Caesars Palace Grand Prix

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was an annual car race held in Las Vegas, US from 1981 to 1984. In 1981 and 1982 the race was part of the Formula One World Championship and featured a 2.268 mile (3.650 km), 14 turn Grand Prix layout; in 1983 and 1984 it became a round of the CART Indy car series and featured a 5 turn 1.125 mile (1.811 km) distorted oval layout. Nissan/Datsun was a presenting sponsor of the races.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The races were held on a temporary circuit in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

History

File:Derek Warwick Las Vegas 1982.jpg

Derek Warwick (Toleman TG182 Hart) at Las Vegas in 1982.

There had been Can-Am races at the Stardust International Raceway in the mid to late 1960s, but that circuit was bought by developers and then demolished in 1970. The first race was originally supposed to take place as the last race of the 1980 season on November 2, 4 weeks after the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. But when Watkins Glen went off the schedule after 1980, the Caesars' Palace Grand Prix gained importance, and more effort was put forth by Bernie Ecclestone and others to make sure this Las Vegas race went ahead. The new race ended the year, whereas Long Beach, only Template:Cvt away, started it. But the Las Vegas Caesars Palace circuit was not as popular among the drivers Template:Who as Long Beach, primarily because of the flat, repetitive nature of the circuit, its parking-lot location, and Las Vegas itself. It has been described as one of the worst circuits Formula One has ever visited.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The track was laid out in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel and was set up for a temporary circuit. Wide enough for overtaking, it provided ample run-off areas filled with sand and had a surface that was as smooth as glass. Its counter-clockwise direction, however, put a tremendous strain on the drivers' necks. When Nelson Piquet clinched his first World Championship by finishing fifth in 1981, it took him 15 minutes to recover from heat exhaustion after barely making it to the finish. The 1982 race, held in intense heat—another unpleasant feature of this race—was won by Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell, but that was the end of Formula One racing in Las Vegas, since the races had drawn only tiny crowds (the venue has been described as "an impossibly tight and unedifying circuit that failed to excite drivers or fans"<ref name=richards>Template:Cite news</ref>) and the 1981 race made a huge loss for the hotel.

Following the withdrawal of Formula One, the event was assumed by the CART Indy car series for 1983 and 1984. The circuit was modified with turns 1, 6, and 10 connected in a continuous straight, producing a flat Template:Cvt distorted oval. The two races were contested over 178 laps, a distance of Template:Cvt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> For the 1984 running, the exit of the final corner was widened, increasing lap speeds by around 7 mph from the previous year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Unreliable source? Following the 1984 race, the circuit disappeared from the calendar, with the location now covered with urban development (namely, the Forum Shops at Caesars and the Mirage).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The first Las Vegas Formula One race since 1982 was the Las Vegas Grand Prix, running on a Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> circuit through city streets including Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip), as part of the 2023 World Championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=richards/>

Winners of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix

FIA Formula One World Championship history

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
1981	Template:Flagicon Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas	Report
1982	Template:Flagicon Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell-Ford		Report
Source:<ref name=CF1CAE>Template:Cite web</ref>

Can-Am Series history

Year	Date	Winning driver	Car	Team
1981	October 16	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Frissbee-Chevrolet	Garvin Brown Racing
1982	September 26	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	March 827-Chevrolet	Newman/Budweiser

CART Indy Car history

Year	Date	Winning driver	Car	Team
1983	October 8	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	Lola-Cosworth	Newman/Haas Racing<ref name=":0" />
1984	November 10	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	March-Cosworth	Mayer Motor Racing<ref name=":1" />

Trans-Am Series history

Year	Date	Winning driver	Car	Team
1983	October 8	Template:Flagicon Willy T. Ribbs	Chevrolet Camaro	DeAtley Motorsports<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1984	November 11	Template:Flagicon Tom Gloy	Mercury Capri	Tom Gloy Racing<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lap records

The fastest official race lap records at the Caesars Palace Grand Prix are listed as:

Category	Time	Driver	Vehicle	Event
Modified "Distorted Oval": 1.811 km (1983–1984)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Trans-Am	0:38.000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Tom Gloy	Mercury Capri	1984 Caesars Palace Trans-Am round
Grand Prix Circuit: 3.650 km (1981–1982)
Formula One	1:19.639	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell 011	1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
Can-Am	1:26.025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Danny Sullivan	Frissbee GR2	1981 Caesars Palace Can-Am round

See also

• List of Formula One Grands Prix
• United States Grand Prix
• Dallas Grand Prix
• Detroit Grand Prix
• United States Grand Prix West
• Grand Prix of America (proposed, never held)
• Las Vegas Grand Prix

External links

• F1 Rejects article