Bahrain (merged)

[gttouring]

I remember the terrible discussions about the Bahrain GP (the bernie wants more money GP)
what many argued before was posed by authorities now at
http://f1.racing-live.com/en/


Construction at the circuit is under way



he first Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will take place on April 4th, 2004. It will be the third race of the 2004 F1 World Championhip.

Work to complete the new Bahrain International Circuit is progressing at a fast pace and some F1 personalities like Jenson Button even went to see the site of the circuit. The organisers were proud to announce that 20,000 tickets were already sold and that a crowd of 100,000 people are expected over the three days of the Grand Prix weekend.

Unfortunately, all these positive elements have been overshadowed by a recent statement made by the British Embassy, warning people to remain vigilant, particularly in public places when visiting Bahrain since the threat of terrorism might be a factor in this country and other regions in the Middle-East.

Bahraini authorities were quick to react to the statement, saying that the region where the circuit is located, which is around 20 kilometres south from the capital city of Manama, is completely safe.

Whether or not there is a real threat, it is unfortunate that the enthusiastic work of the Bahrain International Circuit is being tarnished by such a situation. Shaikh Fawaz is a key figure in the Kingdom's Grand Prix project and for him the F1 race is an excellent opportunity to portray Bahrain in a positive way. "The Grand Prix will create many opportunities for the region and make more people aware of the vast potential for further business and tourism investment," recently said Fawaz.

Let's just hope that his plans are not diminished by the nervousness of the international community.

Naturally the Bahrain authorities would defend such warnings.

I hope all goes well there.

P.S. I recently lost my father to an Arabian Gulf maritime disaster (the ship was torpedoed) and I am quite upset-he was a physician . i can see the warnings are well founded, how does this bode for the region's claims of safety.

[DriverT]

They're having a race next year and have only just got round to starting to build the circuit???

[beau]

Originally posted by DriverT
They're having a race next year and have only just got round to starting to build the circuit???

Are they Insane?

[Teretonga]

It's all about $$$$. If there is a terrorist incident of any sort it will finish the Middle East as a WDC GP venue for 20-30years...

[jetsetter]

I can't see the GP lasting too long anyway with Bahrain's apparent lack of infrastructure. I can see this race as being one of modern F1's great disasters.

[Zinger]

Especialy when the Orgainser (I think he was sacked from the A1- Ring) was suggesting over 40,000 would fly in on race day itself to Bahrain International Airport. That would make more than a third of the now touted crowd arriving on the day of the race.

[jetsetter]

I think that is one GP i'll never visit, it appears that they don't know what they're getting themselves in for & it's just going to be one problem after another.

[429CJ]

The first ever Bahrain GP. And you will forever remember, when it was: 04.04.04

[Smokey 6 litre]

i don't like the idea of countries building tracks just to have F1 races, F1 is about history and good racing, if the tracks keep changing then the whole thing will be a disaster!

[chrisgr31]

Originally posted by Zinger
Especialy when the Orgainser (I think he was sacked from the A1- Ring) was suggesting over 40,000 would fly in on race day itself to Bahrain International Airport. That would make more than a third of the now touted crowd arriving on the day of the race.

Well that is my cunning plan! Stay with my brother in Dubai and fly into and out of Bahrain on race day! Mind you flight availbility is not good at present!

[gttouring]

F1 can not survive without money, and bahrain is going to supply lots of it- so I guess any other distractions from the cash register- as long as they fill it, will work. I feel the fan base is not large enough in the area to really fill the pplace up- i mean large. If Indianapolis can fit an odd 400,000 people in the stands and who knows how many else where, and if LeMans gets crowds and MexicoCity Champcar race gets about 300,000 (what was the figure?)
Bahrain needs to show it has fans- and the population of the place must turn up to do so, i don't see it really happening so strongly.
40,000 to fly in race day? yeah right how many Jets is that?
how many flights how many runways do they have
A-1 ring was right to sack that moron for thinking this...

