Caterham Festival – Estoril
Schedule
Estoril Circuit – 2.599 miles
This event will be run in a similar way to the two year’s super successful ‘European Caterham Festivals’. There will be separate grids for the 420R’s and 310R’s and we will have European championship style racing.
Practice – Open Pit Lane – Thursday 21st November – TBC
Practice – 310R, 270R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 09:00 – 09:30
Practice – 420R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 09:40 – 10:10
Practice – 310R, 270R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 10:50 – 11:20
Practice – 420R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 11:30 – 12:00
Practice – 310R, 270R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 13:30 – 14:00
Practice – 420R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 14:10 – 14:40
Practice – 310R, 270R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 15:20 – 15:50
Practice – 420R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 16:00 – 16:30
Practice – 310R, 270R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 09:30 – 09:50
Practice – 420R – Friday 22nd November – Time – 10:30 – 10:50
Race 1 – 310R, 270R – Saturday 23rd November – Time – 11:30 – 11:50
Race 1 – 420R – Saturday 23rd November – Time – 12:30 – 12:50
Race 2 – 310R, 270R – Saturday 23rd November – Time – 14:00 – 14:20
Race 2 – 420R – Saturday 23rd November – Time – 15:30 – 15:50
Race 3 – 310R, 270R – Sunday 24th November – Time – 09:20 – 09:40
Race 3 – 420R – Sunday 24th November – Time – 10:40 – 11:00
Race 4 – 310R, 270R – Sunday 24th November – Time – 12:00 – 12:20
Race 4 – 420R – Sunday 24th November – Time – 15:50 – 16:10
Circuit times are subject to change without notice
ACCOMMODATION
Hotels:
We are pleased to be returning to the Grand Villa Italia in Cascais. This is the same hotel we have used for the past few years and it really is first rate.
The have setup a discount code for us which is ‘7RS‘ and the link to the booking page is here: Grand Villa Italia Booking Page
I have been informed that hotel rooms in Cascais are at a premium this year as there is a large conference in town that starts on the Monday after our event, so Sunday night availability is scarce all over town. So get those bookings in ASAP.
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
The Circuito do Estoril is nestled on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon. Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996.
Estoril has had a motor racing circuit dating back to the 1930s, with a 2.8 km (1.7 mi) street circuit used in 1937 for a local race. The current Estoril circuit was built and completed in 1972 on a rocky plateau near the village of Alcabideche, 9 km (5.6 mi) from Estoril, the town lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long (986 metre) start/finish straight.[3] Its original perimeter was 4.350 km (2.703 mi), and the maximum gradient is nearly 7%.
Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975 and 1978, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international motorsport returned in 1984.
Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including Niki Lauda winning the 1984 championship, his third and final, from McLaren teammate Alain Prost by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix; three-time world champion Ayrton Senna’s first F1 win in 1985; Nigel Mansell’s notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989; Riccardo Patrese being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger on the main straight in 1992; and Jacques Villeneuve overtaking Michael Schumacher around the outside of the final turn in 1996.
Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season, though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the FIA GT Championship, the DTM and the World Series by Renault. A new redesign of the parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to 4.182 km (2.599 mi) was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain FIM homologation.
On 3 September 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix, an event held annually. On 23 October 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever A1 Grand Prix racing season, with both races in the event being won by the French team. In the 1980s, the Rally de Portugal had a special stage at the circuit. The track hosted Super league Formula series events in 2008 and 2009.
In 2020, due to rescheduling of major international sport series due to COVID-19 pandemic, Estoril hosted the final race of 2020 Superbike World Championship (after hosting the series in 1988 and 1993) and the final race of 2019–20 FIM Endurance World Championship (after hosting the series in 1987 and 2000).