The street circuit of Rouen les Essarts was used
for the first time in 1950 and hosted from 1952 until 1968 five
times the French Formula 1 Grand Prix.
It was a very fast and difficult circuit like
Spa-Francorchamps! After the start there was an
incredible downhill section with very fast corners. The official
name of this section was Six Frères (Six Brothers). But the drivers
gave it the nickname Chickens Lift! That because the courage drivers
should take this section flat out, at least they told, while the
chickens should lift the throttle.
The original version of the circuit was 6,542 km
(4.065 mile). When a new motorway was constructed near the circuit a
new connection was build between the Gresil section and the
start/finish straight (See the pictures below). After the
reconstruction the circuit was shortened to 5,543 km (3.444 mile).
In 1974 a chicane was built in the Chickens Lift.
Original the track was following the main road. Behind the
guardrail you see the new connection!
Rouen les Essarts was not only a challenging
circuit but also a very dangerous one that costs its victims! One of
them was Jo Schlesser, cousin of Jean Louis, who crashed with his
Honda in the "Chickens Lift" during the last Grand Prix in 1968.
After losing the Grand Prix the circuit was used
for other races. But in 1993 it was found to dangerous even for
slower racing cars, so the circuit was closed! In 1999 the pits and
all the grandstands have been demolished to create space for the
expansion of the public road. There have been plans to build a new
permanent track near Rouen but they never realized.
