Circuit history
The autodrom was built between 1978 and 1983 on the site of a former brown coal surface mine, the "Vrbenský" mine. The goal for its construction was mostly to end the long-term practice of organizing car races and motorcycle races on makeshift tracks in the centre of the city and to instead move these to a safe, enclosed special track on the outskirts of the city. Right from the beginning, the goal was to also use the new racing circuit for other purposes. Soon the autodrom was being used to test racing and newly developed vehicles, training of drivers of special rescue vehicles, fire-fighting vehicles and police cars, and for race schools and safe driving courses.
Polygon
This task was later taken over by the polygon, built on the race track site in 2005. It is still the largest and most complex facility of its kind in the Czech Republic. The area boasts the latest technology and offers various activities on an area of 13 hectares, designed to teach and train drivers of all types and tonnages of vehicles.
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First races right after the war
The first motorist event in Most took place shortly after World War II. The first speed race of motorcyclists started on 25 May 1947 on a track around the brewery. Five years later, the first car race in Most took place.
During the following years, the locations of races often changed; they took place in the city or in its surroundings and Most car races were soon included in the Championship calendar. The first Championship points were awarded in 1965 on a circuit in the Stalingrad district. At the beginning of the 1970s, races moved to a circuit marked out on a motorway-type road near the new railway station. The track was 3,450 metres long and became very popular even abroad. In 1979 it held one of the races of the prestigious "Interserie" series of races of sports cars and sport prototypes.
With the increasing requirements placed namely on safety, the original circuit was soon deemed unsatisfactory. This is why a special race track started to be built at the other end of the city. It was finished in 1983 and represented the end of a long history of racing on improvised road tracks. Most and its surrounding areas hosted a total of 57 motorist events from the end of World War II until the first race on the new special circuit, which was attended by 100,000 people. Of those, 35 were car races and 22 were motorcycle races.
"Golden Czech Hands"
The construction of the autodrom began on an area of 140 hectares in 1978, and the racing circuit was planned to be part of a larger sports facility. A study for the circuit was prepared two years earlier, by a group under the supervision of Václav Paur. The design of the track was prepared without the possibility of having an in-depth look at foreign tracks. Authors of the track design visited German tracks in Hockenheim and Nürburgring; however, they only had the regulations of international federations FIA and FIM and knowledge obtained from specialized motorist journals and TV broadcast when designing the project. And yet they took care of every detail in their project. The study compared the speeds of various vehicles in individual turns, but it also took into account local conditions which strongly influenced the final shape of the circuit.
Into private hands
In 1995, the management of the racing circuit was handed over to a new limited liability company Autodrom Most, which five years later became a joint stock company. Unfortunately, before its hand-over to a private owner, the first Czech special racing track did not receive all the care it deserved. The track and other parts of the autodrom were visibly neglected, the circuit deteriorated and lost the licence certificates for organizing automobile and motorcycle championship races. The first task of the new owner was to once again obtain both licences for the autodrom, which was successful partially thanks to the gradual but extensive and costly redevelopment of the whole premises.
Another fundamental decision adopted by shareholders in 2003 was the decision to perform a general reconstruction, which included for instance change of the profile of the first curve after the start, the so-called retarder, adding of some elements to the technical facility, expansion of some of the administration areas, improving the quality of facilities for press and many more.
New owner
In 2014, the company received a new owner. Under its new leadership, AUTODROM MOST continues to organize domestic as well as international races of motorcycles, travel vehicles, trucks, endurance races. In the future, the company management plans to introduce further improvements – not only in the area of motorist sports, but also by modernizing and developing the premises of the autodrom. In the next ten years, total investments are planned to reach 100 to 150 million Czech Crowns. The aim is to open the autodrom and polygon facility to the general public and create a centre for visitors that will become a part of the sports, social and cultural programme of the region.