ended his title hopes. In 2011, Tarquini drove for the Lukoil - SUNRED team alongside Aleksei Dudukalo . He started the year with the SEAT 2.0 TDI engine but switched to

2052-541: The standings in 2007, once again winning just one race. 2008 saw considerable improvement for Tarquini as he finished runner-up in the championship to Yvan Muller winning three races. His biggest success of his career came in 2009 when he won the WTCC championship at the last race of the year in Macau. SEAT withdrew from the WTCC for 2010, but provided funding to introduce the new semi-works SR-Sport team, with whom Tarquini attempted to retain his crown. He scored five wins during

2106-517: The team struggled to find funding, folding after the following Italian Grand Prix and leaving Tarquini out of a drive. Despite being firmly involved in his successful touring cars career and 33 years old, Tarquini was signed up by Tyrrell for the 1995 season as their test driver thanks to the presence of Fondmetal as a sponsor. He replaced Ukyo Katayama for the European round as the Japanese driver

2160-572: The team's best ever result and his eight starts the most ever garnered by a Coloni driver. Tarquini signed to drive for the FIRST team (again a former employer in F3000) and drove for them at the Formula One Indoor Trophy , but when their car failed crash tests he started 1989 without a ride. Following Philippe Streiff 's career-ending pre-season testing crash, Tarquini joined Joachim Winkelhock in

2214-484: The team's joy was tempered after Williams and Scuderia Italia successfully appealed against their Imola disqualification and Tarquini lost his point. More bad luck followed at Phoenix where Tarquini was holding 6th despite technical problems before Boutsen passed him on the final lap. At the wet Canadian Grand Prix Tarquini again ran well until being shoved off the track by René Arnoux (who eventually went on to finish 5th). The series then moved to faster tracks where

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2268-451: The third time in BTCC. In his last season with Honda he raced in Euro STC where he finished third behind the 2 Alfa Romeo of Giovanardi and Larini although he got 9 victories. After spending 2002 without a car, in 2003 he came back to Alfa Romeo where he raced in the ETCC and he won the title at the first attempt as it happened 9 years before in BTCC. In 2004 for the last season of ETCC he

2322-622: The track hosted the fifth round of the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season . Between 4 and 6 July 2014, the Slovakia Ring hosted the fifth weekend of Acceleration 2014 , a series of festivals combining top class car and bike racing with music and entertainment. The first ever 24 hours automobile sport event at the Slovakia Ring was the Hankook 24H SLOVAKIA RING on 15 and 16 June 2016, as part of the Touring Car Endurance Series . The race had

2376-574: The track into time sectors. A racetrack for cars (i.e. a car track) is a closed circuit, instead of a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads . Race tracks can host individual or team sports. Racetracks can feature rolling starts , or fixed starts, with associated equipment (starting blocks, cages, wheel traps etc.) They invariably feature a pit lane , and usually timing equipment. Some car tracks are of an oval shape, and can be banked, which allows almost universal spectator views or high speed racing (cycling, stock cars). A famous one

2430-501: The track; others incorporate spectator facilities such as grandstands , hospitality or facilities for competitors, such as pit lanes and garages, paddocks and stables. Several racetracks are incorporated into larger venues or complexes, incorporating golf courses, museums, hotels, and conference centres. Some racetracks are small enough to be contained indoors, for sports such as motocross , track cycling , and athletics . Many racetracks are multi-use, allowing different types of sport on

2484-485: The two 29-lap races were Dominik Baumann and Brice Bosi in the first, and Philippe Giauque and Mike Parisy in the second, both teams driving in Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG . Many cars flew on the second hill. On 10 June 2012, the track hosted the fourth round of the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship season . The winners of the qualifying race were Filip Salaquarda and Toni Vilander in a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 , and

2538-420: The uncompetitive Lada team where he was able to score 2 victories. After spending the entire 2017 to develop the new Hyundai I30N, Tarquini raced in the new WTCR after the fusion between WTCC and International TCR. The 2018 saw him again protagonist and after an incredible battle with Muller he won his fourth title after BTCC, ETCC and WTCC. He announced his retirement from racing at the 2021 Race of Italy . In

2592-511: The winners of the championship race were Michael Bartels and Yelmer Buurman in a BMW Z4 GT3 . On 18 August 2013, the track hosted the fourth round of the 2013 FIA GT Series season . On 24 August 2014, the track hosted the fourth round of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series season , the successor of the FIA GT Series . On 6 February 2012, it was announced that Slovakia Ring will replace

2646-688: The world, but especially in Europe. Flatter meandering motorsport courses are sometimes called 'road circuits', originating in the fact that the earliest road racing circuits were simply closed-off public roads. Some car racetracks are specifically configured in a long straight, namely drag racing . True road circuits are still in use, e.g. the Australian GP has been run in Adelaide and continues to be in Melbourne on regular city streets. The most famous of these are

2700-461: Was 2nd at Imola in 1987, by which time he had already made his Grand Prix debut in a one-off drive for Osella at the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix . He joined Coloni 's Grand Prix team for 1988, having driven for them in F3000 in 1986. The season saw a prequalifying system being put in place as there were 31 entrants for a maximum 30 places in qualifying proper. As such, the slowest of the new entrants for

2754-545: Was again the best of Alfa's driver and he finished third behind the 2 BMW of Priaulx and Dirk Muller. He remained with Alfa Romeo as the ETCC became the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in 2005. He finished seventh overall, with two victories. In November 2005, Tarquini was confirmed as one of six drivers at SEAT Sport for 2006. He finished fifth in the championship that year with one win. He finished 8th in

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2808-545: Was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded 1996 onwards all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point given 1998 onwards) ‡ Retired before second start of race ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † — Did not finish

2862-479: Was injured from his start line accident in the previous race . Out of practice with single seaters (having done very little actual testing due to the team's financial constraints) he finished 14th, six laps down on winner Michael Schumacher . It was his final Grand Prix, and to date, the last occasion a reigning BTCC Champion has competed in Formula One. Tarquini failed to pre-qualify on a record 25 occasions (out of

2916-424: Was pulled back to 17 April and the format of the championship was slightly changed, with an opening race with the top grid positions inversed and a second main race with the grid from the qualifying session. The winners were Tiago Monteiro in a Honda Civic in the opening race, and José María López in a Citroën C-Elysée in the main race. In 2017, the race was not featured in the series calendar. In 2018, with

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