There was a time when the forests near Orival, France, echoed with the scream of racing engines. Rouen-Les-Essarts wasn’t just a circuit—it was a beast. A winding, undulating street track carved into the landscape, daring drivers to tame it. Born in 1950, it stretched up to 6.5 kilometers at its peak, blending modern pit facilities with raw, natural terrain. Its most infamous stretch? The brutal climb from the cobbled Nouveau Monde hairpin up to Gresil—a 93-meter ascent that tested both man and machine.
Formula 1 came calling, and Rouen hosted five French Grands Prix. But its legacy is shadowed by tragedy. In 1968, Jo Schlesser lost his life at the blisteringly fast Six Frères corner, a section later renamed Des Roches in a bid to soften its dangers. F1 moved on, but the track lived on in Formula 2 and national racing until 1978, still demanding respect from those who raced there.
Over the years, Rouen changed shape:
5.1 km (1950–1954) – The original, shorter layout.
6.5 km (1955–1971) – The golden era, the version that defined its legend.
5.5 km (1972–1994) – Cut short by highway construction, a shadow of its former self.
By the ’90s, safety standards had evolved, and Rouen couldn’t keep up. The final race ran in 1994. By the decade’s end, most of its grandstands, pits, and barriers were gone—reclaimed by time. Today, you can still drive the original route, but the soul of the track is long dead.
And yet, for those who remember, Rouen-Les-Essarts isn’t just another forgotten circuit. It’s a ghost of motorsport’s wilder days, when tracks weren’t sanitized, when trees stood guard just inches from the tarmac, and when racing through the woods felt less like a competition and more like a battle against the impossible.
