Racing at the most legendary circuit of them all, the Nürburgring Nordschleife

What are they, Legendary Circuits? If you ask someone in his twenties, I am sure you will get a different answer, then when you ask someone my age.

The first Grand Prix I watched live, was the 1967 Zandvoort Dutch GP. There I was, 14 years old at that time, buying myself a ticket with some friends and sitting with my bottom on a sand dune, between Scheivlak corner  and Tunnel Oost.

This would turn out to be the Cosworth DFV’s first victory and one of many to come. But without realizing it, the seed was planted for what would become the addiction to Legendary Circuits.

No flat dessert circuit or old WWII Airfield circuits, but real circuits where the boys were easily separated from the men. Real 3D circuits, going up and down and often to the right or left at the same time and if possible with off camber corners, a true roller coaster ride, so to speak. This is what makes your heart rate go faster and not just by a bit. No addiction to booze or any drugs for that matter, but pure adrenaline instead.

Some forty years later and here I am, organizing the F.I.S.C. Legendary Circuits Series for historic and classic motor racing cars. Each time I race at the circuit of Zandvoort, my mind automatically sets back to 1967, that very first time I watched a Grand Prix live and what a GP it proved to be.

In the following years, we enjoyed Clermont Ferrand with Jackie Stewart on Matra MS20, Circuit Dijon Prenois with the unforgettable fight between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux for second place,  Zolder, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Spa Francorchamps, Autodromo Monza, Brands Hatch, all legendary GP circuits, which still remain.

How fortunate I am at the age of 56 and still living in a boys dream. Quite recently I read an article in which David Coulthard commented on the present F1 calendar and stated that he questioned its quality, while it contains only few true historic circuits, also adding that the modern “state-of-the-art” circuits are not challenging enough.

Thanks David for your confirmation, I totally agree with you and that’s exactly the reason I started organizing the F.I.S.C. Legendary Circuits Series.