Chengdu Goldenport Circuit () also known as Chengdu International Circuit in English, was a permanent circuit in Shi Sheng Road, Jin Jiang, 610023
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...
,
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
.
It held a round of
Asian Touring Car Series (ATCS),
Formula V6 Asia in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...
.
On August 26 2008, the circuit was confirmed to be hosting a round of the
2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season. It was the fourth different circuit in China to have hosted an
A1 Grand Prix race. The track hosted the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...
of the Grand Prix season on 9 November 2008, the Sprint race was won by
Adam Carroll of
Team Ireland and the Feature race was won by
Filipe Albuquerque of
Team Portugal. The fastest lap at the circuit was set by
Robert Doornbos of
Team The Netherlands, who managed a lap of 1:15.212.
In August 2019, the venue was announced to be demolished. According to renowned F1 journalist
Joe Saward, plans are for a redevelopment of the circuit to be FIA Grade 1 in order to start work towards a second Formula One race in China.
[Notebook Joe Saward's Notebook]
The circuit
The circuit was long.
A1 Grand Prix's track commentator Bruce Jones compared the bumpy circuit to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
's
Circuito Permanente del Jarama and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
's
Autódromo do Estoril. He suggested the main straight is longer than the one at
Circuit Park Zandvoort, before plunging under a bridge. Another A1GP track commentator
John Watson believed that the bumps are the consequence of the track's location in an earthquake zone.
A1 Team Australia's driver
John Martin John Martin may refer to:
Business
*John Martin (businessman) (1820–1905), American lumberman and flour miller
*John Charles Martin (fl. 1913–1931), American newspaper publisher
*John Martin (publisher) (born 1930), American founder of Black ...
said driving on the track was like "old Mario Kart on
Nintendo" because the bumps on the circuit made his car jump. There were puddles on the circuit which never dried up during the weekend and they caused spins. He also said that the surface is not ideal because the water was rising to the surface, as the track was built on part of a swamp.
Lap records
The official fastest race lap records at the Chengdu Goldenport Circuit are listed as:
References
A1 Grand Prix circuits
Sport in Chengdu
Motorsport venues in Sichuan
Sports venues in Sichuan
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