Yas Island has been strangely quiet since the beginning of November. Anyone out there to sample the hotels and restaurants will have found it all but deserted, bales of tumbleweed wafting between the chevrons. A press conference mid-January revealed, however, that this was just the calm before the storm. The vast racing facility, unveiled for the F1 event last October, will host five motor-sporting spectaculars this year, culminating in the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (will that name ever roll off the tongue?) on November 12-14.
Two events are scheduled for this month. The first is the GP2 Asia Series – an extension of the popular GP2 Main Series, seen as a step up for drivers aiming at life in F1. GP2 standardises the vehicles so that a driver’s ability (rather than the team’s engineering ability and funds) is prominently featured. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosenberg were both highly successful GP2 racers before being picked up by F1 teams. The difference between GP2 Main and GP2 Asia is that teams are required to feature at least one driver that doesn’t hold a West European or American (North or South) passport. The teams are also hobbled by budget limitations, getting themselves up and running at about one per cent of the budget used by their more flashy counterparts.
The second of the circuit’s events is the V8 Supercars Australia series. Twenty-nine cars compete in this 200km race, comprising two heats of 43 laps each over the course of the weekend, with plenty of access to drivers and cars guaranteed for anyone in attendance. It’s a far more physical sport than the F1 Grand Prix, racing slightly more ‘street’ vehicles in the Ford Falcon and the GM (Holden) Commodore. That the drivers are commonly separated by as little as one second over qualifying laps suggests the kind of thrilling entertainment spectators can expect.
GP2 Asia Series takes place on Feb 5-6. Tickets start from Dhs150. V8 Supercars Australia takes place on Feb 19-20. Tickets start from Dhs380. All tickets available from yasmarinacircuit.com.
