Circuit Pau-Arnos: a racetrack built without public money

On 19 August 2021 the promoter of the World Touring Car Cup announced that because of the pandemic it was cancelling the rounds in South Korea, China and Macau, and putting three circuits the series had never visited into the calendar in their place: Most in the Czech Republic, Sochi in Russia and Pau-Arnos in France. In Béarn the news struck like a thunderbolt: the regional daily called it “surprising and unexpected”, and the owner of the circuit calculated that the upgrade for an FIA licence and the hosting of the championship alone would cost close to 400,000 euros. Bernard Teulé, a former driving instructor who conceived and financed this circuit, was eighty years old at the time. The history of the venue in a valley below the Pyrenees is to a large extent the history of his stubbornness.

Location	Arnos, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France; about 20 km west of Pau, by the A65 motorway
Type	permanent car and motorcycle circuit with a kart track
Length	3.030 km in the full configuration; five shorter variants from 600 m
Width	9–12 m
Opened	1986
Direction of travel	clockwise (pole position on the left)
Owner and operator	the Teulé family; the company SECADIL (Société d'exploitation du circuit automobile du district de Lacq)
Homologations	FFM (motorcycle racing, endurance, sidecars), FFSA grade 3; the FIA grade 3 licence expired on 3 August 2024
Fastest lap	1:10.87, Giedo van der Garde, Dallara F305 (F3 Euro Series), testing on 4 May 2005; unofficial time, from testing
Main events	WTCR and the Pure ETCR finale (2021), the French Superbike championship, the FIM Sidecar World Championship (2026), Coupe de France des Circuits, Tour Auto
Status	active

When the Lacq field began to run out

In the early 1980s the communes of the Lacq district, which had lived for decades off a large gas and oil field, watched its decline with anxiety and looked for projects that would give the area a new reason to exist. Bernard Teulé, the owner of a driver training company that he himself called the leader in south-western France, stepped into that gap with an idea for a private racing circuit. As he recalled on the website of the venue, the agreement of the communes and of the landowners, together with the support of the district and of the department's general council, made it possible to put together a financing package “without any participation of public funds”. The regional press adds that the door to the district was opened for him by Maurice Plantier, mayor of Artix and a former minister for veterans.

Around the project Teulé gathered about twenty people from the industry: Jean-Pierre Beltoise, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix, Henri Loustalan, president of the local automobile club, André Bourdieu, mayor of Arnos, as well as construction firms and car dealers. Beltoise advised on laying out the track; the daily “La République des Pyrénées” writes plainly of a circuit “laid out on the advice of Jean-Pierre Beltoise”, and the RacingCircuits.info site credits him with the layout. Sud Ouest adds that the instructor from Béarn was at that time “in cahoots” with the Formula 1 driver.

The circuit opened in 1986, holding the homologations of both federations, the car one and the motorcycle one, from the start. The question of whether the street Grand Prix de Pau should be moved here had arisen as early as 1984. It was not moved, but the subject kept coming back: in 2017 the daily speculated about a move in 2019, and Teulé answered then that the circuit “would be able to host the Grand Prix”, provided there was “economic logic” behind it.

Three kilometres in a valley

The full loop measures 3.030 km and runs along the slopes of a valley; in 2016 the daily gave a width of 10.5 m, a start line 12 m wide and 15 marshal posts. The operator advertises the venue as “one of a kind” because of its location “in a green valley at the foot of the Pyrenees”, and Sud Ouest called it “the most undulating circuit in France”. RacingCircuits.info compares its character to Brands Hatch and Cadwell Park, and the downhill chicane opposite the start straight to the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca; that is also where the nickname “le petit Spa”, little Spa, comes from.

The WTCR drivers who came here in 2021 spoke of the circuit without sentiment. After his reconnaissance Yvan Muller admitted that he had “apparently” raced at Arnos thirty years earlier in Formula 3 and remembers nothing of it, and he called putting 25 cars out into such a tight “arena” an unknown. Yann Ehrlacher, who is related to him, arrived with the preconception that it was a small venue, but the differences in elevation changed his mind. Frédéric Vervisch, the winner of the first race, said after the finish:

“This is a very hard track. Everyone is suffering from mechanical challenges, it's hard on the car. I'm happy to finish without any big problems”.

Jean-Karl Vernay, the winner of the second race, added that the circuit is “treacherous, fast”, that it lacks a straight and places to overtake, and that tyre wear is high.

Formula 3, Superbike and thirteen years of absence

The first years brought the circuit national events of the highest rank. On 3 November 1991 the final round of the French Formula 3 championship was held here: Olivier Panis won, having started from pole position, and the fastest lap was set by Jean-Christophe Boullion. The French Superbike championship visited Arnos in 1989–1994, and in 1994 a round of the FIM European Superbike championship was held here, the venue's first international event.

