Yas Marina Circuit on schedule

Construction on the Formula1 track Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi is on schedule and expected to be completed in time for its premiere on November 1st, developers said monday.

Ten percent of the 5.5-kilometer (3.4-mile) circuit for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — the final race on F1′s 17-race calendar — has been laid a year after construction began.

“We are on schedule, attending to a million details,” said Philippe Gurdjian, the managing director of Yas Marina Circuit’s racing properties.

“It’s not difficult to build a track; it’s a different story to finish it.”

The Yas Marina circuit is part of a $40 billion development project bankrolled by Abu Dhabi’s ruling elite and Aldar, a partly government-backed developer.

The current economic climate will not affect plans for what will be the first of nine grand prix races in Abu Dhabi:

“I don’t think it will affect us,” Gurdjian said. “It’s a new circuit, a new race at the end of the season … I wish we had 10 teams with 20 cars racing, instead of nine teams and 18 cars.”

F1 has cut costs and modified regulations following Honda’s surprise pullout from the sport in December. Since then, Dutch bank ING slashed millions from its sponsorship of Renault and Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group pulled its sponsorship of the BMW Sauber team.

The Abu Dhabi GP will be the Persian Gulf’s second race after the Bahrain GP, which has been held annually since 2004.

The development includes a marina and seven hotels, including one built over the track, and has been designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, who also designed the track in Bahrain.

International Herald Tribune

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