Circuit de Charade: a lost F1 track to love and fear

A mountain circuit around two extinct volcanoes with 50 corners and just one brief straight – surely not a grand prix venue? Yet that was Charade, scenic but challenging, clinging to the flanks of tree-clad hillsides in the Auvergne Volcanoes Park, and on four occasions between 1965 and, above, ’72, it hosted four French Grands Prix. It was narrow, dusty and the volcanic rock crumbled into black flints which littered the track edges and punished any driver who went off-line – and anyone following. Punctures were frequent, and in 1972 Austrian BRM driver Helmut Marko, following Emerson Fittipaldi, was blinded in one eye by a stone which pierced his visor. It was a circuit to love and to fear.

Opening in 1958 using existing roads round the north and eastern flanks plus a new link through the southern valley, the original circuit was five sinuous miles of relentless gearchanges, rising and plunging with no run-off, two hairpins, and a succession of similar corners that taxed a driver to the maximum. You had to invent your own overtaking chances. Racers adored it and it hosted F2, sports car and bike events before wresting the Grand Prix from Reims and Rouen in 1965. Jim Clark took that one, Jackie Stewart the ’69 and ’72 runnings and Jochen Rindt the ’70 event, having retired the previous year with double vision from the g-forces. It was a place for genius to shine. And film stars – in 1966 John Frankenheimer filmed scenes there for Grand Prix.

In that last 1972 GP Chris Amon flung his Matra round in 2min 53.9sec – an average of 104mph. Once again the Amon luck struck when a stone pierced his left front while leading, but his comeback to third after a 50sec pitstop took all the headlines.

But the facts were against Charade. Outshone by modern Paul Ricard, opened in ’71, there would be no more grands prix. Other racing continued but the circuit was chopped and remodelled for 1989, today hosting track days and classic events. Still a challenge, today’s track is shorter and safer. Luckily the excised section is public road where you can enjoy a flavour of past years. There’s nothing to see of the old pits and grandstand, but it’s worth visiting to recall the cacophony of downchanges that once echoed off these unforgiving slopes. GC 

Circuit de charade
First race 1958
Last race (full circuit) 1988
Lap record 2min 53.9sec, Chris Amon, Matra MS120D, 1972

Visit Motor Sport’s online database to see details on racing circuits past and present.

My top 3 tracks: 

Jackie Oliver

• Brands Hatch I had my first ever race at Brands Hatch in the early 1960s and had many successful results there. I always felt comfortable and confident when I raced at Brands.
  
• Spa Always enjoyed Spa because I like high-speed corners. If you stayed calm behind the wheel it was a great circuit with fast curves and corners. In 1971 I won the Spa 1000Kms with a Porsche 917.
• Le Mans The La Sarthe circuit also had the fast corners I like and I had success there including winning the 24 Hours in 1969 sharing John Wyer’s Ford GT40 with Jacky Ickx. RW