Then came a long break. When Superbike returned to Arnos in August 2016, the press counted thirteen years of absence. Teulé explained then that the circuit had been “shaped over the years”: the asphalt was improved, the barriers were strengthened, “hillocks were levelled for better visibility”, pit boxes were built and the paddock was enlarged; the novelty was video monitoring of the whole loop. On the official website this stage is recorded as the commissioning in 2015–2016 of new posts compliant with FIA standards and of a new surface for the multi-purpose track, on which karting can be homologated. During the first qualifying session after the return Kenny Foray set a 1'17"508, which journalists declared a new track record.

Since then the FSBK has come back here every year. In July 2024, at 36 degrees, Foray improved the record in the Superbike class to 1'16"14, and the circuit recorded more than 6000 spectators, a thousand more than in previous years. Even more was going on in June 2026: in parallel with the fourth round of the French championship, the third round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship was held, the first event of that rank in Béarn, for which the circuit went through adaptation work over the winter to obtain FIM homologation. The heat forced the prefecture to ban outdoor events from Sunday noon, so the whole racing programme was concentrated in the morning; in the second Superbike race Grégory Leblanc set the circuit's race record and won, and in the sidecars Harrison Payne and Kevin Rousseau took a double victory. The same day a sixteen year old competitor was transported by helicopter to hospital in Pau in a serious condition after a fall.

Noise, neighbours and the Council of State

For years the circuit has had opponents within a radius of a dozen or so kilometres. An association defending local residents challenged the ministerial decree of 23 April 2013 homologating the venue, and in January 2016 the Council of State, the highest administrative court in France, dismissed the complaint, finding that the circuit's rules do not depart from the rules at comparable venues. Jean-Bernard Prat, mayor of neighbouring Boumourt, argued in Sud Ouest that the engines can be heard “10 or 20 kilometres” away and that closed shutters do not help inside the houses; Teulé replied that the circuit operates 250 days a year and that the proportions between the loud sporting activity and the quieter recreational one had reversed. At the same time a dispute was going on about the kart track, asphalted in 2014 on a former training area: the prefect refused to homologate the second loop, demanding a land development permit, and the administrative court in Pau later overturned his decision of 21 February 2015 and ordered the case to be reconsidered within four months. In 2018 the company SECADIL stood before that court again, seeking the annulment of two prefectural refusals to homologate the kart track; its lawyer called it “administrative harassment from another era”.

The circuit also has its shadow. In May 2010 a 48 year old motorcyclist from Marmande died during practice; according to his club's account he slid and hit the back of his helmet on the surface. In August of the same year a 44 year old motorcyclist from the Landes went off at a corner and died on the spot.

Five thousand tyres and a world cup

The WTCR round in 2021 was for Arnos, as Auto Hebdo put it, “an unexpected gift”. The promoter Eurosport Events had to replace the cancelled Asian rounds with something, and the head of the series François Ribeiro knew Béarn from 2007–2009, when the WTCC raced on the streets of Pau. Teulé said “banco” on 15 August, then 5000 tyres were laid out at the circuit, barriers were added, the medical point was rebuilt and an FIA grade 3 licence was obtained, that is the right to host international touring car races. The sporting organisation was taken over by the military association ASA Militaire from Mazerolles, supported by an ASA from the Vendée, after the ASAC Basco-Béarnais automobile club withdrew from that role.

On the weekend of 16–17 October the crowd limit was 2000 people. The first race, neutralised for a few laps after Tiago Monteiro's crash at the third corner, was won from start to finish by Vervisch ahead of Thed Björk and Gabriele Tarquini; the second, after twenty one laps, by Vernay ahead of Muller, who after damaging a subframe in the first race was given a repaired car by the mechanics in twenty minutes. The same day the finale of the first season of Pure ETCR was run, the fully electric touring car series in which the cars were charged with electricity from hydrogen fuel cells. Mattias Ekström needed fifth place; at the first corner he collided with Philipp Eng, spun with a punctured tyre, went to the pits, lost a lap and finished fifth. He became champion with a four point advantage over Vernay, who won both of his starts that day.

The owner did not hide the fact that he was not planning a career as an organiser. “Sport should account for about 20 percent of the circuit's activity. We mainly provide services”, he explained to Sud Ouest, mentioning three days of testing by the DS Formula E team just before the round and the aim of reducing noise by two thirds in three years. A regional business portal quoted him more bluntly: “It is not our vocation to become a great motorsport circuit”.

