Jerez, Between Sherry and a Title Decider

In the sherry country of Andalusia, Jerez staged seven Grands Prix, from a photo finish in 1986 to the collision that decided the 1997 championship.

Jerez is better known for what it pours than for what it races, but its circuit has made a name of its own. The Circuito de Jerez lies just outside Jerez de la Frontera, about 90 kilometers south of Seville in the sherry producing country of southern Spain. Engineer Manuel Medina Lara led the project, and the track opened in December 1985. Summers here are hot and dry and winters mild, so races are held in spring or autumn, and the circuit became a favorite winter testing ground for Formula One and motorcycle teams alike.

Formula One arrived in April 1986, and the first Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez ended about as close as a race can: Ayrton Senna beat Nigel Mansell by 0.014 seconds. Senna and Alain Prost each won twice here in the years that followed. Yet the remote setting kept crowds thin despite room for 125,000 spectators, and after 1990 the Spanish Grand Prix went to Barcelona. That last weekend also brought Martin Donnelly's career ending accident in qualifying, at a corner later rebuilt as the Senna curve chicane.

In 1992 four corners gave way to a single sweeping right hander named Curva Sito Pons, and Jerez came back in 1994 to host the European Grand Prix, won that year by Michael Schumacher. The 1997 European Grand Prix settled the title between Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, and the two collided. Schumacher retired, Villeneuve finished third and became champion, and Mika Häkkinen won the race. Then the mayor of Jerez interrupted the podium ceremony to hand over a trophy meant for a Daimler Benz representative, and the circuit was barred from hosting Grands Prix again. Few podium ceremonies have had such lasting consequences. That race was the last of its 7 championship rounds, held from 1986 to 1997.

Testing continued until 2015, and Jerez remains a stronghold of motorcycle racing as the home of the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix. In 2018 it took the name of Ángel Nieto, the motorcycle champion who died in 2017, and corners now honor Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. The Grand Prix layout in use since 1994 measures 4.428 kilometers.

Every Grand Prix here

• 1997 European Grand Prix
• 1994 European Grand Prix
• 1990 Spanish Grand Prix
• 1989 Spanish Grand Prix
• 1988 Spanish Grand Prix
• 1987 Spanish Grand Prix
• 1986 Spanish Grand Prix