[chrisgr31]

Well if the average jet carries 375 passengers thats 106 jets, which equates if one lands every minute to just under 2 hours of landings. But then can they park that number?!

It does also depend where the circuit is in relation to the airport as those 40,000 will need transport to and from the race!

[jetsetter]

That's a lot of air traffic coming in to Bahrain in a short space of time, they're going to have traffic jams on the runway.

[Asp]

Originally posted by Smokey 6 litre
i don't like the idea of countries building tracks just to have F1 races, F1 is about history and good racing, if the tracks keep changing then the whole thing will be a disaster!

F1 is also about moving on! That's why we see the MP4/17Ds racing as opposed to MP4/1s! If new things weren't tried, then F1 wouldn't be what it is today!

I, for one, am looking forward to the race. Construction is progressing ahead of schedule - hence why they were able to bring the race forward from it's provisional slot; the circuit doesn't look too shabby; and it's a bold iniative, with - from what I can tell - a large amount of support in the country. I've always said that F1 should branch-out more away from Europe - without excluding the mass fan market in this part of the world.

As regards flights - where is that from Zinger? I hope that somewhere down the line it's been taken out of contect. Lots of people will fly in on race day - if to the track instead of BIA. Either that, or someone is very ambitious

[devil racer nz]

We've heard alot about the development of the Shanghai circuit in China and the map of what the track will look like etc., but what about the circuit in Bahrain?

I have not heard anything about how this circuit is coming along or seen a map of what it looks like. Does anyone have any information on ths track?

[DNQ]

http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Mid%2...rain03_map.gif

[devil racer nz]

Hmm... The shape of the track reminds me of A1 Ring. Looks quite long.

[esorniloc]

How long is the track?

[gttouring]

3.250 miles/5.230 km Grand Prix course; 2.113 miles/3.400 km, outer course; 1.491 miles/2.400 km inner course

[esorniloc]

thanks!

What are they using the other two tracks for?

[crozier74]

Circuit-wise, Bahrain looks like it might make as good an addition to the calender as Sepang did

Whereas Shanghai seems to have some weird corner combos and mickey mouse bits, this is much more flowing, looks more fun for the drivers and has better overtaking opportunities. There are perhaps one or two things that could be improved, and I'm preparing an edit of it to post in the My Tracks thread in the Armchair Enthusiast forum, but as long as Tilke has built some elevation changes into the circuit then it should be a corker!

[pirenzo]

I think it really looks OK as it is. I wouldn't be keen on trying to add more overtaking spots. It would ruin the flow of it.
The shanghai circuit looks interesting, those curly wurly sections should make for interesting viewing, and i bet they've managed to get spectators in a bit closer on the inside there. It's got a few long straights, as well as a couple of faster corners. Of the two cicuits it's my favorite. Both should be good, provided they're not flat.

It does kinda worry me the investment being made in these tracks though. We're getting too much into the culture of build one super duper facility per country and they tend to be mostly boring uninspiring facilities. It's starting to dilute the number and veriety of circuits, i hate to have only the option of Silverstone in the UK for instance, because everything else died.

[gttouring]

another reason why expansion of GP's into places with no history or motorsports infrastructure should be done so hastily, Bahrain has announced it does not have the sufficient hotel facilities or accomodations to house the Gp circus from teams to visitors and will set up a 'tent city' to do so. yeeesh. a little more preparation on bahrains part prior to a GP purchase would be in order- bernie is a greedy ass for handing them a GP, Dubai should be on the list first, it is a large city, and Shanghai- well it has the accomodations. is this bad or will it cause a huge grwoth for bahrain as a tourist destination? or is this ill prepared (not to say bad, but it has clearly not been thought through) Gp already off the 2005 calender?

[GP Racer]

Bahrain, Bahrain, lets seeeeee, Bahrain...

Still can't find it on this damn map!

Ahhhhh, it must be where all these sand colored countries are... I gotta be getting close...

[devil racer nz]

And already it seems there are problems. The Grand Prix is being threatened by a terrorist attack.

See news story here: http://www.planet-f1.com/Home/story_13912.shtml