Cremona Circuit

Cremona Circuit has established itself as Lombardy’s second world class facility (after Monza) for motorbike racing in just over a decade of operation.

The idea for a circuit at Cremona, deep in southern Lombardy and close to the border with Emilia-Romagna, lies with two brothers, Marzio and Alessandro Canevarolo. The pair began pursuing the project in the early 2000s, securing investors and beginning a long and bureaucratic process of approval. The first permits were applied for in 2003, but it was not until 2011 that permissions were finally secured and ground works could begin.

By June of the following year, the circuit was largely complete. Named at that time after the municipality in which is located, the Autodromo di San Martino del Lago was a 3.450km in length, dominated by a kinked back straight and a featuring variety of medium and slow-speed corners. A separate karting track completed the facilities.

Very quickly the track became popular with hot-lappers and local motor clubs, even before its official inauguration on July 7, 2012. Thanks to a simple pricing structure and marketing through social media, the circuit found itself being booked out most days between April and October.

Early tweaks arrived in 2014 when bypass loops were spliced into the back straight. Measuring 1.542 km and 1.834 km respectively, these never particularly caught on and so were rarely in use. That autumn the circuit hosted the Supermoto World Championship—complete with a gravel in-field link—and later the Supermoto of Nations, where Thomas Chareyre and his French squad edged the Italians on home clay.

The end of the 2015 season was marked with significant drama, when the sudden closure of the facility was announced with the management company evicted from the site by the courts over a failure to pay some €1.5 million debts. The hiatus lasted for several months until a new management company was formed by the facility’s owners, brothers Roberto and Manuel Mazzucato. They placed Alessandro Canevarolo in charge as CEO of the new venture.

As if to underline a break with the past, the owners elected to change the name of the track to Cremona Circuit, although it was also dedicated from the start of 2016 in memory of local motorcycle ace Angelo Bergamonti. The six-time Italian champion was considered in the 1960s as one of Giacomo Agostini's main rivals in 350cc and 500cc events but tragically lost his life on April 4, 1971 when he crashed at the Riccione road circuit during a rain-hit race.

Under the new management company, Cremona Circuit thrived and, despite the failure of Supermoto to return, the track continued to build up a healthy user base. The purchase of the Autodromo di Franciacorta by Porsche and its subsequent decision to turn it into an Experience Centre only helped to boost Cremona’s popularity.

By 2021, plans had been laid for an overhaul of the track layout, in order to bring it up to national racing standards. It marked the beginning of an ambitious project to vault Cremona back onto the world stage. Around 90 percent of the course was revised, with an extended pit straight leading into a new complex replacing the Curve del Lago starting the lap. The straight leading to the Parabolica was re-aligned and the final complex of turns was also modified, to create bigger run off areas. In addition, a new pit building featuring a small integrated grandstand was also constructed amid a much-enlarged paddock area, while the kart course was completely redesigned to latest CIK standards. The total cost of the work was around €4 million.

The changes were well received and the track soon began attracting sanctioned racing events for the first time. First to arrive in 2022 was the Trofei MotoEstate, a popular series which has been running since 1986, followed later in the year by the bigger bikes of the Coppa Italia Velocità. The revised course has also become popular with Italian racers and Superbike teams for testing, with Superbike ace Axel Bassani, Supersport rider Federico Caricasulo or the Puccetti Kawasaki regularly found lapping the Cremona track.

With Cremona now now established on the national racing scene, the Mazzucato brothers began to dream bigger, seeking to bring back world-class events to the track. Conversations began with Dorna in 2022 and soon progressed to the point where Cremona was considered a firm candidate for the World Superbike calendar. The plan had been to gradually build up the facilities so that by around 2026 or 2027, the track would be ready for a world event. However, problems following the Covid-19 pandemic with other race contracts and a decision by Dorna to pivot towards a largely European schedule for 2024 meant Cremona’s moment in the sun came earlier.

A €9 million second upgrade began in January 2024, extending the final sector, widening gravel traps and lifting capacity to 20 000. The work nudged the lap out to 3.768 km, though some promotional material still quotes 3.792 km—official homologation lists the former. New grandstands sprouted at Turns 1-2, 4-6 and 13, and a separate vehicle entrance eased race-week traffic

WorldSBK’s inaugural visit on 20-22 September 2024 delivered packed hillsides and frenetic racing. Nicolò Bulega stormed to pole, but local hero Danilo Petrucci stole Race 1 and the Superpole Race before Bulega replied in Race 2. The home crowd needed no prompting to belt out the ‘Inno di Mameli’.

The momentum rolled into 2-4 May 2025 when Bulega, now Ducati’s star, swept all three races, fending off Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Álvaro Bautista to claim a commanding championship lead. Ducati red banners fluttered across Lombardy as the circuit cemented its status as Italy’s second two-wheeled temple after Misano.

Beyond the limelight, Cremona continues daily track-days, manufacturer launches and driver-coaching schools, its flat Po-Valley setting making it one of Europe’s easiest test venues for teams shuttling between factories in Emilia-Romagna and Milan.