The Imola Circuit, officially called the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Italian for 'Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit'), is a 4.909 km (3.050 mi) motor racing circuit. It is located in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, 40-kilometre (25 mi) east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an anti-clockwise direction. Initially used for motorcycle racing, the first race at Imola was held in 1953. The circuit has an FIA Grade One licence. The circuit is named after the founder of the Ferrari car company, Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), and his son Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari (1932–1956). It was called the Autodromo di Imola from 1953 to 1956 and the Autodromo Dino Ferrari from 1957 to 1988.
Imola hosted non-championship Formula One races in the 1963 Imola Grand Prix and the 1979 Dino Ferrari Grand Prix. It was used for official championship races in the 1980 Italian Grand Prix and the San Marino Grand Prix every year from 1981 to 2006. Safety concerns with the circuit were raised throughout the 1980s and 1990s, particularly with the high speed Tamburello corner where numerous accidents occurred. This resulted in fatalities, including the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994. Chicanes were introduced at multiple points to reduce cornering speeds, which changed the nature of the course and caused problems with their high kerbs.
Formula One stopped racing at Imola in 2007, leading the circuit owners to undertake major reconstruction work to the track and pit lane facilities. After the work was completed, a contract was signed for Formula One to return to Imola from 2017, but legal disputes prevented this from occurring. It eventually returned in 2020, with the circuit hosting the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix since 2020. When Formula One visits Imola, it is considered one of the home circuits of the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, which is based in nearby Maranello.[2][3]
The circuit has hosted many other motor racing series, including the Superbike World Championship, Motocross World Championship, World Touring Car Championship and European Le Mans Series. Several road bicycle races have also used the circuit, including stages of the Giro d'Italia and UCI Road World Championships.
The track was originally called the Autodromo di Imola, and inaugurated as a semi-permanent venue in 1953. It had no chicanes, so the runs from Acque Minerali to Rivazza, and from Rivazza all the way to Tosa, through the pits and the Tamburello, were just straights with a few small bends; the circuit remained in this configuration until 1972.
In April 1953, the first motorcycle races took place, while the first car race took place in June 1954. In April 1963, the circuit hosted its first Formula One race, as a non-championship event, won by Jim Clark for Lotus. A further non-championship event took place at Imola in 1979, which was won by Niki Lauda for Brabham-Alfa Romeo.
In 1980 Imola officially debuted in the Formula One World Championship calendar by hosting the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. It was the first time since the 1948 Edition held at Parco del Valentino that the Autodromo Nazionale Monza did not host the Italian Grand Prix. The race was won by Nelson Piquet and it was such a success that a new race, the San Marino Grand Prix, was established especially for Imola in 1981 and remained on the calendar until 2006. The race was held over 60 laps of the 5.040 km (3.132 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 300 kilometres.
Imola has hosted a round of the Superbike World Championship from 2001 to 2006 and later since 2009. It hosts the final round of the FIM Motocross World Championship since 2018.
The World Touring Car Championship visited Imola in 2005 for the Race of San Marino, in 2008 for the Race of Europe, and in 2009 for the Race of Italy. The venue hosted a round of the International GT Open from 2009 to 2011 and also in 2021. The TCR International Series raced at Imola in 2016.
The 6 Hours of Imola was revived in 2011 and added to the Le Mans Series and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup as a season event until 2016, but it returned again to European Le Mans Series calendar again in 2022 as 4 Hours of Imola. It also hosted the 12 Hours of Imola in 2017-2018, a round of the 24H Series.
The track was also used as part of the finishing circuit for the 1968 UCI Road World Championships, which saw Italian cyclist Vittorio Adorni winning with a lead of 10 minutes and 10 seconds over runner up Herman Van Springel, the second largest winning margin in the history of the championships, after Georges Ronsse's victory in 1928. In addition Adorni's countryman Michele Dancelli took the bronze and five of the top six finishers were Italian.[4] The circuit was used for stage 11 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia, which was won by Ilnur Zakarin,[5] and stage 12 of the 2018 Giro d'Italia, won by Sam Bennett.[6] The circuit also served as the start and finish of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships on 27 September 2020.[7]
Despite the addition of chicanes to several parts of the lap, such as the Acque Minerali, Variante Alta, and Variante Bassa, the circuit was subject to constant safety concerns, mostly regarding the flat-out Tamburello corner, which was very bumpy and had dangerously little room between the track and a concrete wall without a tyre barrier that separated the circuit from the Santerno river that runs adjacent to it.
