Reims-Gueux Circuit layout & records

History

Reims-Gueux Circuit History

Jack Brabham at the 1966 Dutch Grand Prix

Perhaps the most famous of the traditional European road circuits - and certainly among the fastest - the Reims circuit was located near to the village of Gueux in the Champagne region of France.

The essentially triangular circuit was laid out on ordinary country roads, including the flat out blast of the RN31, which provided a straight to rival the Mulsanne at Le Mans.

Run by the flamboyant Raymond 'Toto' Roche for the Automobile Club de Champagne, Reims enjoyed great slip streaming battles on the track, and the support of enthusiastic organisers off it. Unusually for a temporary road course, the circuit boasted proper pit facilities and grandstands opposite.

By 1952, race organisers had decided to bypass the village of Gueux, building a new link road to connect the start/finish straight with the Virage de la Hovette. This was the first stage of an extended, permanent section of road for racing only and even involved the demolition of several houses.

The 1953 extension created the final, classic layout of the Reims circuit, which saw the track rise to prominence as France's premier circuit through the 1960s.

Host to the French Grand Prix, Reims witnessed some all time classic slip streaming races. It also played host to an international 12-hour sportscar race at the French Grand Prix meetings.

The last F1 race was in 1966 (won by Jack Brabham), with sportscars continuing until the following year and Formula 2 until 1969.

Competition from other circuits and financial and political difficulties finally closed the track in 1972. The grandstands and decaying pit garages still remain by the roadside as a poignant reminder to the speed aces of the past.

Podiums

F1 Podium Winners on Reims-Gueux Circuit

Year	Race	Date	Top 3 Drivers	Teams	Laps
1966	1966 French F1 GP	July 3	Jack Brabham Mike Parkes Denny Hulme	Brabham Ferrari Brabham	48
1963	1963 French F1 GP	June 30	Jim Clark Tony Maggs Graham Hill	Team Lotus Cooper-Climax BRM	53
1961	1961 French F1 GP	July 2	Giancarlo Baghetti Dan Gurney Jim Clark	FISA Porsche Team Lotus	52
1960	1960 French F1 GP	July 3	Jack Brabham Olivier Gendebien Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax Cooper-Climax Cooper-Climax	50
1959	1959 French F1 GP	July 5	Tony Brooks Phil Hill Jack Brabham	Ferrari Ferrari Cooper-Climax	50
1958	1958 French F1 GP	July 6	Mike Hawthorn Stirling Moss Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari Vanwall Ferrari	50
1956	1956 French F1 GP	July 1	Peter Collins Eugenio Castellotti Jean Behra	Ferrari Ferrari Maserati	61
1954	1954 French F1 GP	July 4	Juan Manuel Fangio Karl Kling Robert Manzon	Mercedes Mercedes Ferrari	61
1953	1953 French F1 GP	July 5	Mike Hawthorn Juan Manuel Fangio José Froilán González	Ferrari Maserati Maserati	60
1951	1951 French F1 GP	July 1	Luigi Fagioli Juan Manuel Fangio José Froilán González Alberto Ascari Luigi Villoresi	Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari	77
1950	1950 French F1 GP	July 2	Juan Manuel Fangio Luigi Fagioli Peter Whitehead	Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Ferrari	64

