APRIL 7, 2006

An interesting idea from BMW

The BMW Sauber F1 Team is putting its name to a new "theme park" area at the Nurburgring, in which race fans can get a look up close at what happens in the pit lane and team garages at a Grand Prix. The new displays will be open to the public at the European Grand Prix at the beginning of May

"The Pit Lane Park" is part of the BMW branding process in F1 and features as much detail as possible. The displays will feature a pitlane with cars running through it from time to time, plus a garage area set up as it is at a Grand Prix. Inside the garages there will be a selection of cars, some race-ready, others stripped down allowing fans to see and even touch parts of the cars to see the weight. There is even the chance to be photographed in BMW racing overalls and to sit in an F1 cockpit. There will be a variety of other activities such as pit stop challenges, quizzes and driving simulators. There are to be regular visits from the drivers to answer questions for the fans and, naturally, a merchandising area. The display will then be packed away and will be transported to five other Grands Prix in 2006: Barcelona,

Silverstone, Montreal, Monza and Shanghai. The display will be able to handle 16,000 fans a day.