VALENCIA STREET CIRCUIT

Overview:

After successfully hosting the 32nd America's Cup in 2007, Valencia's new Formula 1 street circuit made its successful debut in August 2008. 

The Valencia Street Circuit is a semi-permanent street circuit in Valencia, Spain which will host the Formula One European Grand Prix for seven years.

The first race meeting on the circuit was held over the 23/24 August 2008 weekend, with Felipe Massa winning the main event, the European Grand Prix, after starting from pole position.

The circuit utilises the roads around the port city's port area – including a section over a 140 metre long swing bridge, and also includes some roads designed exclusively for racing purposes by the German architect Hermann Tilke who also designed the infrastructural buildings for the circuit.

The track is 5.419 kilometres long and incorporates a total of 25 turns – 11 right-handers and 14 left-handers. It is estimated that the track has a top speed of around 323 kilometres per hour (201 mph).

Specifications:

• Circuit Length: 5.419 km
• Total Distance:303.9 km
• Race Laps: 57
• Turns: 25
• Start Time: TBA
• First GP: 2008
• Race Winner 2009: Rubens Barichello, Brawn GP
• Lap Record: 1:38.683, Lap 65, Timo Glock, Toyota

History:

The European Grand Prix was created as an honorific title by the AIACR, the FIA's predecessor in the organisation of motor racing events. The first race to receive the title was the Italian Grand Prix, in 1923, and it was followed by the French Grand Prix and Belgian Grand Prix. After a hiatus in 1929, Spa received the last honorific title of the pre-WWII years, in 1930.

The title was revived by the FIA after World War II, and was first given to the Belgian Grand Prix in 1947, and was distributed across several countries until the 1977 British Grand Prix, the last race to receive the honorific title. All post-war honorific European Grands Prix were F1 races.

Modern History:

In 1998, the European Grand Prix was dropped from the schedule, but returned in 1999 when the race at Nürburgring re-adopted the European Grand Prix name. The 1999 race was notable for the torrential rain conditions which saw many experienced drivers slide off the circuit, presenting Johnny Herbert with the opportunity to take Stewart Grand Prix's first (and only) victory in its final season before being sold to Ford.

The race continued to be held at the Nürburgring until 2007. On August 29, 2006 it was announced that it had been removed from the F1 calendar for the 2007 season. From then there would only be one GP hosted in Germany each year, alternating between Hockenheimring and Nürburgring. However, what the name of this Grand Prix would be was uncertain for a time; while originally intended to be the German Grand Prix from 2007, the Nürburgring race of 2007 was renamed "Großer Preis von Europa" (European Grand Prix) due to a dispute over the ownership of the title German Grand Prix.

In 2008 the European Grand Prix took place in Valencia, Spain, and will do so again in 2009. During the 2009 event, Valencia signed a deal for a further 5 races, which puts Valencia on the calendar until 2014.

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