Optimized Reims-Gueux 1953-1972 circuit (originally done by Dave and Pete Alan) is ready to download

Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.

Grand Prix Legends Original Readme by petera55.

The circuit is located in the north east of the champagne producing region of the Marne about 7 Km to the west of the city of Reims in northern France. The original track consisted of a triangle of public roads with a length of 7.826 Km (4.862 miles). The start line was on the CD27 and from there the cars ran down into Gueux village where they turned sharp right by a grocer's shop onto the CD26 for a 2 Km climb to La Garenne corner. The RN31 formed the main straight, sweeping downhill to Thillois hairpin where a sharp right turn lead back onto the finishing straight.

The first meeting was held on the 2nd of August 1925 and included races for motorcycles and cars. Winner of the inagural Grand Prix de la Marne was Pierre Clause driving a 2 litre Bignan at an average speed of 102.3 Km/h (63.5 mph). The following year saw the first running of an event which was to become very popular, the 12 hour sports car race which traditionally started at midnight. Sunrise presented a problem to the drivers who were dazzled by the sun on the approach to Thillois. A novel solution was found in the shape of a giant velvet curtain suspended across the road just beyond the corner. Racing continued at club and non-championship GP level until 1932 when Reims hit the big time and hosted the Grand Prix de l'ACF, which was the French Grand Prix in all but name. Italian legend Tazio Nuvolari won with the superb Jano designed P3 Alfa Romeo after 461 miles of hard racing, averaging 148.5 Km/h (92.32 mph).

The 1932 meeting proved something of a false start for Reims as a GP circuit since the GP de l'ACF returned to its usual home of Montlhery for the next few years. However, for 1938 and 1939 the big race was back at Reims and with it came the awe inspiring Mercedes and Auto Unions. Manfred von Brauchitsch led a walkover for Mercedes in '38 and H.P 'Saucy' Muller retaliated for Auto Union in '39, winning with an average speed of 169.3 Km/h (105.2 mph). Less than 2 months later Europe was once again plunged into war and within a year the Wehrmacht's Panzer divisions were rumbling along Reims long straights.

After the war racing resumed on the 3rd of August 1947 and Reims quickly rose in importance, hosting the GP de l'ACF in 1948. The legendary Alfa Romeo 158/9 won at Reims in 1948, '50 and '51, the lap record having been raised to 119.99 mph in this last race, 3 mph faster for a 1.5 litre Alfa than the pre-war 3 litre Mercedes! As if this wasn't enough the owners of the circuit were engaged in their own speed duel with Spa Francorchamps for the title of fastest circuit in Europe.

To this end major alterations were carried out starting in 1952. Initially a new Southern link (Bretelle Sud) was built, by-passing Gueux village in a large curve before joining the old CD26 Gueux-Garenne road at the new right hand La Hovette corner. The circuit then ran as before up to La Garenne, the overall length being 7.197 Km (4.472 miles). For the 1953 season the Bretelle Nord was built linking La Hovette with the RN31. The new circuit rounded a right hand corner, dropped downhill, curved left and climbed up again before meeting the RN31 at a new hairpin corner, Muizon. This now allowed a fast run uphill before passing the old Garenne cross roads. The new track measured 8.347 Km (5.186 miles) and in addition enabled the continued use of the 1952 circuit configuration as a shorter test circuit. The old circuit name of Reims-Gueux was dropped in favour of simply Reims.

1953 saw the first Grand Prix on the new configuration, it being the historic duel between Fangio and Hawthorn, resolved in the latter's favour by 1 second. Small changes were again made to the track in 1956, primarily the easing of the Thillois hairpin and the new length of 8.301 Km (5.158 miles) remained unchanged until the track's demise.

Reims was now established as the usual host of the French GP, occasionally alternating with Rouen-les-Essarts and Clermont-Ferrand. The circuit also periodically hosted stages of the French and World Cycle Championships, the Tour de France Auto and various motorcycle meetings. The final Grand Prix was run in 1966, Bandini turning the fastest ever lap at Reims in practice at 2:07.8, 233.8 Km/h (145.3 mph) and Jack Brabham winning the race. Reims' slide down the ranks continued with '67 proving to be the last running of the 12 hour race, although this did see the all time lap record established. There was to have been a 12 hour race in June 1968 but this was cancelled at the last minute due to the riots which were sweeping the country at that time. The final car meeting was held on the 29th of June 1969 and in the main Formula 2 race the late Francois Cevert triumphed in a Tecno. After this meeting the circuit owners put out the following press release:-

           "Reims - Modifications being studied to give the Reims circuit
           a layout conforming with current racing regulations will require
           inspections and alteration work taking several months. Consequently, the
           Automobile Club of Champagne, wishing to carry out alterations so
           that its races take place under the best conditions, has decided
           not to organize the Reims car race meeting in 1970 and instead offer
           starting positions to amateur racing drivers for 1971."

Sadly this was not to be. The modification work was originally to have been carried out in time for the French GP to return to Reims in 1969. The main changes were the widening of the start finish area and provision of a safety wall for the pit lane. This would inevitably have entailed building a new pit complex and the money simply wasn't available, $300,000 being the estimated cost. In addition, the local authorities were becoming increasingly unhappy about closing the main RN31 for racing and the circuits at Le Castellet and Clermont-Ferrand were also manoeuvring to gain control of the French GP. The end result was that there were to be no more car races at Reims. However, contrary to popular belief the circuit did not close in 1970. It was deemed to still be acceptable for motorcycle racing and so two further events were held in 1971 and '72. The final meeting was held on the 11th of June 1972 and the sad honour of winning the last ever race at Reims went to Yves Compan riding a 750cc Honda.

Since that day the circuit was left to slowly decay, each passing year taking it's toll on the buildings but with little or no changes to the track itself. That is until the winter of 2000/2001 when a road improvement scheme led to the entire straight between Muizon and Thillois being torn up, to be replaced by a new widened road complete with overpass at La Garenne. The grandstands and pits still survive, just, and give a wonderfully evocative window on past glories. Their days are surely numbered since it is only a matter of time before they simply collapse or are demolished and the final remnants of a once great track are lost forever.

Permission given by TICTOC for convert the track.

Fixes and updates:

─Skybox;
─Some track side animations;
─Crowd, announcer and ambient sound effects;
─Dynamic rendering of spectators for different weekend sessions;
─Updated material settings and textures;
─Updated AIW, CAM and CIN files;
─New 3D models;

Link: https://mega.nz/#!VktklAQQ!ib_pMhed1Rum1ZTPiU13eHRaHV8zaBSFE1sp85NWQsc

Regards,
Cristian Luis.

Thanks !

Reims was optimized to Remix?

Thanks for this circuit Cristian !!

Reims 1966 is already avalable in the 60's Mod. What is better in this version?