The Circuit de Cadours was a race track

Race track

A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...

 located in the southwest of France, in the Tarn-et-Garonne

Tarn-et-Garonne

Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...

 .

Historic race track of Cadours Laréole

Cadours

Cadours

Cadours is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

 is now part of the Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

 city district. At the time of the start of the race-track, Cadours and more importantly its 600 inhabitants have demonstrated their capability to organise important events, "first flight event" in the 1920, air shows later, horse races and cycle races, too, before World War II.

An inhabitant from Cadours, surrounded by his friends, decided to establish an automobile event, his name: Louis Arrivet. He was a local mechanic and owned a car repair shop in the middle of the village. He was a fan of nice pieces of machinery of nice mechanic. He owned a Bugatti 47. He was also an engine tuning specialist and his skills were well known beyond the limits of the county. His address book was impressive, it included a range of sports car enthusiasts which will allow him to bring together, with the help of a newly appointed organizing committee, for a very first event called "Cadours Stop and Go" about 20 competitors.
The committee included Mr Gros, Mr Gabrielle as secretary and Mr Arrivet. They went to the "Laguepie" race track in the nearby département to pick some good ideas. They decided to pick the triangle formed by the D29, D89 and D41, all secondary tortuous roads to form the Cadours Circuit or race-track, located just outside the village of Cadours, some bales of straw would prevent major crashes while few wood barracks would become the pits. On September 18, 1948 about twenty cars had registered for the event, with René Mauriès on Simca Gordini, Michel Lecerf on Simca Deho, Roger Armichen on Simca, Robert Galy on Galy Spéciale and Émile Py on Py (using Traction Citroën parts). The race was won by René Mauriès, from Albi, for this very first event, at the average speed of 121.97 kilometre per hour on this 4015 m (2.5 mi) race track.

1949: a new Grand-Prix...

For the 1949 season, Mr Arrivet and his crew achieved Grand-Prix status for the event, the Grand-Prix of Cadours by the French Automobile Club

French Automobile Club

The Automobile Club of France is a men's club founded on November 12, 1895 by Albert de Dion, Paul Meyan, and its first president, the Dutch-born Baron, Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt....

 in the Voiturette

Voiturette

Voiturette is a word mostly used to describe a miniature automobile; however, it has several nuanced meanings, depending largely on the usage date.-History:...

/Formula 2 category. The event was launched… to become an International Grand-Prix event in the following years. Where big shots will come at the end of the racing season to harvest a couple of missing points to ensure a proper ranking or would come to finish adjustments of their next season's race cars.
The first «Grand Prix de Cadours», was raced on 18 September 1949, in front of more than 3000 spectators. It was a success. Gerbout, from Paris, came with his Gerbout Spéciale (an old Lombard) and won the race.

In 1950, the committee decided to met with reputable competitors assembled at a nearby event on the Lespare race track, near Bordeaux, where a Formula 2 challenge is organized to push them to come to race in Cadours.
It is a success. The start line will witness people like Aldo Gordini, René Bonnet, Élie Bayol

Élie Bayol

Élie Marcel Bayol was a French racing driver who raced in Formula One for the O.S.C.A. and Gordini teams. He started his career in 1950 racing 500cc Formula 3 DB-Panhards and progressed to Formula 2 races and hillclimbs around France. His best result was a fourth place in the Circuit de Cadours,...

, Marcel Balsa, René Simone, Harry Schell

Harry Schell

Harry O'Reilly Schell was an American Grand Prix motor racing driver.-Early life:...

 and Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer was a Grand Prix motor racing driver....

. Also a motorcycle event is organized in conjunction with the race car event, improving further the recognition of the event and the race track.

A tragic accident....

This second Grand Prix, in 1950, was bereaved by the accidental death of Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer was a Grand Prix motor racing driver....

, and killed by the failure of the steering mechanism of his Cooper

Cooper Car Company

The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...

 T12-Jap

JA Prestwich Industries Ltd

JA Prestwich Industries, was an English engineering company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which produced cinematographic equipment, internal combustion engines , and other examples of precision engineering.-History:J. A...

. The resulting crash was fatal.

On September 9, 1951, the following year, before the start of the third 'Grand Prix de Cadours', a monument sculpted by Lucien Passey, to the memory of Raymond Sommer was unveiled. This monument was funded by people's money collection. A second identical monument was set in Mouzon, in the French Ardennes, the village where Sommer was born.

The following year, on June 2, 1952, Juan Manuel Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...

, came to Cadours to honor his late friend, in the name of the Argentine people.

In 1955, most of the race car events were cancelled because of the Le Mans accident. Drastic safety measures were set in place. Most would led to too expensive investment. At this time several event died….
It became the beginning of the end of the "Circuit de Cadours-Laréole" as for several other in France… and in Europe.

In 1957, a Sports car category event was organised. It was won by André Loens who shortly afterward died in a Monthléry accident.

The two last events will happen in the "Formula Junior" category, recently defined. The last racing event was won by Jo Siffert

Jo Siffert

Joseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver.Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner...

 who became a Swiss celebrity….

