Date: October 26 Grand Prix: Portugal Circuit Length: 4.360km Laps: 71 Total Distance: 309.560km 1996 Winner: Jacques Villeneuve Track Record: Damon Hill (1993) 1:14,859 The Autodromo do Estoril was built in 1972, the track sweeps up and down through sparse rocky land and it features tight twisty sections, sweeping bends and a great main straight. The circuit has plenty of overtaking places. Estoril has some famous moments associated with it, some great, some not so great. In 1985 a young Brazilian driver scored his first victory in his Lotus. The race was run in atrocious conditions and Ayrton Senna showed how masterful he was to become in wet conditions. Nigel Mansell has vivid memories of Estoril, in 1989 he was black flagged for reversing in the pit lane and in 1991 he lost a wheel when leaving the pits. Riccardo Patrese nearly flew into the pit straight bridge a year later, when he hit the back of Berger who was slowing down. Estoril is one of the circuits that all the drivers know well from the winter testing program. It's this years last Grand Prix by special request of Renault, who wanted to say goodbye to Formula 1 in Europe. All the information and pictures on this page have been used with the permission of Neil Whiley This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page Member of the Internet Link Exchange