bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Unus Alladin

Zhuhai is facing a race against time to complete all facilities by the end of the year as the southern Chinese city seeks a return to next year's Formula One Championship provisional calendar.

 Zhuhai was removed from this year's provisional list due to 'mounting problems and delays' and officials admit China may not have another chance of hosting the prestigious event if it does not take prompt action.

 With countries like South Korea, Indonesia and South Africa showing keen interest in hosting a round of the championship next year, Zhuhai faces a huge task in its fight to regain F1 status.

 'If we don't get our act together this year, everybody is going to run out of steam and it will be very difficult for us to be able to stage the race in future,' said Joe Lim, director of the Zhuhai International Circuit.

 'If we don't do it next year, we might have to wait at least another year before we get another chance.

 'We must have all facilities completed by the end of the year.'  Lim admitted that progress on the construction of facilities at the purpose-built track had been slow, partly due to a delay in the allocation of funds by the Zhuhai Government.

 'We are a long off from completing facilities. I flew to Europe and met people like [F1 chief] Bernie Ecclestone to get some feedback but they said we can't be on the calendar unless we have met all requirements,' he said.

 Lim said facilities such as the paddock area, garage and spectator stands needed to be completed. He said these facilities would still need to be upgraded to fully satisfy the FIA, motorsport's governing body.

 'A lot of existing facilities in the other F1 countries are upgraded from time to time and we should do the same,' said Lim.

 'Hopefully, everything will be ready when FIA officials inspect the track again.'  Lim said a top German company, which specialisesin racing circuits, had been given the task of making a few adjustments to the existing track.

 Critics have described the Zhuhai track as too flat, featureless and lacking 'character' but Lim said he hoped the Germans could lend their expertise to correct the circuit's flaws.

 'This German company is very familiar with Formula One design and they will surely play a very important part in our hopes of getting ourselves back on the provisional calendar. We need consultants and expertise. In the past, we wanted to do everything too quickly,' said Lim.'  He said rebuilding the pits and making extensions of the facilities would cost Zhuhai another $120 million.

 He said Zhuhai was slowly gaining a reputation as a safe and reliable track with racing activities held there almost every week.

 Zhuhai played host to the Castrol FIM Asia Road Racing Championship over the weekend - the first international motorcycle road racing event to be held in China.

 The championship featured four race categories - 250cc sports production, 150cc sports production, 125cc underbone and 110cc underbone - and brought together riders from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

 Thongchai Wongsawan, president of the newly formed UAM (Asian Motorcycling Union), said he hoped the Asian Championship could one day match its European counterpart.

 'We cannot compete against the Europeans when it comes to organisation because they have had many years of experience, but we're not far off from the Europeans as far as talent is concerned,' said Thongchai.



Zhuhai still hoping to make F1 grade