The old Masaryk circuit depot gets a new look after 90 years
The dilapidated depot of the old Masaryk Circuit in Bosonohy is currently getting a new face. On the wall, which until 1986 served as pits for racing cars and motorbikes, a work of art is created to commemorate the famous history of the track. The project was supported by the city of Brno, and the construction companies PŘEMYSL VESELÝ construction and engineering activities, OHL ŽS and TERRABAU, which are building a sewage system in Bosonohy, will be involved in it. The ceremonial christening awaits the repaired depot already on June 19.
Countless legendary racers, their machines and stories written by the old Masaryk circuit come to life where the tradition of the race track began in 1930. 90 years after the most famous Central European race track was created, it will see a symbolic revival as part of the Brno Year of Sport project. The ceremonial unveiling is scheduled for June 19, and the competitors who started on the old circuit will also take part in it.
"The goal of the project is to revive, at least visually, the old depot, which has not served its purpose since 1986. We want to commemorate its glorious history, which is one of the greatest symbols of the city's modern history," describes project initiator and Brno patriot Vladimír Koudelka.
The most famous stories of the circuit come to life under the direction of sprayers
The author's work began to be created on Friday, June 5, and two leading Brno street artists - Pavel Beneš and Jakub Nemček joined forces on it. Under their guidance, the most famous stories that wrote the history of the Masaryk Circuit from 1930 to 1986, when the old natural track hosted racing machines for the last time, would be projected onto the wall. On the professional side, the materials were prepared by the historian and curator of the Technical Museum in Brno, Sylvie Zouharová Dyková, and the editors of the professional magazine Motor Journal, Karel Kupka and Jiří Smetana.
The renovation of the boxes was supported by the builders of Brno
Companies that are now building sewers in Bosonohá are also significantly involved in the project. "In order to spray the wall, it was first necessary to repair its surface. All construction companies currently working in Bosonohá are from Brno. I'm glad that they decided to express their relationship to the city by helping us prepare the wall for the sprayers," Koudelka appreciates the builders' involvement. The consortium of construction companies Přemysl Veselý, OHL ŽS and Terrabau invested approximately 100,000 crowns in the rehabilitation of the wall.
The city district of Brno-Bosonohy itself also contributed to the project. She provided traffic signs and all the necessary official permits. And the city of Brno also supported the creation of the sprayers themselves. "Motor racing is an inherent part of the modern history of Brno. I'm glad that the boxing wall, as a symbol of this tradition, will get a new dignified face," says the mayor of the statutory city of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.
"We will commemorate the individual anniversaries of the circuit several times this year and it is great that it will be for the first time after many years in a cultured, and I believe also inspiring, environment," says 1st Deputy Mayor of the City of Brno, Petr Hladík.
The christening will be attended by former racers and their machines
The entire work, which will cover about a hundred-meter section of the pits between the former towers that housed the timekeeper and control staff, will be finished on June 19. A day later, the 4th year of the veteran festival will be held at the Brno exhibition grounds Brno Revival, which is regularly targeted by a number of competitors who actually started on the old Masaryk circuit.
"On the eve of the Revival, we want to ceremonially baptize the wall and, above all, bring life back to the pits. We expect that the original racing motorcycles, formulas and touring cars that wrote its history will come to the event." says Karel Kupka, organizer of the Brno Revival. The pits should feature, for example, interwar Bugatti cars, the Brno Zbrojovka Z-18 Sport car, which started at the first year of the race in 1930, the Škoda Sport car, which raced in Brno in the first post-war year in 1949, or the single-seater Tatra from 50 . Collector Antonín Kružík will bring his collection of Jawa motorcycles, including a replica of the legendary two-stroke four-cylinder, with which František Šťastný raced in the Grand Prix in 1968, and Peter Baláž, multiple Czechoslovak champion and participant in the world championship of road motorcycles, remembers the racing.
As part of the Brno Year of Sports, other events will take place at the depot of the original Masaryk circuit. 70 years of motorcycle racing will be commemorated literally on the eve of the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic on August 6, and the 90th anniversary of the first race will be commemorated by a ceremonial drive of interwar sports and racing cars on September 27.
