Shanghai International Circuit

motorsport track in China

The Shanghai International Circuit is a Chinese motor racing venue. It is in the district of Jiading near Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. It was the venue of the first Formula One Chinese Grand Prix on 26 September 2004.

Shanghai International Circuit
Main straight and pit lane area
Location Shanghai, China
Time zone GMT +8
Opened 2004
Construction Cost $450 million
Architect Hermann Tilke
Major Events FIA Formula One
Chinese Grand Prix
V8 Supercars
A1 Grand Prix
Grand Prix of Nations, China
Circuit Length 5.451 km (3.387 mi)
Turns 16
Lap Record 1:32.238 (Germany Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

History

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The circuit costing about $450 million (USD). It was paid for by a government-funded joint-venture company. This company was made up of the Shanghai Juss Corporation, Shanghai National Property Management Co Ltd, and Shanghai Jia'an Investment and Development Co Ltd. Architectural and design experts began visiting the site by April 2003. The site was transformed from swampland to an international racetrack in 18 months. A team of 3000 worked around the clock to finish the construction.

Other events held at the circuit include a round of the MotoGP world championship, the Australian-based V8 Supercar championship, and also the final round of the A1 Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007.

The 2008 MotoGP race was the last one at Shanghai International Circuit. The FIM didn't select the circuit for 2009 because of overcrowding problems.[1]

Layout

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Like many new Formula One circuits, Shanghai International Circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke. It features his trademark track feature: a long back straight followed by a hairpin turn. Current-generation F1 cars can easily exceed 300 km/h (186 mph) on the long straight between corners 13 and 14.[2] The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang (上). Shang is the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, and means "above" or "ascend".[3]

Records

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Times below are driven over a distance of 5.451 km.

Category Record Driver/Rider Car/Bike Date
Formula One 1:32.238   Michael Schumacher Ferrari 26 September 2004
GP2 Asia Series 1:46.470   Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 18 October 2008
A1GP 1:51.832   Darren Manning Team Great Britain 1 April 2006
MotoGP 1:58.139   Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 3 May 2008
250cc 2:04.543   Jorge Lorenzo Fortuna Aprilia 5 May 2007
125cc 2:11.572   Mika Kallio Red Bull KTM GP 125 13 May 2006
V8 Supercars[4] 1:51.056 *   Todd Kelly Holden VZ Commodore 12 June 2005

*Intermediate circuit (4.600 km/2.858 mi)

References

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  1. FIM announce provisional 2009 MotoGP calendar Archived 2015-01-11 at the Wayback Machine MotoGP.com, retrieved on July 25, 2008
  2. Shanghai International Circuit Facts & Figures Forumula1.net, retrieved on October 10, 2007
  3. "Chinese Grand Prix Preview". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2009-04-13. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  4. "2005 V8 Supercar Shanghai round results". Archived from the original on 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2021-08-31.

Other websites

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31°20′20″N 121°13′11″E / 31.33889°N 121.21972°E / 31.33889; 121.21972