Zhuhai International Circuit

Motorsport venue
Name = Zhuhai International Circuit
Time = GMT+8
Location = Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China


Image_caption = Zhuhai Circuit layout
Capacity =
Owner =
Operator =
Broke_ground =
Opened = November 1996
Closed =
Construction_cost =
Architect =
Former_names =
Events = FIA GT Championship, A1GP, Formula V6 Asia, CSBK
Layout1 =
Surface =
Length_km = 4.3
Length_mi = 2.7
Turns = 14
Banking = No
Record_time = 1:23.203
Record_driver = Michael Ammermüller
Record_team = A1 Team Germany
Record_year = 2007
Record_class = A1GP
Layout2 =
Surface2 =
Length_km2 =
Length_mi2 =
Turns2 =
Banking2 =
Record_time2 = 1:30.661
Record_driver2 = Christophe Bouchut
Record_team2 = Russian Age Racing
Record_year2 = 2005
Record_class2 = GT1

Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China.

Motorsport started in Zhuhai when it hosted a race on its street course in 1993, racing continued until 1996 when the motor racing circuit was constructed with Formula 1 in mind. The first international race held at the circuit was the BPR Global GT Series. The circuit soon became the hotbed of local motorsports with teams from Hong Kong and Macau setting up their bases inside the circuit garages.

Track layout

The circuit is 4.3km long and has 14 turns. 9 of them are right turns and 5 are left turns. The circuit runs clockwise only. The longest straight is the start/finish straight which is Convert|900|m|mi|2 long. It is an FIA Grade II certified circuit.

Lap record

The fastest qualifying lap ever at the circuit was set by a Formula Asia V6 by Renault on October 20, 2006. Driven by Karun Chandhok, it managed a lap of 1:30.033.

The fastest unofficial lap ever at the circuit was set by a 2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car on November 30, 2006. Driven by Roberto Moreno, it managed a lap of 1:23.612 during a demonstration run.

Event organizer

Zhuhai International Circuit Co Ltd is also a prominent motorsport event organizer and promoter in China. It has organized and promoted the FIA GT Championship in China and in 2007, it has also signed a contract with China Motorcycle Sports Association to promote the inaugural China Superbike Championship.

National races

Zhuhai International Circuit is the promoter of the China Superbike Championship, established in 2007 and sanctioned by the China Motorcycle Sports Association, CMSA.

ZIC also organizes the Circuit Hero and Circuit Hero GT race series, which allows citizens of the People's Republic of China to participate.

HTCC and MTCC

The Hong Kong Touring Car Championship and the Macau Touring Car Championship both run the majority of their races at ZIC since they begun.

Asian races

The Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS) was held at the circuit from 2006-10-20 to 2006-10-22, when a record 33,000 people turned up to watch the races.

AFOS has been held at the circuit many times since its inception in 1994.

The Asian Formula Three Championship is also hosted by the circuit annually.

In addition, the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship race at ZIC in December annually.

Formula 1 ambitions

ZIC was included in the provisional 1999 F1 calendar. But the circuit subsequently lost its place in the calendar due to logistical problems. F1 subsequently races in Shanghai International Circuit.

International races

In 1997, ZIC welcomed the new FIA GT Championship. In 1999, the circuit held the FIA GT Championship again, after that the circuit went quite on the international scene for 5 years.

In 2004, the circuit was fully renovated and once again the FIA GT Championship was staged. On 2004-11-14, the two Maserati MC12s of AF Corse scored a 1-2 at the track.

The FIA GT Championship was staged from 2005-10-21 to 2005-10-23 and the GPLK Corvette C5-R won the race. The GruppeM Porsches won GT2. The Hong Kong Le Mans Team and the Malaysian Proton R3 Amprex team also took part.

The FIA GT Championship race has been postponed to 25 March 2007 from October 2006, in order to keep clear of the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix in early October and the Macau Grand Prix in the middle of November. The race was won by All-Inkl.com racing's Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT, driven by Christophe Bouchut and Stefan Mucke. GT2 class was won by AF Corse's Ferrari 430, with Dirk Müller and Toni Vilander at the wheel. See also: 2007 FIA GT Zhuhai 2 Hours.

Zhuhai International Circuit staged the forth round of the 2007-08 A1 Grand Prix season on 2007-12-16.

Champ Car

A multi year deal was announced in 2006 that brought one of the American versions of Formula One to China. In December 20, 2006, Roberto Moreno made history as he took the 2007 DP01 Champ Car on track at the Zhuhai Circuit, marked the first time and also the last time a Champ Car had run in China. Then the series had problems with its promoter, which settled in a court in the US, and replaced them with a new promoter. The new promoter did not have enough time to organize the race on the original May date and so the race was provisionally moved to October of 2007. When the series failed to get F.I.A. approval for the October date the 2007 race was cancelled. The series was looking to race in Zhuhai for the 2008 season until the unification with Indy Racing League but most of the speculation had died down.

Track rentals

Since 2005, the circuit has become a hive of track activities, with a large number of auto-related launches and events held at the circuit, as the battle for car sales in China heat up. Auto dealers and manufacturers try to lure more customers by allowing them to drive freely on the track and pampering them off it.

Kart circuit

A Kart circuit was also added to the facility in 2004.

External links

* [http://www.zic.com.cn/zicen Zhuhai International Circuit - official website]
* [http://www.fiagt.com FIA GT Championship - official website]
* [http://www.afos.com Asian Festival of Speed - official website]
* [http://www.champcarworldseries.com Champ Car World Series - official website]
* [http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Zhuhai_Circuit Trackpedia guide to driving and racing Zhuhai]
* [http://www.a1gp.com/Circuit/CircuitInfo.aspx?circuitId=28&seasonId=4 A1GP info of Zhuhai International Circuit]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Zhuhai,+China&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=22.367241,113.556597&spn=0.009049,0.021007&t=k&iwloc=addr Satellite picture by Google Maps]

Template group
list =