Autodromo di Pergusa
The circuit at Pergusa sits at the edge of a lake in a natural bowl of central Sicily, its 4.95 kilometres of tarmac wrapping almost entirely around water. On days when no race is running, you can walk the track itself — a footpath through a nature reserve where, in 1996, thousands of frogs emerged from the lake and covered the pit lane mid-race, forcing mechanics to shuffle through them between stints.
This is not a glamour circuit. The grandstands hold 4,000 people, the 38 pits are modest, and the surface bakes in Sicilian heat. What it has is a specific gravity — a place where motorsport history settled into an unlikely inland landscape and stayed.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to walk the named chicanes in sequence — Proserpina, Zagaria, Vivaio, Piscine, Pineta — to understand how the circuit was tightened over decades. The Pineta corner, a quick left-right at the forest end, still catches the eye: the guardrail is close enough to read as a consequence.
The story behind Autodromo di Pergusa
Automobile Club di Enna president Vincenzo Greca Militello, director Anatolio Papini, and mayor Paolo Savoca drove the project that opened in 1950, laying a 4.8 km circuit on the access roads encircling Lago di Pergusa. The inaugural GP Pergusa ran in August 1951, won by Franco Cortese at an average of just over 90 kph. The Mediterranean Grand Prix arrived in 1962 with a Ferrari 1-2 for Bandini and Baghetti; John Surtees won it for Ferrari in 1963, and Jo Siffert took it in 1964 and 1965 — beating Jim Clark by tenths of a second on both occasions.
The FIA revoked the circuit's licence in 2004 over run-off deficiencies. After modifications completed in summer 2009, a Grade 3 licence was restored in 2010. The track was resurfaced in 2019, easing the historically abrasive surface that had made it slippery even in dry conditions. Lella Lombardi won here in 1979 — co-driving with Enrico Grimaldi in a BMW-powered Osella PA7 — in what became the first FIA-sanctioned world championship race won by a female driver.
Good to know
The circuit is 3 km south of Enna on State Road 561, with Bus 5 from Pergusa Terminal (first service 7:15). Catania and Palermo airports are both under an hour. Racing runs spring through early autumn; outside race weekends, the track is open as a public path.
Pergusa sits in an inland bowl and earns its reputation for heat: summer race days are genuinely sweltering, with little shade outside the grandstands. Spring and early autumn are more forgiving for walking the circuit, though the lake can produce its own humidity.
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What travellers say about Autodromo di Pergusa
The place seemed deserted, we wondered around, even on the track, with no person in sight asking us anything. The toilets, however, were open for some reason... We actually searched for somebody to ask for some information regarding the track days pilot courses or something... but... Sicily, either dolce vita somewhere, or dolce fa' niente somewhere else. Which is quite bad because the place is very, very nice, deemed natural reservation (I wonder where were those botanists when I wanted to know more) the track is around the beautiful lake and there is a lot of... well, it's nice there
A great place to visit I you are a car enthusiast and want to try your racing skills.
Pity we couldn't get onto the grandstand view of visit the pit stops. The track itself is beautifully maintained. It would explain why the regular roads have lots of pot holes; the blacktop is being used to maintain this track!
Well, the track wihout car on a calm day is rather dull...
We had a nice 5k walk around the track on boxing day.
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