.....Every two years since 1998, the event is organized to gather owners and fans of oldtimers on a race track organised for this purpose.

Results

Date	Catégory	Event	Pos	Pilot	Team	Car	Laps	Lap length
18/09/1948		Accélération et Freinage de Cadours	1	René Mauriès		Simca-Gordini		4015 m
18/08/1949	Formula 2	1st Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Robert Gerbout		Gerbout Spéciale - Lombard
10/09/1950	Formula 2	2nd Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Johnny/René Simone, alias René Abbo	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	DB - Panhard	20	4015 m
		|2	Aldo Gordini Aldo Gordini Aldo Gordini was a racing driver from France. Born in Bologna, Italy, he was the son of Amédée Gordini, owner of the French sports car manufacturer Gordini...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	20
		|3	Marcel Balsa Marcel Balsa Marcel Lucien Balsa was a French racing driver.Balsa started in racing after World War II, when he acquired a Bugatti Type 51 and became quite competitive in the French national events...	Marcel Balsa	Jicey - BMW	20
	|		Raymond Sommer Raymond Sommer Raymond Sommer was a Grand Prix motor racing driver....  fatal crash
10/9/1951	Formula 2	3rd Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Maurice Trintignant Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of F1...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	25	4104 m
			2	Robert Manzon Robert Manzon Robert Manzon is a former racing driver from France. He was born in Marseille. He participated in 29 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on May 21, 1950. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 16 championship points...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	25
			3	Jean Behra Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.-Appearance and personality:...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T11	25
14/9/1952	Formula 2	4th Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Louis Rosier Louis Rosier Louis Rosier was a racing driver from France.-Career highlights:...	Louis Rosier Louis Rosier Louis Rosier was a racing driver from France.-Career highlights:...	Ferrari 500	30	5536 m
			2	Harry Schell Harry Schell Harry O'Reilly Schell was an American Grand Prix motor racing driver.-Early life:...	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30
			3	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Enrico Platé	Maserati-Platé 4CLT/48	30
30/8/1953	Formula 2	5th Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Maurice Trintignant Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of F1...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30	5536 m
			2	Harry Schell Harry Schell Harry O'Reilly Schell was an American Grand Prix motor racing driver.-Early life:...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30
			3	Jean Behra Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.-Appearance and personality:...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30
30/8/1954	Non Champ.	6th Circuit de Cadours	1	Jean Behra Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.-Appearance and personality:...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30	4000 m
			2	André Pilette André Pilette André Pilette , son of former Indy 500 participant Théodore Pilette, was a racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 14 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 17 June 1951. He scored 2 championship points...	Équipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T16	30
			3	Louis Rosier Louis Rosier Louis Rosier was a racing driver from France.-Career highlights:...	Louis Rosier Louis Rosier Louis Rosier was a racing driver from France.-Career highlights:...	Maserati 250F Maserati 250F The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made.-Mechanical details:...	30
8/9/1957	Sports	8th Circuit de Cadours	1	André Loens	Private	Maserati 200S Maserati 200S Maserati 200S were twenty-eight racing cars made by Maserati of Italy, to take over for the aging Maserati A6 GCS racing variants.The Tipo 52 development started in 1952, led by Giulio Alfieri. The car had a 1994.3 cc inline-four cylinder light-alloy engine, dual OHV per cylinder and DOHC...	70	4000 m
			2	Carel Godin de Beaufort Carel Godin de Beaufort Jonkheer Karel Pieter Antoni Jan Hubertus Godin de Beaufort was a Dutch nobleman and motor racing driver from the Netherlands...	Private	Porsche Spyder 550 Porsche 550 The Porsche 550 was a sports car produced by Porsche from 1953-1956.Inspired by the Porsche 356 which was created by Ferry Porsche, and some spyder prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a car designed for use in auto racing. The model Porsche...	70
			3	Claude Storez	Private	Porsche Spyder 550	70
6/9/1959	Formula Junior	10th Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Bill de Selincourt	Private	Elva Elva (car manufacturer) Elva was a sports and racing car manufacturing company based in Bexhill, then Hastings and Rye, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1955 by Frank G. Nichols. The name comes from the French phrase elle va .-Racing cars:...  100 - BMC	30	3915 m
			2	Michel May	Private	Stanguellini - Fiat	30
			3	Giovanni Alberti	Scuderia Madunina	Stanguellini - Fiat	30
3/9/1961	Formula Junior	12th Grand Prix de Cadours	1	Jo Siffert Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver.Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner...	Écurie Romande	Lotus 20 Lotus 20 Lotus 20 was a Formula Junior car built by Lotus for the 1962 season as a successor to the Lotus 18.The chassis was a spaceframe, clothed in fibreglass bodywork. It had front double wishbone suspension, but the rear had a lower wishbone with the driveshaft being fixed length and therefore used as... - Ford	20	3915 m
		|2	José Rosinski	Inter Auto Course	Cooper T56 - BMC	20
		|3	Philippe Martel	Private	Lotus 20 - Ford	20