Formula One News

Bahrain International Circuit and Gulf Air today launched the 2009
Tue 3rd Mar 09 - 17:59

Bahrain International Circuit and Gulf Air today launched the 2009 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix campaign as the countdown to the biggest international sporting and social occasion in the region gets underway.

With just 55 days remaining before the sixth running of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix the BIC and the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier jointly announced the objective to stage the biggest and best round of the FIA Formula One World Championship in the Kingdom under the headline “Where the Heart is”.

Martin Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer at BIC, said: “The countdown to our sixth hosting of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is now well and truly underway. We stand just 55 days away from the biggest sporting and social event of the year and event that in TV exposure terms is second only to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games. Over the years fans of Formula One have come to expect so much more from Bahrain International Circuit and this year we promise to make it the most entertaining, biggest and best yet.”

This year will see more action and excitement than ever before as new rules and regulations have been introduced to transform the spectacle of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Earlier this year the Kingdom got a preview of what is to come this season as Ferrari, Toyota and BMW headed to the award-winning desert circuit to test the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and put their 2009 cars through their paces. During their visit fans got the chance to meet Kimi Raikkonen at an autograph session in Seef Mall’s West Wing, and for those attending the open day the chance to meet Toyota’s Timo Glock aboard BIC’s dhow in the F1 Village Vending Area.

With thousands attending the February sessions, many more are expected to visit this year’s 2009 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix to witness the gripping on-track competition as well as enjoy the entertainment in the F1 Village Vending Area.

Abdul Rahman Qarata, Corporate Communications Director at BIC, said: “During the 2008 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix we witnessed almost 100,000 spectators attending the three-day race weekend. This year, we are hoping to go beyond this record to see a greater attendance as a thrilling season lies ahead. We know how much everyone loves the Grand Prix, particularly families and friends, and there will be much more to look forward to as we continue to focus on making this a weekend filled with entertainment.”

Away from the track there will be plenty of added entertainment to look forward to. The line-up for race weekend will include three groups of five acrobats who go by the name of ‘Limpopo-Zambezi’. Hailing from Mozambique, Kenya and Ghana these high-energy acrobats will provide visitors with a heart-lifting performance not to be missed. Cambridge-based Bijoumiyo who were last seen during the Grand Racing Weekend will be finding their way back to Bahrain International Circuit for Formula One weekend to put the ‘F’ into ‘funk’. Additionally, there will be roaming acts making their way round the Formula One Village Vending Area, buskers in the tunnels, stilt-walkers, balloon-makers, acrobats, musicians, a professional face painter, children’s’ play area and so much more. To add to the excitement, this year will see two stages instead of one to look out for.

Last year’s successful introduction of the ‘Friday ticket’ has promoted the addition of a new offer available to fans who are only able to visit the track on Friday. This new initiative is called the ‘roaming ticket’; the idea being that it helps those who have to work on Saturday and Sunday get the Formula One experience.

“With the BD65 roaming ticket spectators have the freedom to enter each and every grandstand on Friday and get different views of the circuit”, said Whitaker.

Bahrain will host the fourth round of this year’s FIA Formula One World Championship. The opening round will be in Melbourne, Australia on March 29 and the championship runs through 17 events in 16 countries before culminating in the final race in Abu Dhabi on November 1. As the world’s biggest annual sporting series, Formula One attracts a global audience of more than 550 million viewers and takes place on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.

On track there will be a host of races on the bill supporting the Formula One action including the final round of the GP2 Asia Series. GP2 is the ‘feeder’ category to Formula One introduced in 2005, from which all three champions have leapt straight into the top flight of Formula One. Inaugural champion Nico Rosberg scored points on his Formula One debut in Bahrain with Williams in 2006, while his successor Lewis Hamilton managed to win the driver’s championship last season. Having seen Timo Glock step out of the GP2 season into the Toyota Formula One team, Bahrain’s very own resident driver Sebastien Buemi will be stepping into the world of Formula One for Toro Rosso this year.