Driver Ranking

Driver Ranking Reims-Gueux Circuit

	Driver	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	7	3	1	0	4	4	4	3.3	3.4	36
2	Jack Brabham	6	2	0	1	3	1	1	6.3	6.2	24
3	Mike Hawthorn	4	2	0	0	2	1	1	5.5	7.8	17
4	Luigi Fagioli	3	1	1	0	2	0	0	3.3	4.7	10
5	Jim Clark	3	1	0	1	2	1	1	6.7	3.0	15
6	Peter Collins	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	8.0	6.3	10
7	Giancarlo Baghetti	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	6.0	11.5	9
8	Tony Brooks	5	1	0	0	1	1	0	8.0	15.2	8
9	José Froilán González	4	0	1	1	2	0	0	5.8	9.8	7
10	Dan Gurney	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	8.0	8.4	10
11	Olivier Gendebien	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	7.8	12.5	9
12	Stirling Moss	6	0	1	0	1	0	1	8.0	11.7	8
13	Mike Parkes	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	3.0	2.0	6
14	Tony Maggs	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	8.0	2.0	6
15	Eugenio Castellotti	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	2.0	2.0	6
16	Karl Kling	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	2.0	2.0	6
17	Alberto Ascari	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	3.3	11.3	6
18	Phil Hill	5	0	1	0	1	1	1	6.4	8.8	6
19	Bruce McLaren	4	0	0	1	1	0	0	7.8	6.3	8
20	Robert Manzon	4	0	0	1	1	0	0	15.5	9.0	7
21	Luigi Villoresi	4	0	0	1	1	0	0	7.8	7.3	6
22	Denny Hulme	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	9.0	3.0	4
23	Peter Whitehead	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	19.0	13.0	4
24	Wolfgang von Trips	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	9.3	11.3	4
25	Jean Behra	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	12.0	9.0	4
26	Graham Hill	6	0	0	1	1	0	0	8.7	12.5	1
27	Nino Farina	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.3	5.7	4
28	Jochen Rindt	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.0	4.0	3
29	Henry Taylor	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.5	7.0	3
30	Reg Parnell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	8.5	3
31	Prince Bira	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.5	11.0	3
32	Innes Ireland	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.5	9.0	3
33	Cesare Perdisa	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	5.0	1
34	John Taylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	6.0	1
35	Philippe Étancelin	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	9.5	1
36	Hans Herrmann	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	3.5	21.5	1
37	Jo Siffert	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.0	10.0	1
38	Ron Flockhart	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.5	6.0	1
39	Eugène Chaboud	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	6.5	1
40	David Hampshire	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	16.0	0
41	Jackie Lewis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	26.0	0
42	Peter Arundell	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	17.0	0
43	Consalvo Sanesi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.0	10.0	0
44	Nasif Estéfano	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	24.0	0
45	Hernando da Silva Ramos	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	8.0	0
46	Stuart Lewis-Evans	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	14.0	0
47	Colin Davis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	20.0	0
48	Franco Rol	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	14.0	0
49	Bernard Collomb	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	23.0	0
50	Georges Berger	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	18.0	0
51	Pedro Rodríguez	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	10.0	0
52	Cliff Allison	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	21.0	0
53	Trevor Taylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	13.0	0
54	Élie Bayol	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	19.0	0
55	Piero Taruffi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	13.0	0
56	Raymond Sommer	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	17.0	0
57	Gerino Gerini	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	9.0	0
58	Aldo Gordini	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	15.0	0
59	Alfonso de Portago	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	16.0	0
60	Bruce Halford	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	8.0	0
61	Gino Munaron	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	16.0	0
62	Bob Anderson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	7.0	0
63	Luigi Musso	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	19.0	0
64	Bob Gerard	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	11.0	0
65	Charles Pozzi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	6.0	0
66	André Pilette	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	11.0	0
67	Jacques Pollet	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	20.0	0
68	Mike Spence	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	15.0	0
69	Guy Mairesse	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	9.0	0
70	Tony Settember	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	18.0	0
71	Pierre Levegh	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	9.0	0
72	Michael May	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.0	11.0	0
73	Brian Naylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	31.0	0
74	Troy Ruttman	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	10.0	0
75	Fritz d'Orey	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	10.0	0
76	Guy Ligier	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.0	9.0	0
77	Carroll Shelby	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	20.0	0
78	Jim Hall	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	11.0	0
79	Paul Frère	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	7.0	0
80	André Simon	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.5	15.5	0
81	Lance Macklin	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.5	19.5	0
82	Felice Bonetto	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.0	13.0	0
83	Richie Ginther	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.5	17.0	0
84	Lorenzo Bandini	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	11.0	10.5	0
85	Roberto Mieres	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	17.5	0
86	Carel Godin de Beaufort	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.5	13.5	0
87	Ken Wharton	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	16.0	0
88	Lucien Bianchi	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	16.5	0
89	Paco Godia	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	11.5	0
90	Toulo de Graffenried	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.5	14.5	0
91	Chris Amon	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	7.5	0
92	Willy Mairesse	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.5	17.0	0
93	Giorgio Scarlatti	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	23.5	14.5	0
94	Onofre Marimón	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.3	13.3	0
95	Yves Giraud Cabantous	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.3	9.7	0
96	Johnny Claes	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.7	11.7	0
97	Louis Chiron	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.3	12.0	0
98	John Surtees	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.3	19.0	0
99	Ian Burgess	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.3	16.0	0
100	Masten Gregory	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.8	13.8	0

Team Ranking

Team Ranking Reims-Gueux Circuit

	Team	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Ferrari	11	4	5	4	13	6	4	6.4	8.7	90
2	Alfa Romeo	2	3	1	0	4	2	2	3.1	5.4	26
3	Cooper-Climax	6	1	2	2	5	1	1	12.9	12.2	35
4	Mercedes	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	3.3	5.7	15
5	Team Lotus	6	1	0	1	2	1	1	14.0	11.8	20
6	Brabham	2	1	0	1	2	0	0	9.3	5.4	19
7	FISA	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	12.0	1.0	9
8	Maserati	7	0	1	2	3	0	1	12.3	11.2	25
9	Porsche	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	8.8	14.0	6
10	Vanwall	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	7.5	13.1	6
11	BRM	6	0	0	1	1	0	1	8.0	13.2	2
12	Cooper-Maserati	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.2	10.2	3
13	Simca	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.2	15.0	3
14	Eagle	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	5.0	2
15	Talbot-Lago	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.9	9.3	2
16	ATS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	22.0	0
17	Lola	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	7.0	0
18	JBW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	31.0	0
19	Scirocco	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	20.5	0
20	Bugatti	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	17.0	0
21	Connaught	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	18.3	0
22	Emeryson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	30.0	0
23	Osca	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	17.0	0
24	BRP	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	9.0	0
25	De Tomaso	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	22.5	0
26	HWM	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.5	16.5	0
27	Gordini	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.2	14.3	0