I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Formula 1 fan outside of Spain so enthusiastically looking forward to the Spanish Grand Prix. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the current home of the Spanish world championship finals, is not known for being the venue for exciting races. It also doesn’t help that the venue was a major base during F1’s pre-season testing, so teams ran more miles here than anywhere else. Several other races have had the honor of hosting the Grand Prix before the Catalonia circuit took over in 1991. However, the most exciting track has to be the first one.
The Autódromo de Sitges-Terramar hosted the first edition of the Spanish Grand Prix in 1923. Terramar is about 42 miles southwest of Circuit de Catalunya. Interestingly, Terramar is a 1.2-mile-long steep oval. According to Grand Tour’s James May, the two corners in the pea-shaped oval are gradually beveled up to 66 degrees or 78 degrees. For comparison, the Talladega Superspeedway’s corners are 32.5 degrees.
The 1923 Spanish Grand Prix was a duel primarily between the Frenchman Albert Divo and the English aristocrat Count Louis Zborowski. Divo had the unique challenge of trying to beat the American machines with a British-built Sunbeam. Count Zborowski is driving a Miller 122 equipped with a 2.0 liter inline 4-cylinder engine and fitted with a two-seater bodywork to meet European Grand Prix regulations. Earlier That season, a Miller took his first Indianapolis 500 with a race-only win, sending six cars into the top seven. Miller went on to win eight more Indy 500s in the 1920s and 1930s.
However, Zborowski missed Miller’s dominance. Earl Miller blew a tire while leading the race with seven laps remaining. After changing the tire, Zborowski took the car to finished in second place, 50 seconds behind Albert Divo. This will be the only time Sitges-Terramar hosts a Grand Prix. The track had permanent financial problems due to cost overruns during construction and was eventually seized by the Spanish government in 1929.
Today, Sitges-Terramar is a chicken farm. The ravages of a racetrack have been used in the 21st century. In 2012, two-time world racing champion Carlos Sainz Sr did a promotional run with Red Bull in an Audi R8 GT3 car. . The Grand Tour also visited the ring during the second season of the series streaming on Amazon. The facility will reopen in 2023 as a competitive horse racing venue, and the historic track will be restored during renovations.
