Sochi Grand Prix troubles denied
Despite concerns that the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix could be delayed, organizers are insisting that preparations are going as planned – while others have said that by 2017, the race could move to the Moscow region.
Organizers insist that the race, set to take place in Sochi, must not miss the 2014 deadline. “Either the first race takes place in 2014, or we won’t have Formula 1 at all,” Alexander Ivanov, deputy chief of the Krasnodar region, which includes Sochi, told a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday. “However, we are confident, that [the track] will be built on time.”
The deal to bringing the race to Sochi from 2014 through 2020 was signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Formula 1 chief Bernard Ecclestone a year ago.
The southern city of Sochi, situated by the Black Sea, will be home to the first-ever Formula 1 race on the territory of the Russian Federation. The track, which is to be built in the Imeretinsky plain, will be integrated into the coastal Olympic Park, a collection of sports arenas that will hold many of the 2014 Winter Games events.
Earlier this month, Sovietsky Sport reported that the Russian Grand Prix was in jeopardy as the project to build the track ran into challenges in trying to gather all of the necessary approvals at a federal level, all the while a company to promote the project had not been formed and contracts with future partners had not been signed.
However, government officials in charge of overseeing the project insisted that all preparations will be completed in time. According to Ivanov, most of the construction work will finish before the Games, which are scheduled to take place from February 7 to 23, 2014, but the tarmac on the track will only be laid in April 2014.
Ivanov put the preliminary cost of the project at 5.8 billion rubles ($190 million), less than the estimated $220 million allocated to build the venue in Austin, Texas, for next year’s U.S. Grand Prix. Ivanov added that the length of the circuit would be 5.9 kilometers, roughly the equivalent of Britain’s Silverstone.
According to Alexei Agafonov, another regional deputy, the Sochi track will have the capacity to welcome 80,000 spectators, which is about the same as the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.
“According to our calculations, investments in the circuit will be recouped in three and a half to four years,” Agafonov said. “We expect that at least one third of the spectators will be foreigners, and that number could go up.”
He added that between races, one half of the track will serve as a regular road, while the other half could be used for go-kart and drag racing.
The Russian Grand Prix could later move to the Moscow region. Earlier this month, Sovietsky Sport quoted Igor Yermilin, first vice-president of the Russian Auto Racing Federation, as saying that the Moscow Raceway circuit near Volokolamsk could possibly host the event in the future.
“The Volokolamsk circuit is fully in line with Formula 1 safety requirements,” Yermilin was quoted as saying. “However, some additions to the infrastructure would be needed, particularly as far as the VIP [section] goes.”
“A [decision to] transfer the Russian Grand Prix will depend upon the commercial success of the race in Sochi,” Yermilin went on to say. “If the race is successful, there will be no talk of moving the race elsewhere. If not, it would be more profitable to hold [the race] in the Moscow region as of 2017 or 2018.”