In 1987, Nelson Piquet crashed heavily during practice after a tyre failure and missed the race due to injury. In 1989, Gerhard Berger crashed his Ferrari at Tamburello after a front wing failure. The car instantaneously ignited after the severe impact at 300 km/h (190 mph) but thanks to the quick work of the firefighters and medical personnel Berger survived and missed only one race (the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix) due to burns to his hands. Michele Alboreto suffered a massive shunt whilst testing his Footwork Arrows at the circuit in 1991 but escaped injury. The following year, Riccardo Patrese also crashed at the same corner while testing for the Williams team.
In response to the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, modifications were carried out to the Tamburello corner to make it safer by converting it from a flat-out left hander to a left-right-left chicane.
In the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, during Friday practice Rubens Barrichello was launched over a kerb and into the top of a tyre barrier at the Variante Bassa, knocking the Brazilian unconscious, though quick medical intervention saved his life. During Saturday qualifying Austrian Roland Ratzenberger crashed head-on into a wall at over 310 km/h (190 mph) at the Villeneuve corner after his Simtek lost the front wing, dying instantly from a basilar skull fracture. The tragedy continued the next day when the three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna's Williams' steering column broke and he crashed into the concrete wall at the Tamburello corner on Lap 7. Senna died in the hospital several hours after his crash. In two unrelated incidents, several spectators and mechanics were also injured during the event.
In the aftermath, the circuit continued to host Grands Prix, but revisions were immediately made in an attempt to make it safer. The flat-out Tamburello corner was reduced to a 4th gear left–right sweeper, and a gravel trap was added to the limited space on the outside of the corner. Villeneuve corner, previously an innocuous 6th gear right-hander into Tosa, was made a complementary 4th gear sweeper, also with a gravel trap on the outside of the corner. In an attempt to retain some of the quickness and character of the old circuit, the arduous chicane at Acqua Minerali was eliminated, and the Variante Bassa was straightened into a single chicane. Many say that the new circuit configuration is not as good as it used to be as a result of the new chicanes at Tamburello and Villeneuve.[8][9]
Another modification made to the Imola track is that of Variante Alta, which is situated at the top of the hill leading down to Rivazza and has the hardest braking point on the lap. The Variante Alta, formerly a high-kerbed chicane, was hit quite hard by the drivers which caused damage to the cars and was the site of quite a few accidents. Before the 2006 Grand Prix, the kerbs were lowered considerably and the turn itself was tightened to reduce speeds and hopefully reduce the number of accidents at the chicane.
The Grand Prix was removed from the calendar of the 2007 Formula One season.[10] SAGIS, the company that owns the circuit, hoped that the race would be reinstated at the October 2006 meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and scheduled for the weekend of 29 April 2007, provided renovations to the circuit were completed in time for the race, but the reinstatement was denied.[11]
Since 2007, the circuit has undergone major revisions. A bypass to the Variante Bassa chicane was added for cars, making the run from Rivazza 2 to the first Tamburello chicane totally flat-out, much like the circuit in its original fast-flowing days. However, the chicane is still used for motorcycle races.
The old pit garages and paddock have been demolished and completely rebuilt while the pitlane was extended and resurfaced. The reconstruction was overseen by German F1 track architect Hermann Tilke.
In June 2008, with most of the reconstruction work completed, The FIA gave the track a "1T" rating, meaning that an official Formula One Test can be held at the circuit; circuits require the "1" homologation to host a Formula One Grand Prix.[12] As of August 2011, the track received a '1' FIA homologation rating after an inspection by Charlie Whiting.[13]
In June 2015, the owners of the circuit confirmed they were in talks to return to the Formula One calendar should Monza, whose contract was scheduled to run out after the 2016 season, be unable to make a new deal to keep hosting a round of the world championship.[14] On 18 July 2016, Imola signed a deal to host the Italian Grand Prix from the 2017 season.[15] However, on 2 September 2016, it was announced that Monza had secured a new deal to continue hosting the race,[16] and Imola's officials took legal action against this decision questioning the legality of government funding awarded to Monza.[17] On 8 November 2016, they withdrew their case.[18] In February 2020, the owners at Imola submitted a bid to replace the 2020 Chinese Grand Prix pending its cancellation as a precaution in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] On 24 July 2020, it was confirmed that the circuit would be added to the calendar for the 2020 Formula One World Championship with the race being called the "Emilia Romagna Grand Prix" in honour of the region the circuit is situated in. In a break with Formula One tradition the event at the circuit took place over two days instead of three on 31 October and 1 November 2020.[20] Imola was kept on the calendar for 2021, following the postponement of the Chinese Grand Prix due to the ongoing pandemic, and later for the 2022 calendar as well.[21] The 2023 Grand Prix was set to be held on 21 May 2023 but had to be cancelled as a result of the 2023 Emilia-Romagna floods that also affected the Circuit by the flooding Santerno river.[22] Imola is due to host a F1 Grand Prix until 2025.[23]
The circuit's president is Giancarlo Minardi of the former Minardi F1 team.