Autódromo de Tocancipá

Autódromo de Tocancipá at a glance

Location

Tocancipá, Cundinamarca

Type

road course

Length

2.725 km (1.693 mi)

Turns

14

Direction

clockwise

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1982

Owner

Sociedad Autódromos SA (private company; roughly 1,566 shares held by 319 members, Club Los Tortugas the largest shareholder)

Address

Tocancipá municipality, near Verganza village

Phone

+57 857 4315

Website

autodromodetocancipa.com

Track map and layout

Tocancipá sits on largely flat farmland roughly 30 km north of central Bogotá and is built around a modular layout that can be configured in more than half a dozen ways, from a short oval to a full road course. The main road-racing configuration used for national touring car racing, Circuito 2, runs 2.725 km with 14 turns in a clockwise direction, opening with a carrousel-style first corner before working through a mix of medium-speed sweeps and a tighter, twistier infield section. An additional oval section, added in a 1990 expansion, lets the facility host short-oval and karting events alongside its road-course programme, and the venue's endurance classic, the 6 Hours of Bogotá, is instead run counter-clockwise.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Tocancipá is the home venue of TC2000 Colombia and the Campeonato Nacional de Automovilismo (CNA), the country's main touring car and national racing series, and it has periodically hosted international rounds such as the Panam GP Series in 2006-2007 and 2012. Its best-known fixture is the 6 Hours of Bogotá, an endurance race held annually in December (running since 1986) on a counter-clockwise version of the circuit, drawing GT and touring machinery from across the region. The adjoining Kartódromo Juan Pablo Montoya also hosts annual national kart championship rounds.

Getting there and parking

The circuit is around 30 km north of central Bogotá, near Tocancipá on the Bogotá-Tunja corridor, and is most easily reached by car or taxi/rideshare from the capital in about 45-60 minutes depending on traffic; intercity buses running north from Bogotá toward Tocancipá and Zipaquirá pass close to the area, with a local taxi for the final stretch to the track gates.

• El Dorado International Airport (BOG) · about 60 min drive

Allow extra time on race weekends, since the main Bogotá-Tunja road (Autopista Norte / Ruta 45A) that serves the circuit can back up heavily around event traffic.

Hotels and camping near Autódromo de Tocancipá

Most visitors base themselves in Bogotá, which has accommodation across every price range and is only around 30 km south of the circuit, or in the closer towns of Tocancipá, Zipaquirá or Chía for a shorter drive on race day.

Where to look

Bogotá (widest choice, about 30 km south); Chía and Zipaquirá (closer, smaller-town options).

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

As Colombia's only active permanent racing circuit, Tocancipá hosts a steady programme of national club racing, karting and private test days across its various circuit configurations; specific public track-day or ride-along operators were not verified from available sources.

Lap records

Spectator guide

Tocancipá is a national-level facility rather than a major international venue, with modest permanent grandstand seating around the pit and start/finish straight used for TC2000 and CNA race weekends and the annual 6 Hours of Bogotá.

Seating

Grandstands along the pit/start-finish straight.

Weather

• Dec-Mar (dry season): Bogotá savanna climate, mild days typically around 18-20°C, cool nights
• Apr-Nov (wetter months): similar daytime temperatures with more frequent rain, especially afternoons

History of Autódromo de Tocancipá

Replacing Ricardo Mejía

Autódromo de Tocancipá was built to replace Bogotá's earlier circuit, Autódromo Ricardo Mejía, which was demolished around 1980 as the city grew up around it. Colombian motorsport authorities and Sociedad Autódromos SA, the private company that still owns the track today, chose a flatter, more open site near the town of Tocancipá, about 30 km north of central Bogotá, and engaged designer Luis Esguerra to lay out the new facility. A basic course was completed and the circuit formally inaugurated on 7 February 1982, initially with minimal spectator facilities, giving the country a permanent home for national racing again after the loss of its predecessor.

Expansion and modular layout

The facility was significantly expanded in 1990, adding a short oval section and reworking the road course into a modular design that can be configured into more than half a dozen distinct layouts, from a compact 0.954 km oval to the full 2.725 km, 14-turn Circuito 2 used by TC2000 Colombia. This flexibility let the venue serve everything from karting and short-oval racing to full touring car and endurance events on a single piece of land, and an adjoining kart track, the Kartódromo Juan Pablo Montoya, was later added for national karting championships.

Colombia's only permanent circuit today

Ownership remains split among hundreds of private shareholders through Sociedad Autódromos SA, with the Club Los Tortugas motoring club the largest single stakeholder. Tocancipá is today Colombia's only active permanent racing circuit, hosting the TC2000 Colombia and Campeonato Nacional de Automovilismo series through the season and the long-running 6 Hours of Bogotá endurance race, held counter-clockwise, each December. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia's best-known Formula 1 and IndyCar driver, has both raced and set lap records at the circuit that now carries his name on its adjoining kart track.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Autódromo Ricardo Mejía · 23 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Autódromo Internacional José Tobar Tobar · 687 km · road course