Electricity instead of noise

The turn towards electricity began earlier. In April 2017 the daily reported the location within the circuit of the world headquarters of the company GT Electric and an economic project aimed at promoting electric power. In December of the same year Teulé signed an agreement with the grid operator Enedis and showed a model of a 110 m long building with twelve additional pit boxes, explaining that manufacturers ask for room for “a hundred cars” for testing. The partner in those plans became Éric Barbaroux, former president of the French FFSA federation and one of the initiators of Formula E, who in 2022 listed: the DS tests in Formula E, the Pure ETCR finale, the ERC 140 electric prototype and talks with hydrogen companies. The creator of the ERC 140, Sébastien Kulak, announced at the time an electric one make series that was to start in 2023 at Arnos precisely, because the circuit “had already made that shift”.

After Bernard

Bernard Teulé died on 28 June 2023, aged 82. In its farewell, the French motorcycling federation, the FFM, recalled that in 1988–1996 he sat on its road racing commission. The circuit is run by his daughter Nadia Teulé, and his grandson Maxime is responsible for safety; in 2020 the director spoke of 300–400 people a day at the venue. A regional journalist wrote in a farewell piece that the circuit was especially favoured by motorcyclists and by Spaniards from just across the nearby border.

One thing, however, has changed. On the list of circuits licensed by the FIA from March 2024 Pau-Arnos appeared with grade 3 and a licence expiry date of 3 August 2024; on the list of 31 March 2026 the venue is no longer there, only the street circuit Pau-Ville. Without a valid FIA licence international car racing is closed here for the time being. The motorcycle calendar makes up for that with interest: for 2026 the circuit has planned three car events, five motorcycle events and one running race, with the return of Caterham Motorsport France, the Tour Auto and a novelty in the shape of the Sidecar World Championship.

A track day at Arnos

For an amateur the gateway to the circuit is the Open Moto days organised by Moto Club Pau Arnos: six sessions of 20 minutes in groups matched by lap time, with no classification and no timing for a result, on condition that at least 30 people are entered three days before the date, because the medical staff and the marshals have to be paid for. Entries go through the Engage Sports platform, an annual FFM licence or a one day “pass circuit” is required, and a full day costs 130 euros, half a day 85. On the car side your own vehicle in good condition is enough, plus a tow hook and a helmet, and for racing cars a fire extinguisher, an overall and a HANS system; before going out a noise measurement with a limit of 100 dB applies, third party insurance on the circuit can be bought on site for 20 euros, and only cars with a roll cage take passengers. The price list of the department's tourist office gives 100 euros for half a day and 150 for a full day of driving a car. The circuit opens its gates from 8.00 to 18.30 in the summer season, and the sessions run from 9.00 to 12.30 and from 14.00 to 17.00.

There are 30 pit boxes of 84 m² for hire, with electricity and direct access to the service road; during the Classic event in August 2026 they cost 500 euros from Wednesday to Sunday. On weekdays the loop is booked by driving schools: GTRO, CD Sport and the motorcycle school H2S appear side by side in the calendar, and at the height of the season the circuit can be closed to outsiders for several weeks. Among the events open to amateurs there have also been unusual ones: for August 2023 a meeting was announced at which 170 amateurs were to ride in one field with Giacomo Agostini, Carl Fogarty and David Checa on machines from 1950–1993, at 300 euros for the weekend. In April 2024 more than 200 Tour Auto crews passed through the circuit, and among the guests was the ACO president Pierre Fillon, for the first time at Arnos.

In the calendar for September 2026 the Open Moto days stand on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, with the same note as always: “subject to a minimum of 30 entries”. The founder left one sentence on the circuit's website that still hangs there: “Come in ever greater numbers, you will be at home”.

Timeline

• the early 1980s: the communes of the Lacq district look for projects for the time after the field; Bernard Teulé presents the circuit project
• 1984: the question of moving the Grand Prix de Pau to Arnos is raised for the first time
• 1986: the circuit opens with FFSA and FFM homologations
• 1989–1994: rounds of the French Superbike championship
• 3 November 1991: the French Formula 3 finale, victory for Olivier Panis
• 1994: a round of the FIM European Superbike championship
• 2005: Giedo van der Garde laps in 1:10.87 in testing
• 2010: two fatal motorcyclist accidents during practice
• 23 April 2013: ministerial decree homologating the circuit for four years
• January 2016: the Council of State dismisses the residents' association complaint
• 2015–2016: new pit boxes to FIA standards and a new surface for the multi-purpose track
• August 2016: Superbike returns after 13 years of absence
• 2017: the GT Electric headquarters at the circuit, the agreement with Enedis, the plan for a building with 12 boxes
• 19 August 2021: announcement of the WTCR round and the Pure ETCR finale
• 16–17 October 2021: WTCR Race of France; Ekström Pure ETCR champion
• 28 June 2023: the death of Bernard Teulé
• 3 August 2024: expiry of the FIA grade 3 licence
• 19–21 June 2026: the first round of the FIM Sidecar World Championship in Béarn