Circuito da Boavista was a street circuit

Street circuit

A street circuit is a racing circuit composed by temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually placed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over but in modern times the...

 in Oporto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 (Porto), Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 used twice for the Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 Portuguese Grand Prix

Portuguese Grand Prix

The Portuguese Grand Prix was a motorsports event held for several years, mostly in the 1950s and then in the 1980s and 90s. It was a Formula One race between and and between and ....

.

The course began at the harbor

Harbor

A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...

-front "Esplanada do Rio de Janeiro", continued on "Avenida da Boavista" (hence the circuit's name), and then twisted its way through small neighborhoods back to the start-finish line. The first grand prix was held in 1958. The course of Boavista took drivers at high speeds across tramlines, past small houses, over cobblestone

Cobblestone

Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...

d streets and difficult to overtake.

The 1958 event is remembered for an act of good sportsmanship

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...

 by Stirling Moss

Stirling Moss

Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...

. Moss came to the defense of fellow countryman (and title rival) Mike Hawthorn

Mike Hawthorn

John Michael Hawthorn was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.-Racing career:...

, who had run afoul of the stewards (and oncoming traffic) during an off-track excursion during the race. Moss persuaded the stewards not to disqualify Hawthorn, preserving second place, and 6 points, for Hawthorn, who would eventually win the drivers championship by 1 point over Moss.

The 1960 running was a race of attrition, with only four cars finishing within 5 laps of winner Jack Brabham

Jack Brabham

Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....

. Accidents and mechanical problems ended the day early for future champions John Surtees

John Surtees

John Surtees, OBE is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels...

, Phil Hill

Phil Hill

Philip Toll Hill, Jr., was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero...

, Graham Hill

Graham Hill

Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...

 and others.

Recent years

The circuit was revived in 2005. The circuit has been slightly shortened from the original layout. Now every two years the event takes place, accompanied by some auto-shows and exhibits. Besides the Boavista Historic Grand Prix, there are also races for recent car models. In 2007, 2009 and 2011, the track staged the FIA WTCC Race of Portugal

FIA WTCC Race of Portugal

The FIA WTCC Race of Portugal is a round of the World Touring Car Championship, which has been held at the Autódromo do Estoril, Circuito da Boavista and Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal....

, an event which included in its programme European motorsport categories such as International Formula Master

International Formula Master

International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007...

and Portuguese national competitions.

External links

• Official Site (English version)
• Satellite picture by Google Maps