America’s 10km monster track of the future

One of Formula 1 circuit mega designer Herman Tilke’s newest projects is Flatrock Motorsports Park – a major new facility under construction in Tennessee, just over 70km directly West of the city of Knoxville.

Like the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, this multi-million dollar facility is being built to become a major entertainment destination hosting concerts, exhibitions and the like. But naturally of greater interest are the comprehensive motorsports facilities.

Much like Paul Ricard or COTA itself, Flatrock will boast a series of circuit layouts, including a 4.2km grand prix layout and several shorter configurations. But the most interesting circuit is unquestionably the endurance layout which runs the length of the entire facility. At a total of 10 kilometres in length, the longest Flatrock layout comfortably exceeds even that of Spa-Francorchamps, the longest circuit on the modern F1 calendar.

While Flatrock has not been tipped as a potential new venue for Formula 1, there are reportedly discussions about it hosting Moto GP and even IndyCar races in the future. But even if Formula 1 wanted to hold at race at Flatrock, the endurance layout would not be a viable option.

All current circuits that host grands prix must be certified by the FIA to be of Grade One status – meaning that the track layout, safety features and facilities are all of the highest possible standards. The FIA outlines that all Grade One circuits should be no longer than seven kilometres in length – with the modern Spa-Francorchamps circuit the longest Grade One track in the world, just four metres over that limit.

But in the early decades of the world championship, it was not uncommon to have circuits over seven kilometres in length – and sometimes even much longer. Here are all the circuits longer than seven kilometres that have held grands prix in the past – all of which are no longer used in Formula 1.

12 – Bremgarten – Swiss Grand Prix

Street circuit – 7.2km – 1950-54

Before motorsport was banned in Switzerland in reaction to the Le Mans tragedy of 1955, the Swiss Grand Prix featured on the calendar for the first five world championship seasons. Located in Bern, the beautiful circuit was set around public roads in the stunning countryside. Juan Manuel Fangio was the only driver to win the race more than once.

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