DETROIT (1982-88)
By the time F1 rocked up at Detroit in the early 1980s, the local Motown soundtrack was no longer ringing quite so loudly. Combined with the oil crisis that offered foreign automotive industries a window of opportunity, Motor
City was in decline. But a street course that encompassed the General Motors headquarters at the Renaissance Centre still represented a third annual GP in the States – a feat that will only be matched with the addition of
Las Vegas to the calendar in 2023.
But the track was almost universally unpopular. Tighter, rougher and therefore slower than Monaco, it produced dull races that were marked by attrition. A surface that loved to break up in hot and humid weather only hurt its standing further. A 1982 debut was marred by disorganisation too. Thursday practice was cancelled, Friday qualifying delayed and, when it finally took place via two Saturday sessions, a downpour meant only the morning run was used to decide the grid.
Then F1 governing body FISA declared the facilities to be behind the curve and demanded an upgraded, permanent set-up for the pits.
The city refused to open its purse and so, when few rushed to defend the Detroit GP, it soon slipped off the calendar.