1936 Hungarian Grand Prix Circuit

A photo tour around the 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix Circuit in Népliget Park in the Hungarian capital Budapest, made by Herman Liesemeijer in the summer of 2010.

The layout of the 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix Circuit

Here at the Vajda Péter utca was in 1936 the start of the first ever Hungarian Grand Prix.

Just before the intersection we turn right to the closed road.

This was the first one of a long series of corners!

On the junction we turn right.

Look at the bad condition of the surface! Can you imagine Nuvolari, Rosemeyer and Caracciola competed here for the Hungarian Grand Prix?

On old maps this part was curved. Probably they straighten it to create space for a new power station (see photo below).

Here we turn left. But the original corner was smoother and located on our right hand.

The new corner seen from the site of the exit of the old corner…

Followed by a curved part which was full throttle.

But than the radius decreases and the drivers had to brake here!

The exit of the corner is widening again.

Looks like an endless series of corners!

Bad surface again.

On the junction right.

This part is now closed…

Here they cut a small piece out of the track because of the extension of the main road, the Könyves Kálmán körút. In the seventies they followed another route here to stay in the park.

And here the old track continue!

By the pigeons we turn right.

A wide left hand corner again.

In 1936 they went straight here, but in the seventies they turned left to an additional loop.

One of the few straights.

Here we leave the quiet park.

Passing the planetarium…

The only part with some elevations.

Passing the water tower.

On the junction we go left. This is the beginning of a very long and fast corner with an increasing radius.

At the end of the long parabolic corner we enter this junction. In 1936 they turned right, but in the seventies they went left to the new Start/Finish. That made the corner even longer!

Because we following the 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix traject we went right and enter this short straight.

We go straight here. The road on the left was built after 1936.

The final left-hander before the Start/Finish straight.

And here we’re back on the half Mile long straght.

Here was the Start/Finish from 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix, where we started our lap through Népliget Park.

© Text & photos: Herman Liesemeijer