SEPTEMBER 2, 2005

Formula 1 in Rio de Janeiro

The word from Brazil is that Rio de Janeiro is getting serious about a bid for the Brazilian Grand Prix with F1 track designer Hermann Tilke having completed a design for a circuit to run around the sporting installations which are being built on the site of the old Jacarepagua circuit. The original plan was to build a 1.67-mile track, winding around new facilities at the Speedway Sports Complex. These include a National Aquatic Center, a velodrome and the Rio Olympic Arena, which will be used for the first time for the 2007 Pan-American Games. The initial plan was for the city to hold the 2012 Olympic Games but with that deal having gone to London, Rio is now looking for high-profile sport prior to a bid for the next available Games.

The Brazilian GP had been held at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo since 1990 although nowadays the city of Sao Paulo has only been paying for the upkeep of the Interlagos circuit and even then there has been a legal challenge because some local pressure groups insisted that public money is being wasted. Interlagos is an expensive venue because the circuit was built on unstable ground and so subsidence is a big problem each year.