Arctic Circle Raceway - Godforsaken but Marvelous in its Wilderness

The Arctic Circle Raceway is the longest racing venue in Norway and northernmost racetrack in the world, just around 30 km from the Arctic Circle.

The only place in the world suitable for the 24h daylight driving

This circuit is definitely one of the most exotic destinations in the world for the motorsport enthusiasts. Located near ’the end of the world’ it is not so easy to reach the circuit, but it is really worth the effort because you will experience something unique, especially during the summer because of 24 hours of daylight. During the winter nights, ice racing and other events can be hosted there.

Arctic Circle Raceway is the unique place for the motorsport enthusiasts

Interestingly, this venue was designed and built by some local cars and speed-loving enthusiasts. A group of friends decided to design the track without the help of experts and they decided to use parts of some famous circuits like Nurburgring, Paul Ricard, and Silverstone and put them together. The result was more than satisfactory.

The circuit layout designed with motorbikes in mind

This extraordinary venue was built in 1995 on the site of abandoned iron-ore mine, at the cost of $10 million. It is a fast and flowing circuit, designed mainly for motorbikes racing. The length of the counter-clockwise run track is 3.753 km with a width of 11 – 13 m, and has 13 turns. The longest straight is 493 m, while the elevation change is 31 m.

Arctic Circle Raceway

The Arctic Circle Raceway is located in the beautiful scenery and that is one of the venue’s trump cards. In the 1990s and in early 2000s, this circuit hosted one round of a very popular Scandinavian Touring Car Championship but the distance from the major cities caused a departure of relevant competitions from the Arctic Circle Raceway.

Arctic Circle Raceways is underused venue despite excellent opportunities

Nowadays, the track is underused despite being one of the best in Norway and Scandinavia. Today, the main activities are track days, driver training events, go-carts, and some well visited drifting cups. Another interesting fact is that the asphalt surphace has not been renewed since the opening but it is still in a very good condition.

Race control tower at Arctic Circle Raceway (ACR)

Within the race control tower, you can find the restaurant, cafe, modern press center, as well as the raceway’s administration. The owners are planning to invest in the raceway and its facilities and to try to return some national and regional racing competitions back to the northernmost racecourse in the world.

Getting there

It is not so easy to reach the Arctic Circle Raceway. It could be a bigger challenge than setting a new lap record on the track. It is located around 25 km to the north from the town of Mo I Rana. The nearest airport is a tiny airport at Rossvoll that offers connections to the cities of Bodo and Trondheim, while the nearest international airport is in Trondheim which is around 7 hours drive from the circuit. It seems like a piece of cake knowing that country’s capital Oslo is around 13 hours drive from the Arctic Circle Raceway.

Pit lane at Arctic Circle Raceway

Other options to reach the circuit are pretty limited, even though there is a train that connects cities of Trondheim and Bodo. The nearest train station is Skonseng, around 15 km to the south from the circuit. The town of Mo I Rana offers a small number of accommodation possibilities but they are at relatively high level.

Youtube video – Lap around Arctic Circle Raceway

Address: Arctic Circle Raceway, PO Box 446, N-8601 Mo i Rana
Phone: +47 913 01 222
Website: acr.no

Photo: racingnm.no driving.co.uk oaae.no motomental.com ranablad.no