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01.07.2009
History and background - Porto.The "Circuito da Boavista" draws on a long tradition, which includes hosting Formula One World Championship races on two occasions. In 1958 Stirling Moss was victorious, while Australia's Jack Brabham won two years later. The first automobile race on this street circuit was staged in 1931. |
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| The Portuguese spectators were presented with a ‘first’ in 1958 when Maria Teresa di Fillipis became the first woman to start a Formula One race. In the event, though, she retired from the race after six laps.
The Formula One races were staged on a 7.5-kilometre circuit. In the meantime the track has undergone considerable change. The drivers from the BMW national teams will face eleven laps on the 4.720-kilometre circuit. In addition to changes to the classic track, the infrastructure has been modified. Changes include three new stands, giving a capacity of 24,000 seats. Last year, Estoril was the venue for the Portuguese legs of the WTCC. Andy Priaulx was the only driver to make it onto the podium with third place in the second race. Porto’s WTCC debut in 2007 saw Priaulx and Jörg Müller score a one-two in the second race. On paper, the “Circuito da Boavista” seems more like a normal track than a street circuit. In this sense it resembles American street circuits. Different to Pau (FR), the Porto layout is flat, and drivers are faced with long straights and 90-degree corners. As a result, the average speed here is almost 20 km/h faster than on Pau’s “Circuit de Ville”. As is usually the case with street circuits, crash barriers lure the drivers into slipping up. Since the circuit made its WTCC debut in 2007, several modifications have been made for this race, particularly to the chicane before the start/finish straight. Porto, previously known as Oporto, is situated on the mouth of the Douro River, and has a population of 330,000, making it the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon. The wider area of this coastal city has approximately 1.3 million inhabitants. The historic part of the city, situated on the northern bank of the Douro was acclaimed as a World Cultural Site in 1996. Porto is known across the world for its alcoholic speciality: port wine. The grapes for this wine may only be harvested in the Douro Valley. The fermentation process takes approximately two years. |
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