The Swiss allow circuit races again after 67 years
The accident tragedy at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 had far-reaching consequences. Several countries issued general bans on road racing, while Switzerland banned circuit racing in general. And although there were repeated attempts to lift this ban on circuit racing, it did not succeed for almost seven decades. Until yesterday. Switzerland's second chamber, the Council of States, which followed the same verdict of the National Council, came out in favor of abolishing the ban. Presumably the politicians had simply run out of arguments as to why this unspeakable and illogical ban should be maintained.
SwissInfo summarized the decision of the Council of States as follows:
"The Council of States voted 27 to 15 in favour of allowing circuit races in Switzerland again in future, including for vehicles with combustion engines. A two-tier licensing system is no longer appropriate, said Burkart. The cantons are responsible for hill climb races, while the federal government is responsible for Formula E races. Nobody assumes that Formula 1 races with combustion engines will take place in Switzerland in the future."
And so it now seems that a genuine classic car Grand Prix with a racing character, for example, could actually be held in Switzerland in the future. However, with the exception of Lignières, the Swiss naturally lack the fixed circuits for this. But who knows, maybe one of the numerous projects aimed at a permanent circuit will take flight after all?
