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| Autódromo Internacional de Guaporé Guaporé International Raceway | |
| Location | Guaporé, Rio Grande do Sul |
|---|---|
| Active from | N/A - present |
| Major events | Fórmula Truck, local drag racing championships |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 1.914 mi (3.080 km) |
| Turns | 9 (5 right, 4 left) |
| Lap record | N/A (driver, team, year, class) |
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The Autódromo Internacional de Guaporé is a race track located in Guaporé, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, one of the oldest in the state. It also hosts motor racing such as Formula Truck and various stages of the Campeonato Serrano de Arrancada attracting crowds of up to 60.000 people
History[]
The history of Autódromo Internacional de Guaporé begins with coming to the city of Caxias do Sul with doctor Nelson Luiz Barro whose career forced him to move to the city of Dois Lajeados and, in 1967, to Guaporé. In his free time, Barro competed with a Simca Chambord, No. 34, which made him the State Champion.
AGA Foundation and First Track[]
Barro managed to infect several young guaporenses with his enthusiasm for racing, and September 1, 1969, they founded the AGA - Associação Guaporense de Automobilismo (Guaporense Automobile Association), being that today keeps the racecourse. The newly formed group, to seek areas with potential for creating a track to practice racing, was faced with the so-airfield Guapore interdicted by the Department of Civil Aviation. With the support of Mayor Otolip Dalbosco the group built a track around the two runways of the airport that were perpendicular among themselves, resulting in the "T" track that continues today.
The first track (dirt impregnated with oil) was completed in just three years, and December 21, 1969, the track was inaugurated with a test involving 72 cars from several teams in the state, under the supervision and approval of the Federação de Automobilismo Gáucha . The successful event brought great attention to the work of AGA, opening the door to the future development of the racecourse.
Tarmac Track and Growth []
With success came a new goal to give final form to the racetrack through the paving of the runway, building pits access and all the infrastructure necessary for the proper performance of tests. AGA members could support not only with the City of Guaporé and Federal and State governments, but also with the neighboring municipalities of Serafina Corrêa, Veranopolis, New Silver, Enchanted, Anta Gorda and Bento Gonçalves, and companies like Barcelos SA, Braseu SA and Toniolo Busnello SA and to the 1st Battalion Railway. After much work, on October 17, 1976, Autódromo Municipal de Guaporé was officially opened with his new track on asphalt. At the time it was held the 5th Stage of Brazilian Formula Ford Championship. The racecourse has won the international title November 17, 1985 with the completion of the 10th Stage of the South American Formula 3 Championship.
New challenges[]
In recent years, the main event at Autódrome de Guaporé is the annual round of Formula Truck attracting large audiences across the country. Despite being primarily responsible for maintaining the circuit, Formula Truck, linked to lack of maintenance resulted in the degradation of the asphalt layer which compromised the safety conditions of the track, preventing the continued realization of categories such as Stock Car Brazil. Even the competition of sprint that attract an audience increasing in the first half of the 2010s, were compromised by irregularities in the output area of the boxes of the main straight and had to start being held on the 1/8 mile, rather than the traditional Quarter Mile.
In 2010, after a first stage of reform, AGA and prefecture Guaporé did a tribute to two great collaborators to the Autódromo de Guaporé: Vitacir Paludo, former vice president of Paludo Participações and great supporter of racing in Rio Grande do Sul and in Guaporé, died in 2007 a victim of TAM Flight 30542, was honored with the baptism of the race track as Circuito Vitacir Paludo. Aurélio Batista Félix, founder and organizer of the Formula Truck, who died in 2008 of heart problems, was also honored by the Torre de Cronometragem Aurélio Batista Félix. The responsible for creating the Autódromo de Guaporé, Dr. Nelson Barro, had already been honored a year before renaming the racetrack as Autódromo Internacional de Guaporé Dr. Nelson Luiz Barro.
In late 2010, after a long process of searching for resources, AGA finally managed to realize the dream of rebuilding the asphalt layer, revitalizing the circuit and allowing the eventual return of large categories. The association also is facing the challenge of carrying out the reform of the pit area, improving the safety conditions of the track and infrastructure for visitors. The lack of these works, the growing numbers of new leads in the state, as Velopark, and lack of capacity of the hotel network Guaporé hinder the work of the team in achieving AGA bring new evidence to the municipality.
Structure[]
The Circuito Vitacir Paludo has an auxiliary structure that includes 40 boxes, with an area of unloading trucks nearby gas station, tire repair area and cabins on the boxes. The timing tower also features media room, accreditation, office and room stewards, large enough to meet the average national motoring categories. There are two restaurants and two floors of bathrooms serving both teams and visitors from the VIP area.
The clinic is located in a building part, near the exit of the pits and has a terrace that allows a broad view of the track. The permanent station equipment is minimal and limited, but all the evidence is held with the presence of mobile UTIs. Access to the inside of the track is through a tunnel that crosses the track in the straight that leads to the curva do túnel. In case of need for vehicle access great length or height, this should give yourself crossing the main straight.
The track in itself is characterized by a slope of the curves, many of which are 10 °. The main straight is about 800 m long and 17 m wide. These features make the track extremely fast and further aggravate the security situation of the track, deficient in many respects due to lack of run-off areas and failure of containment barriers. The goal of the AGA is to deal with these limitations in the next stages of reform racecourse, now that the resurfacing is complete, consulting experts to analyze solutions that adapt to the available physical space and high demands imposed by frequent racing trucks.
The most common area to the public is the hill that borders the Curve Radiator, where many camp during the trial days and watch them doing full advantage of the grills present in the area of facilities Cabin Radiator, as is known established restaurant on the hilltop. In evidence of large volume of visitors, mobile bleachers are usually mounted in the area of members of the AGA, on the outside of Turn 2. It is also common mounting stands on the outside of the main straight, in an area belonging to Kartódromo de Guaporé.
Both points provide an insider's view of the track.The facilities at the Autódromo de Guaporé still home to a number of attractions for members of the AGA, like pools, kiosks, an artificial lake, a mini zoo and even a small chapel.