![]() The pit area was moved further down the course, allowing for a much enlarged paddock area and better garage facilities. The original circuit remained unchanged by these alterations.Īt the end of 1967, the circuit was closed for extensive renovations to bring it up to contemporary safety standards, reopening on 1 March 1970. In 1957, a link road was built to connect the Turn 4 and Junção corners to form an outer speed ring essentially an oddly-shaped oval course. Sanson's company managed the circuit until 1954, when it was sold to the City of São Paulo for a symbolic price. Racing continued at a national level throughout the 1940s and, by 1947, Interlagos was ready to host its first international race, an event for Grand Prix cars. The Grand Prix was won by Brazilian driver Nascimento Junior in an Alfa Romeo, followed by fellow Brazilians Chico Landi (Maserati) and Geraldo Avellar (Alfa Romeo). Despite the basic facilities, around 15,000 people came out to watch those races in Brazil's first circuit. The drivers and riders found a fast but technical circuit which wound its way back and forth between the lakes and across the contours of the land. Motorcycle races helped make up the undercard. So it was that a grid of cars lined up on for the the 3rd Grand Prix of the City of São Paulo. Unfortunately, the weather gods were not so welcoming and the original inauguration in November 1939 had to be postponed to the following year. A lack of funds meant that facilities were very basic at the planned original opening the grandstands and pit facilities would have to wait for many years before being complete, but the track itself was ready for racing. Brooklands in Great Britain and Montlhéry in France.Ĭonstruction began in 1938 and the track was paved the following year. Sanson began researching circuit design, taking inspiration from Roosevelt Raceway in the U.S.A. Racing clearly needed a safer environment to continue in and the president of the Automobile Club of Brazil, Eusébio de Queiroz Mattozo, urged Sanson to complete the Interlagos circuit. ![]() The accident resulted in 4 people dead and another 37 injured. It was at the latter of these events that disaster struck: French pilot Hellé-Nice lost control of her Alfa Romeo at the end of the race and hit nearby spectators. Nevertheless, Brazilian racing continued, with street races arranged in both Rio and São Paulo. The stock market crash of 1929, combined with years of political turmoil within Brazil, ultimately put paid to most of these plans, including those of the motor racing circuit within the sports complex. Known as 'Balneário Satélite da Capital', the project envisaged the creation of housing, large roads, and a multi-sport complex located in between the two enormous reservoirs which supply the city with drinking water.Īfter hiring Alfred Agache, a French urban planner who had been responsible for a redevelopment scheme in Rio de Janeiro, the proposals acquired their new name Agache thought that the site reminded him of Interlaken in Switzerland, and thus Interlagos (meaning 'between lakes' in Portuguese) was adopted. The circuit's history began in 1926, when a real state company led by British entrepreneur Louis Romero Sanson began designing a new suburban area as part of the expansion of São Paulo. ![]()
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