Interlagos Preview

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Next weekend the Formula One takes a pit stop South America. The Autodrome José Carlos Pace is the venue of the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix. The circuit is located in a suburb of the city of Sao Paulo. It's still widely known by its former name, Interlagos.

The land on which the circuit is built was originally bought in 1936 by property developers who wanted to build accommodation. However, it was discovered that the land was unsuitable for housing, so a racing circuit was built instead.

The traditional name of the circuit (literally: 'between lakes') comes from the fact that it was built in a region between two large artificial lakes, Guarapiranga and Billings, which were built in the early 20th century to supply the city with water and electric power. In the 1970's it was renamed to honor the then recently decreased Formula One Driver José Carlos Pace. (Carlos Pace, was a Brazilian Formula One driver. He participated in 73 Grand Pixs, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won 1 race, achieved 6 podiumas and scored a total of 58 championship points. He also secured 1 pole position.) There is a kart circuit inside it named after Ayrton Senna.

The circuit is one of the few racing circuits outside of the United States to go in an anti-clockwise direction.
The circuit is 4,325 km long with top speeds from around 325km/h. The track is very bumpy and it takes great reflexes and skill to have control of the car in any given situation, the tight corners posing some serious problems for the speeding machines. A chicane has been placed at the first corner, to slow the cars down.

The first Brazilian Grand Prix was held in 1973 and the circuit acquired its reputation as a difficult, selective venue from some of the greatest drivers of the era: Stewart, Pace, Reutman and others.

The Brazilian Grand Prix moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1981 and Interlagos had a decade of decline. In 1990 the race came back to Sao Paolo after an extensive renovation of the circuit in the course of which the track was shortened to 4,325km and a new large pit complex was built.

In the ensuing years further work kept the circuit up to the required technical standards and it remains as a favourite venue for the teams because of its challenging layout and for being one of the few circuits were overtaking is possible at various points.

Giancarlo Fisichella was able to win his very first Grand Prix victory in the 2003 edition of the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. Last year, in tricky weather conditions, Juan Pablo Montoya took his only win of the season with BMW Williams. Of course the Brazilian drivers Barrichello and Massa will be in the heat of the fight for a podium place at their home Grand Prix.