Designed by
John Hugenholtz and built in 1963, Zolder hosted the
Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1980
Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix. F1 moved to Zolder in 1973 and with the exception of two races at
Nivelles-Baulers in 1972 and 1974 (both won by
Emerson Fittipaldi), Zolder was the location of the Belgian Grand Prix until 1982. That year, Canadian driver
Gilles Villeneuve was killed during qualifying at the
1982 Belgian Grand Prix. Villeneuve's
Ferrari 126C2 collided at speed with the
March 821 of
Jochen Mass. The Ferrari was torn up in the accident and when rolling, Villeneuve was thrown from the car. After Villeneuve's death, the Belgian Grand Prix was held at
Spa-Francorchamps in
1983, before returning to Zolder one final time in
1984. Fittingly,
Ferrari driver
Michele Alboreto won the race carrying Villeneuve's #27 on his car. Since , the Belgian Grand Prix has permanently moved to Spa. Zolder has also been used for cycling events including the
UCI Road World Championships twice in 1969 and 2002 and the
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 1970,
2002 and
2016. The latter saw the first confirmed use of
mechanical doping when
Femke Van den Driessche was found to have a secret motor inside her bike. Since 2009, Circuit Zolder has hosted a
cyclo-cross race in December for the
World Cup. The circuit hosted the
UCI BMX World Championships in 2015. In 2019 and for the first time ever the
UCI BMX World Championships returned to Circuit Zolder. In the beginning of 2006, the track underwent safety adaptations. In 2007, the track hosted a
Champ Car World Series Grand Prix, and a round of the
FIA GT Championship. The track was venue of a round of the
World Series by Renault championship from 2003 to 2006, and replaced
Zandvoort as site for the
Masters of Formula 3 in 2007 and 2008. Zolder was featured on the car programme
Top Gear in 2008. In the episode, the show's British hosts competed against their German counterparts from
D MOTOR. Zolder hosted also the
FIA WTCC Race of Belgium in 2010, 2011, and 2020. The last race they drove in 2011 was won by
Rob Huff in a Chevrolet and
Gabriele Tarquini in a SEAT. The
WTCC then disappeared from the Belgian circuits until in 2014 the circus returned to Spa. At this time, mainly the
Blancpain Sprint Series and the
BRCC national championship hosted a race in Zolder. The
24 Hours of Zolder endurance event is also held as a stand-alone event around the end of August or the beginning of September.
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series have hosted their final race of the season in Zolder since
2015. In 2019, for the first time in 17 years, the
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters returned to Circuit Zolder. But the circuit lost its place in the DTM calendar to Spa-Francorchamps in
2022. ==Noise limits==