Rouen-Les-Essarts, commonly referrred to as just "Rouen", is a former road circuit just north of the village of Orival, in northern France. Originally regarded as one of the great venues of Europe, the track was used five times for the French Grand Prix between 1952 and 1968, before safety problems caused it to be removed from the calendar.
History[]
Rouen was envisioned just after WW II, as an alternate home of the French Grand Prix, and one that would be well positioned to attract spectators from both Paris and the UK. The track was laid out using roads along both sides of a small valley, with a hairpin where they met, and used a connecting highway to link the two valley roads. The track was wide and challenging, with a separate pit road, permanent grandstands and a number of quick and demanding corners, all in a scenic forest valley, giving rise to comparisons with Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
The circuit opened for business in 1950 with local racing. Formula 2 arrived in 1951, followed by the F2/Grand Prix circuit in 1952. In 1954, the organizers decided that the track needed lengthening, so they rerouted the northern section of the track, making that part of the layout look rectangular, and adding almost 1.5 km.
Circuit Layouts[]
Grand Prix winners at Rouen[]
| Year | Driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 |  Alberto Ascari
|
Ferrari
|
Report |
| 1957 |  Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Maserati
|
Report |
| 1962 |  Dan Gurney
|
 Porsche
|
Report |
| 1964 | Dan Gurney
|
 Brabham-Climax
|
Report |
| 1968 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari
|
Report |
Notes[]
| V T E |  French Grand Prix
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Le Mans (1906, 1921, 1929) Dieppe (1907-1908, 1912) Amiens (1913) Lyon (1914, 1924) Strasbourg (1922) Tours (1923) Montlhéry (1925, 1927, 1931, 1933-1937) Reims-Gueux (1932, 1938-1939, 1948–1951, 1953–1954, 1956, 1958–1961, 1963, 1966) Lyon-Parilly (1947) Rouen-Les-Essarts (1952, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1968) Charade Circuit (1965, 1969–1970, 1972) Bugatti Circuit (1967) Circuit Paul Ricard (1971, 1973, 1975–1976, 1978, 1980, 1982–1983, 1985–1990, 2018–2019, 2021-2022) Dijon-Prenois (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984) Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008) |
 |
| Races | 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009–2017 • 2018 • 2019 • | |
| European Championship Races | 1931 • 1932 • 1933–1937 • 1938 • 1939 | |
| Non-Championship Races | 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909–1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915–1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931–1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938–1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 |