Green light for brand new circuit in Madrid
F1 News
- GPblog.com
There is no shortage of racetracks in Spain, but another one is coming soon. Madrid has given the green light for a brand new circuit a few kilometres from the capital.
Fourth FIA Grade One circuit
Spain already has three circuits with the FIA Grade One stamp. Besides Barcelona and Jerez it is MotorLand Aragon (with four different layouts). The fourth circuit will be built near the town of Morata de Tajuna in the area of an old limestone mine. It will host both Formula 1 and MotoGP.
Motorsports and concerts
For almost eight years there have been rumours about the construction of this circuit, but now finally the decision has been made. "The idea is to build a facility that will operate 280 days a year with motorsport events and concerts in the summer," Mayor Angel Sanchez told Formulapassion.it.
The circuit will also cause little inconvenience at that location, Sanchez explains. "I don't think there will be any problems obtaining the necessary permits because it will be in a very degraded area and with totally unproductive land."
No Grand Prix for the time being
The fact that there is now a green light for the construction of the circuit does not mean that we can expect a Grand Prix soon. It is estimated that the project will take about three years. The first phase, in which the circuit is built, has an estimated duration of ten months. The second phase, in which all facilities are built, will take about two years.
The proposed layout will have a length of about 4500 metres, with a straight section of about 650 metres and an average track width of 20 metres. The circuit will have a total capacity of 80,000 seats. There will also be a hotel, a petrol station, a car park with a capacity for 1,500 vehicles, a karting track and a museum. The cost of the project, some twelve million euros, is entirely privately funded.