The Jaypee International Race Circuit in Greater Noida, India appears to be coming together at a rapid pace.
Situated some 25 miles outside of India’s capital Delhi, the Hermann Tilke designed circuit was initially expected to be completed by June 2011, however it is thought the project may be finished with time to spare.
The sixteen-turn course is due to hold the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in October, with homologation of the arena pencilled in for May.
As well as the circuit, the Jaypee complex will also eventually contain a 100,000 seater cricket stadium, as well as a sports academy, golf course and hockey stadium.
Capacity for the track will start at 110,000, although there is potential to increase that to 200,000 at a later date should demands require. The first layer of asphalt for the is due to be laid today, while work progresses on service roads and run off areas.
The progress of the circuit is certainly a far cry from the near disaster that befell last year’s Korean Grand Prix at Yeongam. It is also a positive representation of the largely independent nature of Jaypee’s programme.
It is thought that tickets for the three-day race weekend will go on sale within the next month.
Unlike other circuit developments in recent years, the Jaypee circuit has absorbed the benefit of driver input in order to help overtaking. Initially this feedback was gathered at the design stages, with drivers also offering advice during the building stages.
Although the alterations have been relatively minor, it is hoped that these changes will make for better racing. A planed hairpin has been removed, potentially making the Jaypee circuit the quickest on the calendar, bar Monza.
Hermann Tilke has taken much criticism over the years for designing circuits lacking in imagination; however with input from a number of experienced racers, it is hoped the Jaypee circuit will break Tilke’s series of strikes. With Narain Karthikeyan behind the wheel for Hispania Racing in 2011, India will have at least one driver to get behind when the Formula 1 circus rolls into Greater Noida in October.
The photographs below were posted on the site Skyscrapercity.com two weeks ago showing the then state of progress on site.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing this track in action, which is unusual for a Tilke track for me. I must say though… the circuit diagram makes it look a little like a big version of Jerez.
It could be very interesting indeed. It does look very quick.
Thanks for the update and for pointing out the great photos, I’m also looking forward to seeing how this track works compared to Tilke’s other efforts.
One quibble though… the circuit diagram is quite clearly marked at Wikipedia Commons as being available on a CC-BY-SA 3.0 licence. As you have failed to attribute the diagram you are actually in breach of the copyright. Creative Commons doesn’t imply entirely free use.
Other than that, a great blog site!
Hi John,
Cheers for that. I must admit, Creative Commons is still a bit of a mystery to me. Hope the credit applied is the correct one.