M.C.V. Janslust In 1961 the local people started hosting
motocross races in the village of
Heide, Venray. The goal was to raise money for a church, the current church of
Immaculate Conception. More than a hundred motocross racers attended the first event on June 25, 1961. Motocross Club Janslust was founded to host the races under the sanctioning of the Roman Catholic Dutch Touring Club (the Roman Catholic variant of the
Royal Dutch Touring Club). The motocross became a yearly event, and was run annually for more than twenty years. However, the motocross of 1982 was canceled due to bad weather, and in 1983 the organisation was dissolved. The loss of 6,500
guilders was a heavy burden for the organisation. The board of the organisation decided to end the motocross activities.
Stichting Moto-Cross Venray After the dissolution of M.C.V. Janslust, motocross halted in the area. Former members Johan van Dijck, Jan Derikx and Harry Maessen founded a new
private foundation in 1983, Stichting Moto-Cross Venray. The owner of the track in Heide did not allow any new motocross activities. The new foundation first wanted to host races at
Castenray but eventually settled in
Ysselsteyn. The foundation expanded the already existing facilities of Motor Cross Club Venray which had been in use since 1977. The track was expanded to a length of 1,500 meters and renamed
Circuit de Peel. The track was located near the
Lieutenant General Best Barracks. The first race of the new organisation was held in 1984. Under sanctioning of the
KNMV and the
FIM the first race was held on February 5, 1984. The international Pullshaw Nederland Trophy was attended by many international riders such as
Kees van der Ven and
Heinz Kinigadner. In its first years most races at Circuit de Peel were sanctioned by the
International Motor Bike Association.
Start of oval racing At the end of 1989 the Circuit de Peel lost its licence to host the
Motocross World Championship Grand Prix. As this reduced the income of the track Harry Maessen decided to add an
oval track. On the 18th of August 1990 the inaugural races at the oval track were held. The track was 470 meters long and was made out of concrete. Track owner Maessen participated in the Super Stock class. In 1991 the first
Superstox World Championship was held by the
Spedeworth organisation.
Darren Innocent won the prestigious race at Circuit de Peel. The track was paved with asphalt in the winter of 1995/1996. A
karting track was laid out in the infield of the oval track and also an
autocross event was hosted at the oval. In 1999 the track started working with another oval track in the province of
Limburg the
JaBa Circuit. The coöperation made it possible for racing drivers to run both track championships without missing races. After the closure of
Circuit de Berckt the Circuit de Peel had a big increase in drivers and spectators. The track was extended to a length of 520 meters. In 2005 stockcar racing in mainland Europe suffered a major loss. During the highly prestigious
Stockcar F1 World Cup at Circuit de Peel one of the drivers suffered a fatal accident.
Piet Keijzer from
Helmond had a flat tire in the outside lane. Keijzer spun and whilst approaching the infield had a head-on collision with
Ed Neachell. Keijzer died from injuries sustained in the crash. It was the first and only deadly racing accident at Circuit de Peel.
Illegality The racetrack was never included in the
land-use planning but the municipality allowed the circuit to operate in order to prevent motorcyclists taking to the woods and causing more nuisance. Since 1993 the track lied within the "Ecologische Hoofdstrucuur", a network of nature reserves with restrictions on what could be done inside them, was implemented by the Dutch Government and the provinces, leading to the circuit not only operating without a license but also in an area where it could never be allowed to. During an inspection by the
Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment the commission decided that the track had to cease its activities. The council of the local province decided that a replacement venue had to be found before the track would be closed. It was decided that a new venue had to be found before 2006 or a fine of €200,000 would be imposed. Three new venues were proposed, these were all declined. In January 2006, however, the
King's Commissioner Léon Frissen allowed the track to continue activities for six months. The case in which various ecological societies demanding the local government to close the racetrack even went to court. The track was closed by the court in 2008. Two races were allowed to be run on the illegal race track. This caused a stir in local politics, both races were eventually canceled. In March 2008 Maessen built an oval track near the town of
Oirlo without permission of the municipality. The entrepreneur Maessen was ordered to demolish the track within one week, an order which he obeyed. An illegal, unorganized, kart race was held on March 16. This caused further political unrest, especially from the
SP. After the incident the council of the municipality decided to close of the old track with containers. The track was demolished in November 2008.
New circuit won both races of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 2 class in 2016|300px In February 2007 an agreement was reached to move the old circuit De Peel across the road from the old complex. For this move a pig farm had to be moved. Maessen bought the pig farm and surrounding plot for €1,100,000. In return, the pig farmer bought a plot to continue his farm from Maessen for €410,000. The new quarter mile oval opened on Whit Monday 2009 with a demonstration event. The 2009 season only saw one race weekend at the track for the World Cups for
BriSCA Formula 1 and
Formula 2 Stock Cars. For the 2010 season the track only opened for the World Cup weekend again. Between the 2010 World Cup and the races on Whit Monday in 2011, the track was severely overhauled and the half mile oval was built around the quarter mile oval, which now had to share half of the width of its front stretch with the outer oval, a feature not liked by drivers in short-track classes. Although the track still had no full license, event licenses were obtained for four events in each of the 2011, '12 and '13 seasons. Over the 2011-2012 winter the short oval was shortened by bringing the straights closer together and a wall was constructed between the inner and outer oval. At the end of 2013 a license was obtained allowing for 11 days of limitless noise and limited noise from events on other days. Ahead of the 2014 season the turn 1 grandstand was covered. The 2014 racing schedule expanded to seven races and first featured two rounds of the UK's
Pickup Truck Racing Series. Midway through the season the infield grandstand was moved from the backstretch of the inner oval to turn 4 and part of a pedestrian bridge over the exit of turn 4 of the outer oval was constructed in order to allow spectators to go to and from the infield during races as well, though the bridge was not completed in 2014. Motocross also made its return in 2014, with the otherwise empty infield of turns 3 and 4 along with the back stretch of the oval being converted to a motocross track for the MON's International Youth Weekend. The full karting circuit was likewise first used in 2014, though sections inside the short oval's walls had been used previously already. ==Series and events==