Imola '07

Construction of Imola began in March 1950. Two years later Enzo Ferrari sent a sportscar to the track for a test run with Alberto Ascari, Gigi Villoresi and Giannino Marzotto sharing the driving. It was not until June 1954, however, that the first car races were held at Imola. Keen to expand the organizers collected a large purse of start money and asked the Formula 1 racers if they would like to take part in a non-championship event in April 1963 between the races at Pau and Pescara. In an attempt to win the approval and support of Ferrari, the Imola Council agreed to name the circuit after Enzo Ferrari's son Dino, who had died of leukemia in 1956. The decision guaranteed patronage from the Old Man of Maranello and within a couple of years the Circuit Dino Ferrari had raised the money for the construction of ring roads around the track so that finally it became a permanent closed circuit. Safety on Imola was never of highest standard, and through the years it had some horrific crashes. Imola's luck ran out in 1994 when Grand Prix racing endured a nightmare weekend with the death of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna along with few serious accidents through the weekend. After that circuit has gone serious modifications. Today it has 4 chicanes and 5 corners in between, direction is anticlockwise. - Enis Dauti