Canada Circuit Guide

The Ile Notre-Dame was the heart of Olympic action when Canada hosted the 1976 games, and it also hosted the 1967 World Fair. Now it is famed for its grand prix circuit, renamed Gilles Villeneuve to commemorate Canada’s favourite racing driver who was tragically killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

Gives the impression of being a permanent circuit but it is constructed each year for the grand prix, adjacent to what was the Olympic Rowing basin and close to the site of the 1967 World Fair.

It is part-permanent and part street circuit, with a mixture of slow and fast corners plus some very quick barrier-lined straights. The track is a big favourite with teams and drivers, even though it is traditionally hard on cars.

Directions: The circuit is easily reached from Montreal city centre. The underground metro line runs to the Ile St. Helen, just a 300-metre walk from the circuit. There are quick and easy links to the International Mirabel airport. And Montreal has plenty of restaurants and hotels. Montreal is in Quebec where the outlook and the language is predominantly French.

Factfile:

Circuit name: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Location: Montreal

Laps: 70

Circuit Length: 4.361 km

Lap Record: 1:13.622 – R Barrichello (2004)