Racing began here in 1960 when farmer Jean Bernigaud built a racing circuit on his land, close to the village of Magny-Cours. The village is six miles south-east of Nevers, a small town 150 miles south of Paris.

Despite being only 1.21 miles in length at the start, the tracks reputation grew quickly with the establishment in 1963 of the Winfield Racing School. This proved to be the breeding ground for a generation of French F1 talent, early graduates including Francois Cevert, Patrick Depailler, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Jacques Laffite.

Two tracks were combined in 1969, reflecting the need for a longer circuit, and international competition arrived in the late 1970s in the form of the European Formula 3 Championship.

In the late 1980's, with the track in a poor state, substantial government investment funded a total track refurbishment as well as a huge new industrial park, the Technopole, built to attract France's top racing teams. The Ligier team were among the first to arrive and several F3000 teams followed suit.

The new track followed the basic route of Bernigaud's 1971 layout, with input from both Jacques Laffite and Rene Arnoux. The names of some of the corners reflect the fact that they were copied from various circuits around the world. Examples are the sweeping right hander of Estoril and the tight hairpin that is Adelaide.

The track saw its first F1 race in 1991 and for the first three years, the races were dominated by the powerful Williams Renault team, with Michael Schumacher taking the next two races in his Benetton.