Although few WEC drivers have previously raced at the Chinese circuit, they probably won’t have trouble adapting to this 5.451km track which took just 18 months to build on former marshland.
Indeed, Shanghai International Circuit was designed by the same architect who penned Sakhir, in Bahrain, namely Germany’s Hermann Tilke, who also revamped Fuji Speedway in Japan back in 2003!
Naturally, these three circuits – which will have provided the backdrop for the last three rounds of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) – are by no means identical. They do, however, share the same DNA. To improve safety and encourage overtaking, Tilke’s latest creations tend to favour short straights and tight corners, although most drivers prefer long corners and sweeping sequences like the Porsche Curves at Le Mans or Maggots/Becketts/Chapel at Silverstone…
As a driver, Hermann Tilke raced chiefly round the Nürburgring’s famous Nordschleife (not one of his creations!) in the VLN series or at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. After designing the venue’s F1 ‘complex’, he turned his attention to the renovation of Monza, Catalunya and the Fuji Speedway...
Today, Tilke Engineering is best known for its modern tracks, like Sakhir (Bahrain), Sepang (Malaysia), Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), Istanbul Park (Turkey) and the street circuits in Valencia and Singapore. It has also been entrusted with the new track in Austin, Texas, which the WEC is expected to visit in September 2013.
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