France's shorter, faster version of the Nurburgring

Nestled in the beautiful Auvergne mountains, Clermont Ferrand's twisty and hilly layout was often seen as a reduced version of the Nurburgring.

The 8 km-plus circuit was faster however and just as daunting, requiring the perfect blend of bravery and skill to be mastered.

Clermont played host to four French GP, the last of which was in 1972. Chris Amon and Denny Hulme are seen here sitting on a very tight front row.

The Kiwi, onboard his Matra MS120D was in command for half of the race until he picked up a puncture, a misfortune that sent him back to the pits and tumbling in the standings.

Amon went for it thereafter however, lapping almost as quickly as his pole time, and ultimately finishing third behind Jackie Stewart and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Unfortunately, the 1972 race was also one that put paid to Helmut Marko racing's career, when the future Red Bull motorsport boss, driving for BRM at the time, lost an eye as the result of a stone thrown up by another car and piercing his helmet visor