Future of Turkish Grand Prix venue in the balance
Istanbul Park, widely regarded as one of the best modern style Formula 1 venues, is awaiting news on its fate amidst reports that it will either host a returning Turkish Grand Prix or will suffer the ignominy of being turned into a used car lot.
The circuit, which hosted the Turkish Grand Prix from 2006 until 2011 and was famous for its Turn 8 – which although fringed with acres of runoff was regarded as a real challenge by many drivers – cost almost $300m to build and has a capacity of 155,000. But Istanbul Park failed to attract the crowds and it fell off GP the calendar in 2012. It has been reported in the Turkish press that car rental company Intercity has signed a 10-year lease and plans to sell 25,000 cars from the site, which could now be called Istanbul Park Auto Market.
However, it seems there is still a chance that the circuit could escape this fate as Intercity chairman Vural Ak has now had talks with Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and has stated that the track ‘still has a grade 1 FIA licence’ and could therefore return to the calendar ‘in the future’. Ak added that the talks had gone well and there was only the final hurdle of approval by the Turkish government to be cleared, which would have to wait until after the Turkish election at the beginning of November. ‘The Turkish government should approve the race because it’s an international activity,’ said Ak. ‘For this reason, we are waiting for the election.’
Istanbul Park was designed by F1’s favoured track designer, Hermann Tilke, who included a number of ‘error generator’ corners, while there were also turns based on famous corners from other circuits, such as Spa’s Eau Rouge and Monza’s Parabolica. The circuit has also hosted MotoGP and the DTM in the past.