Opened in 1972, the track was named "Dagoberto González" after
the
infrastructure minister of Rafael Caldera first government.
The layout had an original length of 1800 meters (1.12Miles)
then it was lengthened
up to 2300 mts (1.42 miles) moving the pits to the longest straight of
the
circuit. Located beside a mountain that serves as a natural
grandstand, it
features close turns and average speed of just 120mkh (75 mph).
Almost every type of motorsports were raced there, from cars
to motorcycles
and in 1976 it hosted a date of the LatinAmerican Motorcycle
Championship which
was the first international event held in Turagua.
In the early 80's Fórmula Ford 1600cc events were ran with
north American
drivers and a full house occurred in 1982 when Johnny Cecotto drove,
who then
was runner up of the European F2 Championship. In the late 80's
Venezuelan
motorsports was strong and Turagua became the center of this
activity, even
the track was lengthened back again to 3800 mts (2.3miles) and received
its
actual name of “Pancho Pepe Cróquer” honoring a big Venezuelan sports
commentator who died during a race in Colombia on 1955.
The new dimensions allowed for bigger series and in 1992 held
the first
international event of the GT cars, this events ran until 1996, four
"Marlboro GT of the Americas" where ran, the most important racing
series of the Caribbean. On two wheels, LatinAmerican championships
were ran on
seasons 1983, 1988, 1992 y 1995 and also, drag racing held mayor events
there.
A new layout change happened in 1995, back again to the short layout
of 2350 meters that receives international homologation from
the FIM, the
first four turns were changed making Turagua a more modern and safer
track.
Over three decades of history, races at Turagua were run by
different event
organizers and entrepreneurs like Heduardo Rodríguez, Attilio De
Guglielmo,
Vicente D’Alessandro and Tury Agüero, today. Escudería 97, manages the
place
with names like Germán Oliveira, Domingo Yanes, José Luis Cid and
Antonio
Betancourt, all with background in local motorsports.
Along motorsports, Turagua
also holds different events
related to the auto industry as test track for new models.
Source:
Escudería 97, C.A. (http://www.escuderia97.com/public/index.php?dir=turagua&sec=historia)
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