Raceway Venray
| "The Fastest 1/2 Mile Oval In Europe", "Most Spectacular 1/4 Mile Oval In Europe" | |
|---|---|
MWV6 Pick Up's on display at Raceway Venray
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| Location | Venray, Netherlands |
| Time zone | GMT+1 |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Owner | Harry Maessen |
| Operator | Stichting Raceway Venray |
| Broke ground | 2008 |
| Opened | 1977 (motocross track) 1989 (oval) 2009 (new location) |
| Construction cost | Approx. €3,708,000 |
| Architect | Architektenburo Olieslagers B.V. |
| Former names | Circuit de Peel (1989 - 2008) |
| Major events |
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (2015-present) (1982, 1986) |
| Outer Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | .880 km (.5 mi) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Lap record | 0:19.033 ( Frank Wouters, , 2014, LMV8 Supercup) |
| Inner Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | .440 km (.25 mi) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Lap record | 0:13.320 ( Jeffrey Zwiep, , 2016, National Hot Rod) |
| Karting Track | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Turns | 13 |
Raceway Venray, formerly known as Circuit de Peel, is a motorsport racing circuit in Venray, Netherlands. The track consists of a banked half mile oval with a flat quarter mile oval inside and features a karting track using portions of both along with dedicated sections. The track host its own local championships, national championships in cooperation with the Midland Circuit in Lelystad and Circuit de Polderputten in Ter Apel.
The track is owned by Harry Maessen, a local business owner who is also involved in several other motorsports projects, including the BRL V6 and BRL Light series, Funpark Meppen and Acceleration 2014.
In 1961 the local people started hosting races in the village of Heide, Venray. The goal was to raise money for a church, the current church of Immaculate Conception. More than a hundred motocross racers attended the first event June 25, 1961. Motocross Club Janslust was founded to host the races under the sanctioning of the Roman Catholic Dutch Touring Club (the Roman Catholic variant of the Royal Dutch Touring Club). The motocross became a yearly event. More than twenty years the annual motocross was run. However, in 1983 the organisation was dissolved. The motorcross of 1982 was canceled due to bad weather. The loss of 6,500 guilders was a heavy burden for the organisation. The board of the organisation decided to end the motorcross activities.
After the dissolution of M.C.V. Janslust motorcross halted in the area. Former members Johan van Dijck, Jan Derikx and Harry Maessen founded a new private foundation in 1983, Stichting Motor Cross Venray. The owner of the track in Heide did not allow any new motorcross activities. The new foundation first wanted to host races at Castenray but eventually settled in Ysselsteyn. The foundation expanded the already existing facilities of Motor Cross Club Venray which had been in use since 1977. The track was expanded to a length of 1,500 meters and renamed Circuit de Peel. The track was located near the Lieutenant General Best Barracks. The first race of the new organisation was held in 1984. Under sanctioning of the KNMV and the the first race was held on February 5, 1984. The international Pullshaw Nederland Trophy was attended by many international riders such as Kees van der Ven and Heinz Kinigadner. In its first years most races at Circuit de Peel were sanctioned by the International Motor Bike Association.
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