Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva (Estoril), Racing Circuit

The Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, universally known as the Circuito do Estoril, sits on a rocky plateau near the village of Alcabideche on the Portuguese Riviera, around 20 miles west of Lisbon and a short distance from the resort town of Estoril that lends it its name. Opened in June 1972, the circuit was dogged early on by the 1973 oil crisis and Portugal's 1974 Carnation Revolution, and it took until 1975 for its first significant international race, a European Formula Two round won by Jacques Laffite. After falling into disrepair it was redeveloped and granted the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix in 1984, hosting the race annually until 1996. That first Grand Prix was a title-decider in which Niki Lauda clinched his third championship by half a point, the closest finish in F1 history, while a rain-soaked 1985 race delivered Ayrton Senna his first Formula One victory. The circuit features two hairpins, notable elevation changes of nearly seven per cent and a long start-finish straight. A chicane was added after Senna's death in 1994, before Hermann Tilke oversaw a reprofiling of the opening turns and final parabolic curve that reopened in 1999. From 2000 to 2012 Estoril hosted the Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix. Though F1 and MotoGP have long departed, it remains a venue for series such as the European Le Mans Series, FIM Endurance World Championship and the Estoril Classic historic meeting.

Operated by: Parpública (state-run holding company)