Pescara Circuit

The Pescara Circuit was a 16.032 miles (25.8 km) road race course near Pescara, Italy.

The track boasted two long straights between villages, as well as demanding corners in the seaside town. The roads were both narrow and bumpy, and the staggering 16-mile (26 km) length was the longest of any open-wheel championship event. Like many long circuits (such as the original Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps circuits) Pescara was extremely dangerous. About of a mile of the track was situated near cliffs next to the sea with drops of more than 500 feet (150 m). Many racing historians consider Pescara to be the most dangerous racing circuit ever devised.

The first race took place in 1924 and non-Championship Formula One races followed in the early 1950s, before the circuit was eventually included in the official Formula One World Championship in. The Pescara Grand Prix drew in excess of 200,000 spectators, and remains the longest circuit in terms of lap distance ever to stage a Formula One Grand Prix.

It was the first F1 circuit with an artificial chicane; the chicane before the start-finish straight was built in 1934 to reduce speed in the pits.

The track's last race was a four hour World Sportscar Championship race in 1961, won by Lorenzo Bandini and Giorgio Scarlatti. After that race the circuit was permanently retired as a racing venue as it was impossible for the organizers to guarantee the safety of drivers and spectators.