Yas Marina

• Yas Marina Track History

The Yas Marina track is believed to be the most expensive circuit in history, having been constructed for Formula One on a man-made island at a reputed cost of $1 billion. Needless to say, it lacks nothing in terms of facilities, yet it has failed to capture the imagination of the drivers and fans, with overtaking in particular proving particularly difficult.

After two years of intensive planning and construction involving 14,000 staff and 35 million construction man-hours, the new facility opened its doors to the world. With the Formula One Grand Prix being a dusk race, the hotel forms glistening centrepiece, with its unique LED lighting system ensuring a colourful backdrop to the racing as dusk gives way to darkness.

Racing at the Hermann Tilke-designed facility has been mixed – passing has proved difficult, despite the long straights. The majority of the corners are medium or slow speed, making this a very technical track at which obtaining a good car balance is difficult.

The twenty-one corners twist through Yas Island off the Abu Dhabi coast, passing by the marina and through the Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi designed by New York-based architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote Architecture with a striking facade lighting design by Rogier van der Heide, and winding its way through several long straights and tight corners.

The marina-based development includes a theme park, a water park, as well as residential areas, hotels and beaches.

The circuit has five grandstand areas (Main Grandstand, West Grandstand, North Grandstand, South Grandstand and Marina Grandstand (aka Support)) and part of its pit lane exit runs underneath the track. It also houses a team building behind the pit building, Media Center, Dragster Track and VIP Tower. Additionally, one of the run-off areas runs underneath the West grandstand.

• Seating Capacity – 41,093
• Area – 161.9 ha
• Length – 5.5 km
• Longest straight – 1.14 km (1,246.72 yd)
• Elevation change – 10.7 m

Aside from Formula One, the circuit has also hosted the short-lived FIA GT1 World Series, rounds of GP2 Asia and the full GP2 Series and overseas rounds of the V8 Supercar Championships, while 2012 saw the creation of a 12 Hour race for GT and sports cars.

Further Information

Wikipedia

Racing Circuit Info