The Valencia Street Circuit was a street circuit in Valencia, Spain which hosted the Formula One European Grand Prix for five years (2008–2012). The first race meeting on the circuit was held over the 23/24 August 2008 weekend, with Felipe Massa winning the main event, the European Grand Prix, after starting from pole position. The circuit used the roads skirting the city's harbour and America's Cup port area – including a section over a 140-metre-long (460 ft) swing bridge – and also included some roads designed exclusively for racing purposes by the German architect Hermann Tilke, who also designed the infrastructure buildings for the circuit. The 2012 edition took place on 24 June and was the last to go under the name of the European Grand Prix until 2016, when the Baku City Circuit used the title for one year. The circuit has been left abandoned after a deal fell through to alternate this venue with Catalunya in Barcelona to host the Spanish Grand Prix.
Valencia Street Circuit
The swing bridge, an important element of the Valencia Street Circuit.
The abandoned Valencia Street Circuit in 2018
A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually installed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over but in modern times the pits, garages, race control and main grandstands are sometimes permanently constructed in the area. Since the track surface is originally planned for normal speeds, race drivers often find street circuits bumpy and lacking grip. Run-off areas may be non-existent, which makes driving mistakes more expensive than in purpose-built circuits with wider run-off areas.
Racing on a street circuit is also called "legal street racing".
The Monaco Grand Prix, held at the Circuit de Monaco, is one of the world's most prestigious and famous auto races.
The Toronto Indy street circuit has run at Toronto’s Exhibition Place since 1986.
The St. Petersburg street circuit held its first race in 1985, and was integrated into the IndyCar Series in 2003.
Punta del Este Street Circuit, Uruguay was the first ePrix of Formula E in the Americas. It runs along Punta del Este's harbour – nicknamed the Monte Carlo of South America.