Bahrain International Circuit in Manama?, Bahrain
The Bahrain International Circuit is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series and the annual Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 2004 Grand Prix was the first held in the Middle East.
Beginning in 2006, Australian V8 Supercars raced at the BIC, with the event known as the Desert 400.
However, the V8 Supercars did not return for the 2011 V8 Supercar season. 24 Hour endurance races are also hosted at BIC.
The circuit has a FIA Grade 1 license.
A top-class racing circuit located in the middle of sand dunes in near desert conditions doesn't seem very likely, yet this is precisely what the Bahrain International Circuit delivers.
As with many of the Gulf state motor racing venues, BIC owes its existence to royal connections; Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa is a motorsport enthusiast and honorary president of the Bahrain Motor Federation.
Gaining an F1 race thus became a national objective and the construction of a suitable circuit was ordered, with funding from government-backed investment companies.
Hermann Tilke was brought on board to design a multi-layout facility and construction started in late 2002, in time for an inaugural grand prix in 2004.
In truth, the circuit still needed some finishing touches (indeed, the organisers tried unsuccessfully to persuade Bernie Ecclestone to postpone the event until a year later) but these were in place when the GP circus made their second visit in 2005.
Tilke designed a circuit with several lengthy straights, connected by medium and slow speed sections, putting a premium on a setup with good traction.
Fortunately, the track surface (imported at great expense from a quarry in Shropshire, England) has proved to be high in grip, boosted by efforts to spray the outer confines of the circuit with adhesive to keep the sand in place.
Nevertheless, sweeping is a regular activity between track sessions.
The high ambient temperatures mean that spectating is confined to the main grandstand, which is designed to protect racegoers from the worst of the desert sun.
A variety of layouts have seen active use.
Formula One has used both the Grand Prix and the Endurance variants, though the latter was only tried once in 2010 in what was deemed an unsuccessful attempt to spice up the show.
The visiting V8 Supercars ran their Desert 400 race on the Paddock course for the first three years, before trying the Grand Prix circuit on the event's swansong in 2010.
GP2 and the Porsche Supercup have been regulars on the GP undercard but rather unusually take advantage of the separate pit and paddock facilities usually used by the Inner loop.
The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the same architect who designed the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
The main contractor for the project was Cebarco-WCT.
The circuit cost approximately 56.2 million Bahraini Dinars (equal to US$150 million) to construct.
It has six separate tracks, including a test oval and a drag strip.
The circuit posed a unique problem.
Positioned in the middle of a desert, there were worries that sand would blow onto the circuit and disrupt the race.
However, organizers were able to keep the sand off the track by spraying an adhesive on the sand around the track.
The surface of the track is made of graywacke aggregate, shipped to Bahrain from Bayston Hill quarry in Shropshire, England.
The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the high level of grip it offers.
The same aggregate material is used at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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