The Reims-Gueux Race Circuit
As I talked about in my final blog on the 12in12 rally, our final day saw us make one last pitstop to the long defunct Reims—Gueux street circuit. Many of the buildings still exist today, situated a little to the West of the city of Reims and on the sides of the D27, essentially an otherwise unassuming French B road. Originally opened for racing in 1926, it saw activity up until 1972 when it finally closed, its layout having changed three times over the course of its life. Its long straights made for fast racing which in turn made it popular with both drivers and spectators. In fact, the circuit became faster as time went on as corners were widened, allowing cars to carry even more speed around them. Due to its popularity, it held most of the French F1 Grand Prix between 1950-1966 before it was passed over in subsequent years due to high running costs. Its high speed was also not working in its favour and this old-styled circuit had become too dangerous for many classes of racing.
It was due to be demolished immediately when all racing ceased in 1972 but the election of a new more sympathetic mayor put a stop to that, though part of the pits were unfortunately already destroyed. For several decades the site sat empty and fell increasingly into disrepair as the structures became weathered and covered in thick undergrowth. However, proposals to demolish the site and build on it in the 90s prompted local enthusiasts to establish the Les amis du Circuit de Gueux to in order to save it. They managed to get permission from the current mayor and landowners to restore the buildings as well as get assurances that nothing more would be demolished. The restoration work started in 2004 and has continued since with many buildings being repaired and repainted back to what they would have been when the circuit was active.
Even whilst we were there, volunteers were hard at work cutting back vegetation to prevent any further damage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone who spoke English, so I was unable to learn more about their current efforts. Whilst the side with the pitlane has had all its buildings restored, some of the grandstands on the other side have not been and are still littered with dangerous looking rusting pieces of metal and large amounts of bramble. Signs have been put up to worn away careless tourists who might inadvertently injure themselves. Hopefully one day though these too will be fully restored, and people will be able to come and go around the entire site. It is totally free to visit but whilst the idea for an on-site museum has long been floated, nothing has materialised yet.
If you are a car or racing enthusiast who finds themselves with a bit of spare time on their hands in the Champagne region of France, I would definitely recommend paying it a visit. It’s a very unusual site, especially as you can visit it for free. If you want to you could also drive a lap of the original circuit, though do put your racing ambitions aside as part of the track runs through the village of Gueux itself. For me it was fascinating to walk around an abandoned structure that was now having new life breathed into it and it gave me a fantastic opportunity to finish up my roll of Kodak Tri-X, which would have been a period film use to capture race images.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the photos and that you too get a chance to visit this piece of racing history if you haven’t already done so.
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