When it comes to Italian racing circuits, Monza and Imola are usually the first two that come to mind, with tracks like Mugello or Vallelunga also ranking among the more popular examples. All of them are situated on the Italian mainland, but Sicily has its own racing history - and not just with the legendary Targa Florio: Enna-Pergusa is a circuit that not many sim racers know of, although veterans of the GTR series should be very familiar with it.
Situated to the southeast of Enna, the village of Pergusa sits atop Lago di Pergusa - and it is this lake that the circuit loops around. Originally vaguely oval-shaped, the track has seen the addition of a few chicanes over the years due to safety reasons, although they do not take away from the Autodromo di Pergusa's charm.
While the Variante Vivaio and Variante Piscine that follow the start/finish straight are rather slow, the Chicane Proserpina and Chicane Pineta are relatively fast and demanding - if you have raced in GTR or GTR2, flashbacks of the immovable tire stacks placed as cut preventions in said chicanes will likely cause you flashbacks to massive AI pileups.
Image credit: racingcircuits.info
Enna used to host a multitude of events, including the World Sportscar Championship until 1981, European F3 (until 1984) and Formula 3000 (until 2003), as well as the European Touring Car Championship (until 2003) and the FIA GT Series, which raced there in 2002 and 2003. The latter is the reason for the tracks inclusion in GTR and GTR2. Currently, the only major event hosted at the circuit is a round of the Italian GT Championship.
The F3000 event used to be run as the Mediterranean Grand Prix and was originally contested in Formula 2 until 1985, when F2 was replaced by F3000. The list of winners includes numerous prominent names from racing history, such as John Surtees (1963), Jackie Stewart (1967), Jochen Rindt (1968) and, for more recent examples, David Coulthard (1993), Gil de Ferran (1994) and Juan Pablo Montoya (1998), the Colombian being the final winner of the event. F3000 continued there until 2003 as the Euro Formula 3000 series from 1999 onwards.
However, GTR2 is rather cheap these days should you not own it already, and the 16th Anniversary Patch helps considerably by implementing countless fixes, adjustments and improvements to make the sim well-suited for the current age.
Situated to the southeast of Enna, the village of Pergusa sits atop Lago di Pergusa - and it is this lake that the circuit loops around. Originally vaguely oval-shaped, the track has seen the addition of a few chicanes over the years due to safety reasons, although they do not take away from the Autodromo di Pergusa's charm.
While the Variante Vivaio and Variante Piscine that follow the start/finish straight are rather slow, the Chicane Proserpina and Chicane Pineta are relatively fast and demanding - if you have raced in GTR or GTR2, flashbacks of the immovable tire stacks placed as cut preventions in said chicanes will likely cause you flashbacks to massive AI pileups.
Image credit: racingcircuits.info
Many Chicanes, Still Fast
Despite the chicanes, Enna-Pergusa remains a fast circuit, and getting the line through these chicanes spot-on to carry as much speed as possible through them is crucial to be quick there. Mistakes are easy to make and can be costly - especially at Pineta, which used to be called Chicane Schumacher until 2004, as the quick left-right combination will spit out your car into the adjacent guardrail without mercy if you get it wrong.Enna used to host a multitude of events, including the World Sportscar Championship until 1981, European F3 (until 1984) and Formula 3000 (until 2003), as well as the European Touring Car Championship (until 2003) and the FIA GT Series, which raced there in 2002 and 2003. The latter is the reason for the tracks inclusion in GTR and GTR2. Currently, the only major event hosted at the circuit is a round of the Italian GT Championship.
The F3000 event used to be run as the Mediterranean Grand Prix and was originally contested in Formula 2 until 1985, when F2 was replaced by F3000. The list of winners includes numerous prominent names from racing history, such as John Surtees (1963), Jackie Stewart (1967), Jochen Rindt (1968) and, for more recent examples, David Coulthard (1993), Gil de Ferran (1994) and Juan Pablo Montoya (1998), the Colombian being the final winner of the event. F3000 continued there until 2003 as the Euro Formula 3000 series from 1999 onwards.
Not Many Adaptations
Unfortunately, the circuit is not widely available in sim racing. As mentioned above, it is included in GTR and GTR2 - but that is it for official versions of the circuit. Its simplicity, as is often the case, lends itself well to racing especially in lower-powered cars, but the GT1 vehicles of the GTR era also offer great action including slipstreaming battles.However, GTR2 is rather cheap these days should you not own it already, and the 16th Anniversary Patch helps considerably by implementing countless fixes, adjustments and improvements to make the sim well-suited for the current age.
