Circuit Bugatti Le Mans

The Circuit Bugatti sits south of Le Mans and is the permanent road course of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). According to Wikipedia it was built in 1965 under the direction of Jacques Finance and Jean-Marie Lelievre; it measures 4,185 metres and has eleven corners, seven right and four left. It uses only part of the large Sarthe circuit on which the 24 Hours of Le Mans is run. The layout has been slowed several times: the Dunlop and Chemin aux Boeufs corners were rebuilt as chicanes, and a 2008 rework at the Garage Vert added five metres to the lap. Motorcycle racing is the main use - the French motorcycle Grand Prix has run here continuously since 2000 and the 24 Heures Motos since 1978. A single Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in 1967 and was won by Jack Brabham. The site also hosts an ACO driving school and a museum. Dates and prices for individual track days are not documented in the sources we read. Our record lists the course as technical and tight, and the two retrofitted chicanes are exactly that: you lose speed, have to throw the bike over hard and pick it straight back up. On a layout like this it is not top speed that decides the lap but how quickly the machine turns in and how cleanly it holds a tight line. Top of our cause list for a bike that will not hold a tight line is too little rear ride height - it makes the steering lazy; raise the rear or drop the front to sharpen turn-in. Treat it as a starting point, not a safety promise.