GP2 Asia is a sister championship to the European-based GP2 Series and is where Bahrain’s Hamad Al Fardan races for GFH iSport International team. Local spectators got their first chance to see Hamad’s home-grown talent racing on home soil for the first time this January as part of the Grand Racing Weekend. He will be hoping to be in the thick of the action at the final round which supports Grand Prix. It will also feature another event which partners up with the GP2 Asia - Speedcar. Speedcars are closely related to NASCAR racers in America but feature a host of stars from the world of international motor sport led by former Formula One drivers Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Gianni Morbidelli and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

There will also be plenty of excitement for fans of regional racing talent as Bahrain’s own Chevrolet Supercars ME Championship puts on an exhibition race for a preview of what is to come this season when the championship starts in November. Organised and promoted by the BIC, the Chevrolet Championship will be contested over several rounds with the final round supporting the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in 2010.

Last season saw Bahrain’s Fahad Al Musalam win the championship against fierce competition from Saudi Arabia racer Abdulaziz Al Yaeesh, Bahrain’s Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Dubai-based Tarek Elgammal and many more. Al Musalam managed to pick up the opportunity of a life time as he won a test drive in the world’s biggest touring car series, the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, with the Garry Rogers Motorsport team.

The final international category on the line-up of events is the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup now in its 12th season as the official support category to the Formula One World Championship. The field of more than 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars makes a spectacular and colourful sight and provides real door-to-door racing at ever corner among evenly matched supercars. With a celebrity guest driver joining the well-known regulars of the series at most rounds, the Porsches deliver real entertainment in Bahrain every year.

As Bahrain International Circuit gets ready to host the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for the sixth time it also looks back on five successful years of achievements and awards. Since its inauguration in 2004, the BIC has received many prestigious accolades including the ‘Best Organised Grand Prix’ in 2004, ‘Best Advertising Campaign’ for the Almoayyed Tower in 2006, and now the only Grand Prix circuit to be an ‘FIA Centre of Excellence’.

This year Bahrain International Circuit announced its partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme having signed a memorandum of understanding which will see the circuit take on environmental initiatives as part of its “BIC Go Green” campaign.

Abdul Rahman Qarata said: “The goal of the campaign is to carry out various initiatives that will be beneficial not only for the circuit but for the entire kingdom. We also hope that as the first circuit in the world to take this step we will be able to spread awareness nationally and regionally as we join forces with the UNEP to tackle important global issues. This includes focusing on waste management, recycling and, more importantly, reducing our carbon footprint.”

This year will also see Bahrain International Circuit partner up once again with Gulf Air to bring the kingdom and the region its sixth Formula One race.
Björn Näf, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Air, said: "As one of the principle Ambassadors for the Kingdom of Bahrain we are delighted to again be at the forefront when the eyes of the world are focussed on Bahrain. Our sponsorship started in 2004 and since then we have been instrumental in the success of the event and the economic benefits it has brought to the Bahrain economy. The race has also become a firm favourite amongst fans from all over the world and we are proud to have brought so many first time visitors to Bahrain to watch the race and enjoy the many other world class facilities Bahrain has to offer. We look forward to welcoming fans from all over the world onto our aircraft where they can be sure of the highest levels of hospitality and comfort."
The 2009 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix takes place on April 24 – 26 and will see plenty of action and entertainment for families, friends, adults and children. Tickets are already on sale through the BIC Call Centre on 17450000, through the website www.bahraingp.com, the Seef Mall Outlet Stand and will see a new stand open at City Centre soon. Throughout the coming months the BIC will continue to feed more and more information in to the market place of events that are happening at the race. Entertainment is the key message with the BIC becoming the focal point for a great weekend of family entertainment both on and off the track. ‘Where the Heart is’ is the overall campaign theme and message for the 2009 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and the Bahrain International Circuit continues to be the Home of Motorsport in the Middle East.

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