Rehabilitation of Portugal’s Formula 1 Racing Circuit

The operators of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve rehabilitated it for Formula 1’s return to Portugal. Wirtgen Group construction machines took the lead in rehabilitating the surface course of the entire racing circuit in just six days.

Racetrack Design and Engineering Specialists Ensure Quality

“The existing surface of the circuit no longer met the asphalt standards of the MotoGP and Formula 1 racing series, so initially, we had to find a company which could deliver the necessary quality. We chose Tecnovia because the people and the equipment they provided were exactly right for the job”, says Dromo’s proprietor, founder and designer, Jarno Zaffelli.

The Tecnovia team put in a lot of effort to ensure that the asphalt paving went as smoothly as possible. Three Wirtgen cold milling machines initially removed the top 4 cm of the asphalt pavement and loaded it onto trucks. Once the milled surface had been cleaned-up, the new surface course was paved. It consisted of a precisely-formulated bituminous mix with aggregates from two different quarries. Once this had been made into asphalt mix, Tecnovia used 26 trucks to move a total of approximately 7,500 t of material to the site “just in time”.

New Surface for the Premium Class

The Autódromo circuit was paved by three Vögele pavers. Working in parallel, hot to hot, they enabled the entire circuit to be paved without joints. Seven Hamm tandem rollers, most importantly several HD 110i machines, followed immediately after the Vögele pavers and compacted the surface. “I’m very happy with the results”, emphasizes Jarno Zaffelli from Dromo. “Together, we managed to keep to the schedule and deliver the surface quality required. The whole Tecnovia team really put a great deal of effort into this.”

Special Mix - Perfectly Prepared

Construction manager Nuno Carapuça was in charge of the Tecnovia team. He added: “The requirements we had to satisfy in this case have almost nothing in common with those of a normal road.” This was because the project had a great many other special aspects in addition to the special mix and perfectly organized site logistics. The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve is a hilly site, resulting in a circuit characterized by tight bends, some of them blind, as well as ups and downs like a rollercoaster. Downhill gradients are as much as 12%, with uphill gradients of up to 6.2%. The mix of tight and sweeping bends is typical and is what gave the track its nickname: “the Algarve Rollercoaster”.

Even on this terrain, the Tecnovia team and its fleet of Wirtgen Group paving machines delivered a first-class job: “We knew this would be an enormous challenge for us. The fact that we eventually managed to exceed expectations is fantastic.” This success was in no way due to chance -- something borne out by the fact that it took four months to plan the six-day construction period.