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Racing specials returned to the Brno exhibition grounds
That track was called "the roll". It was only 1,700 meters long and led along the generous boulevards of the Brno exhibition center of the First Republic. There were four turns, straights as well. The longest was barely 450 meters. Nevertheless, the formula race at the site was very popular among spectators in the 1960s.
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This coming weekend, racing specials are returning to the unique track after fifty years. The veteran company is unique with the backdrops of the functionalist exhibition center as well as the machines that will stand at the start. "The circuit, said roll, will remain authentic. It will be shortened by about 100 meters on one side only. The track is crossed by a railway siding. Drivers will have to cross it anyway, but we have moved the turn closer to the crossing so that they do not drive over the tracks at full speed," explains Karel Kupka from the Czechoslovak Automobile Club for Moravia and Silesia, which organizes the race called Brno Revival Between Pavilions, for iDNES.cz .
"There will be short rides of about twelve minutes on a closed track. The entire event is conceived as similar events abroad. Time will not be measured and winners will not be announced," explains Karel Kupka. Spectators don't have to worry about the competitors loitering, they will definitely want to take advantage of the unique opportunity to ride along an interesting track.
The biggest star of the revival, which returns racers to the exhibition center in the center of Brno after fifty years, will be the homemade formula named Drak by the Brno designer and racer Otto Buchberger.
Auto racing driver Otto Buchberger | (2:45) | video: BVV |
The formulas and "pancakes" between the pavilions were released for the first time in 1961. However, the exhibition center already held its racing premiere before the war. "The first mention, a poster and a few photos were found from 1935, when a motorcycle race started at the fairgrounds," explains Jiří Smetana, a spokesman for the Brno fairgrounds.
"The fairground was sometimes turned into a racing circuit as well in the late 1940s and 1950s. At the beginning of the 1960s, the race nicknamed Mezi pavilony was held regularly. The race experienced its golden years between 1961 and 1967," he adds.