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In the pit

Since 1931, my home town - Vila do Conde - was known throughout the country for being Portugal's Monaco. The reason was that 2 weekends in the year - one in June and one in July - we had races, in a beautiful city circuit. This circuit was called "Princesa do Ave".

The circuit had two versions, the longest was 6km long and the shortest 2,7km.

It had it's most attractive points in turns called "Curva do Castelo", "Curva do Praia Azul", "seca do Bacalhau" and "S" .

These races went on until 2003.
Some refurbishing was done to a big part of the circuit and it was no longer usable as a competition site. The races ended, for the joy of some, for the sadness of many.

In 2010 a group of enthusiasts was able to, with the agreement of the City Hall, have a race day to remember how fantastic this circuit was. Some race drivers showed up, some enthusiasts with classic cars showed up, even an old F1 car was present!

Nature gave us the joy of a hot, sunny day in late May and everything was perfect.

Although it may look like people were in danger, this wasn't actually a race but more like a demonstration. The cars were going "slow".

If you wish to know what this circuit was like in it's early years you can visit this link: www.youtube.com-watch?v=yHr0SPFmmU8

I thought these photos were lost and while cleaning my computer to format finally found them, 4 years later! Posted them here to keep the memory alive. I hope you enjoy!
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