APRIL 14, 2007

McLaren heads for Menorca test

Our Menorca correspondent reports that McLaren will be running a car on the island, off the coast of Spain, on April 25-26. The venue for the test will be the Sant Luis aerodrome which was once the island's main airport until the tourist boom made it necessary to build a replacement nearby.

Our Menorca correspondent reports that McLaren will be running a car on the island, off the coast of Spain, on April 25-26. The venue for the test will be the Sant Luis aerodrome which was once the island's main airport until the tourist boom made it necessary to build a replacement nearby. The old airfield has one of the longest runways in Europe and has been run since the 1960s by the Real Aero Club de Mahon and has since been used for recreational flying, as a flying school and for executive jets. The track was recently resurfaced in the hope of attracting new business and with Britain's Elvington airfield in Yorkshire now restricted in the number of F1 tests that can run there, Sant Luis becomes the best venue available.

The island is very excited about the potential of the venue and the official launch of the plans took place in the offices of the Consell Insular.

The President of the island's council Joana Barcelo says that the development demonstrates "the immense possibilities of Menorca and is something which opens new promotional opportunities for us".