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A collection of V8 Supercar officials will head over to Abu Dhabi at the conclusion of The Island 300 to finalise the track layout that the category will race on at the spectacular new Yas Marina facility next year.
Abu Dhabi will be the opening round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series next year on February 18-20.
Tony Cochrane, Kurt Sakzewski, plus other V8SA and V8TV officials will head to the Middle East to confirm the track layout, plus other details.
The proposed layout, pictured, cuts off less than 1km of the full Grand Prix circuit, making this variant of the track the second longest circuit on next year’s V8 Supercar calendar. Only Bathurst would be longer.
Ideally, V8 Supercars and the Yas Marina officials are keen to ensure that the circuit features all of the track’s marketable aspects, including the hotel, pit straight and the marina.
V8SA’s operations manager Sakzewski told Speedcafe that the trip to the Yas Marina Circuit will set in stone the layout.
“We’re going over there with the plan to use the majority of the Grand Prix circuit, with just a small short-cut at the section they call the corkscrew after turn three,” he said.
“One of our primary reasons for the visit is to confirm that the figuration will work for V8 Supercars. We don’t expect there to be any problems. It’s a world class circuit and anyone who saw the Grand Prix would realise that it’s a very impressive venue.”
Ford Performance Racing’s Steven Richards said that track will suit V8 Supercars.
“The circuit is magnificent and this proposed layout looks good,” Richards said
“Obviously, the track is unbelievable. It’s big and wide and has everything that our category requires to make the racing a spectacle.
“We definitely need to include a big long straight in any layout that we use. As was proved in Bahrain, you get the V8s running three or four wide.”
