Editing Circuit Zandvoort (section)

===1930s to mid 1980s===
[[File:Vlak na de start, Brabham, Moss, Surtees, Taylor, Hermann, Bestanddeelnr 912-5054.jpg|left|thumb|[[1961 Dutch Grand Prix]]]]

There were plans for races at Zandvoort before [[World War II]]: the first [[Street circuit|street race]] was held on 3 June 1939. However, a permanent race track was not constructed until after the war, using communications roads built by the occupying German army. Contrary to popular belief [[John Hugenholtz]] cannot be credited with the design of the Zandvoort track, although he was involved as the chairman of the Nederlandse Automobiel Ren Club (Dutch Auto Racing Club) before becoming the first track director in 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calameo.com/read/000374886fa8950ebb344|title=Grand Designs: John Hugenholtz |publisher=Grand Prix View |date=5 October 2010 |access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref> Instead, it was 1927 Le Mans winner, [[S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis]] who was brought in as a track design advisor in July 1946<ref>{{cite web|last=Diepraam |first=Mattijs |date=Summer 2001 |title=The quintessential race track in the dunes |url=http://forix.autosport.com/8w/zandvoort.html |work=8W |publisher=forix.autosport.com |access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref> although the layout was partly dictated by the existing roads.

The first race on the circuit, the ''Prijs van Zandvoort'', took place on 7 August 1948.<ref>{{cite web|title=Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1948 |url=http://www.progcovers.com/motor/zandvoort48.jpg |publisher=The Programme Covers Project |access-date=3 February 2018}}</ref> The race was renamed the ''Grote Prijs van Zandvoort'' (Zandvoort Grand Prix) in 1949, then the ''Grote Prijs van Nederland'' ([[Dutch Grand Prix]]) in 1950. The [[1952 Dutch Grand Prix|1952 race]] was the first to be run as a round of the World Championship, albeit to [[Formula Two]] regulations rather than [[Formula One]] regulations like all the European rounds of the championship that year; a similar situation also applied to the [[1953 Dutch Grand Prix|1953]]. There was no Dutch Grand Prix in 1954, 1956 or 1957, but 1955 saw the [[1955 Dutch Grand Prix|first true Formula One race as part of the Drivers' Championship]]. The Dutch Grand Prix returned in [[1958 Dutch Grand Prix|1958]] and remained a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar (with the exception of 1972) through {{F1|1985}}, when it was held for the last time in the 20th century.