Circuito del Jarama

The Circuito del Jarama (Circuit of Jarama), formerly known as Circuito Permanente del Jarama (Permanent circuit of Jarama) is a 3.404 km (2.115 mile) race course in Madrid, Spain which has hosted nine Formula One Spanish Grand Prix.

Designed by John Hugenholtz (who also created Zandvoort and Suzuka), the circuit was built by Alessandro Rocci in 1967 north of Madrid in arid scrub land. It had a short straight and most of the course consisted of tight, twisty corners so overtaking was extremely difficult. An example of this came when Gilles Villeneuve, worthy driver though he was, successfully defended his lead for the entirety of the 1981 Spanish Grand Prix despite a tail of four cars significantly faster than his.

Jarama hosted its last Formula One race in 1981 directed by Alessandro Rocci when it was deemed too narrow for modern racing. It still holds occasional sports car and motorcycle races.