Vilafranca’s Circuit

The birthplace of Formula 1

It is a non-permanent or temporary speed circuit, located between public roads, being, due to its characteristics, the first where three international awards were held and which has reached its centenary.

The circuit with the shape of a triangular perimeter and with a length of 14,790 kilometres, coincides with the layout of several roads such as: N-340a, in its section between Vilafranca del Penedès and la Ràpita; the section of the road BV-2176 from la Ràpita to la Múnia; the section of the road B-212 from la Múnia to Vilafranca del Penedès. However, part of the road section BV-2176, between la Ràpita and la Múnia belongs to the municipality of Arboç and part of the road section B-212, between Múnia and Vilafranca del Penedès belongs to the municipality of Sant Martí Sarroca. Thus involving five municipalities and two provinces.

Further information

These races were organized by Penya Rhin, a group of friends that included notable industrialists, members of the bourgeoisie, businessmen, engineers, journalists…, all of them lovers of cars, speed, innovations who knew how to channel this social demand by organizing, without any official support, races that were the envy and reference of all of Europe.

They used to meet in the café, now gone, un Plaça Catalunya called Rhin, which is where they got their name from. They formed a company in 1916, in the middle of the first World War, first doing races among themselves, things went further until 1921 with the help of Joaquim Molins Figueras in organizing international awards.

To achieve this, they adapted the French regulations to the test, which meant that these races were included in the “Official Calendar of the International Bureau“.

Looking for the ideal enclave to locate the circuit, partner Enric Ràfols Martí took them to the Penedès, choosing the triangle of roads that joins Vilafranca-Monjos-La Múnia. It is where the first international car race in Spain took place, which was the second in Europe after the one in Paris in 1921.

Three editions were held in the years 1921 – 1922 – 1923.

In these races, new regulations were incorporated, some of which remain valid today, such as the fact that each brand of car is identified with a specific colour, the cylinder capacity and weight of the vehicles, the limitation of time to finish the race, or that the departure of all the vehicles was done together, as happened for the first time in 1923.

In order to be able to properly arrange the place where the races would take place, the best engineers and technicians of the time worked there, thus changing the width, they raised the curves; they improved the floor of the roads with the “MACADAM” technique and roads, all with extraordinary budgets and with very satisfactory results.

Detachable tribunes were designed which were 135 meters long, and could accommodate more than 6,000 people, Vilafranca had 7,958 inhabitants. They had a section to accommodate the press correspondents who arrived from Catalonia, Spain, France, Italy, England, Austria, Belgium, Germany and in 1922 from the USA. Where a telephone and telegraph had been installed to be able to send the chronicles almost in real time.

In the 1923 race, loudspeakers were installed for the first time in Spain so that the public could be informed at all times of how the race was progressing.

They were very popular races where every year more than 50,000 people, in more than 2,000 cars, came for a single day. These are numbers from 100 years ago. They were so popular that the race held on October 21, 1923, coinciding with the date of the match between C.F. Barcelona and Europe, the Football Federation postponed it so that the fans could come to witness the CIRCUIT DE VILAFRANCA race.

The Vilafranca circuit in the Penedès can be considered “The cradle of Formula 1 in Spain”.

This was a strategic project that placed the Penedès in the world centre of motoring, which attracted people from all over the world, but which, unfortunately, has been forgotten. Although there was talk of making it permanent with a budget of 1,300,000 pesetas.

Among the most important circuits in Europe inaugurated in the twenties we have:

– Circuit of VILAFRANCA DEL PENEDÈS, in Catalonia, in 1921.

– Circuit of MONZA, in Italy, in 1922.

– Circuit of LE MANS, in France, in 1923.

– Circuit of LASTRE, in the Basque Country, in 1924.

– Circuit of SPA-FRACORCHAMPS, in Belgium, in 1925.

– Circuit of NÜRBURGRING, in Germany, in 1927.

– Circuit of MONTECARLO, in Monaco, in 1929.

Of all of them, the only ones that do not have activity are those from the Spanish state, coincidence or laziness? This layout should be preserved for what it meant in the history of international motoring competitions in Europe, and for the knowledge of future generations. Currently, the layout of the CIRCUIT is not included in the inventory of the Architectural Heritage of the Department of Culture due to the lack of existing heritage elements from the time.

The best drivers from Europe came driving the fastest cars of the time, achieving speeds unthinkable in those years. In the 1923 race, specifically on the seventh lap, the two TALBOT cars, on their way through the Monjos, reached a speed of 150 kilometres per hour, with cars from 100 years ago, without any safety measures and the roads were without asphalt.

The race in 1921 covered 30 laps with a total of 443,700 kilometres and in 1922 and 1923 35 laps were covered with a total of 517,650 kilometres.

In order to compete, drivers came from all over Europe driving their cars.

The participating cars received the name “voiturette“, which means “small car“, it was because the regulation specified that the engine capacity of the participating cars could not exceed 1,500 cubic centimetres, nor could they have more than four cylinders. In those days, cubicles were much higher. This made the Vilafranca circuit a pioneer in this modality in Spain and one of the first to apply it to competitions in Europe, as can be seen in some publications of the time.