Shanghai, China

Providing last year’s season finale, the Shanghai International Circuit put on a great show, as an excited crowd watched local drivers race at China’s premier sporting facility.

The wide track and long circuit, means that overtaking is possible and standings change lap by lap. Last year’s race provided two surprise winners, with A1 Teams Malaysia and Czech Republic taking the chequered flag.

One of the longest tracks that A1 visits, it is also one of the hardest to learn for the A1 drivers. The track is very technical, requiring a good set up for the long straights and the combination of slow and high speed corners.

CIRCUIT HISTORY
Shanghai International Circuit is one of the most impressive circuits in the world and has set the standard for other international tracks. Built in 2004, it is also one of the newest. Few believed that it was possible to build such an impressive facility in just 18 months. However, building work began on the site in April 2003 and by September 2004, the track was hosting the first Chinese F1 Grand Prix.

Similar in style to the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, with its modern structures made from aluminium, glass and steel, the Shanghai Circuit is another master piece by circuit designer Hermann Tilke. Located northeast of Anting Town in the Jiading district of Shanghai, the circuit is ideally positioned to attract international visitors. The 5.3 km2 site is effectively marsh land, which means that the buildings and race tracks had to be floated on polystyrene. This makes the suspended media centre and restaurant, which form two bridges over the track even more impressive. The massive grandstand on the main straight, together with the sub and temporary grandstands will hold over 200,000 spectators.

The state of the art circuit has attracted large events such as Formula One, MotoGP and Superbikes.

The circuit was the location for the final round of the first season of A1GP. 82,000 spectators watched Alex Yoong and Tomas Enge race to their first wins in A1.

COUNTRY INFORMATION
The Peoples Republic of China, to give the country its full name, is the most populous country in the world, with a population of 1.3 billion. It is the largest country by area in East Asia (excluding Russia) and borders 14 nations. As such a large country, China encompasses many different landscapes, from plains and hill country to low mountain ranges. In the central east are the deltas of the two main rivers, Huang He and Yangtze River. In the west of the country are the main mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas, and China’s highest point, Mount Everest.

It is not only the landscape of the country that differs widely. The Peoples Republic of China officially recognised 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.9 per cent of the population. Although Beijing is the capital, Shanghai is the most populated city, with 9,031,200 million inhabitants.

After World War II, and the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party took control of mainland China, and the Kuomintang took control of Taiwan. It was at this time, in 1949 that Mao Zedong pronounced the Peoples Republic of China, establishing a Communist state. Approximately half of the economy has been privatised in the last thirty years, under a programme of ‘Socialism, with Chinese characteristics’.

Since the late 1970s, China’s economy has shifted from a command economy to a mixed economy with capitalist and communist tendencies. The result has been a six fold increase in GDP since 1978. The growth of the Chinese economy has been one of the fastest in the world and has been growing at an annual GDP rate of 9.4 per cent for the last 25 years. During the 1980s, the economic reforms lifted millions of peasants out of poverty. Despite occasional difficulties that the country has faced, and the challenge of mixing capitalism with socialism, Chinese global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological and cultural affairs has grown enormously in recent years. China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and by 2005 was the fourth largest economy in the world by exchange rate, and second only to the USA in terms of purchasing power.

The leadership of President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji brought unprecedented wealth and international standing during the 1990s. Greater economic development and market reforms remain the priority for the current government under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

LOCAL INFORMATION
Time zone: GMT + 8
Airport: Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Currency: Yuan (CNY) – also referred to as Renminbi (RMB)
Average April temperature: 56.7 °F
Average April rainfall: 3.7 inches

CIRCUIT INFORMATION

Location: Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading District, Shanghai.
Track length: 5.45 km / 3.39 miles
No. turns: 16
No. laps: Sprint race: 18
Feature race: 38
Direction: Clockwise
Lap record: 1:32.238 recorded by Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari Formula One car in 2004
Address: Shanghai International Circuit,
29/F Jiushi Tower,
28 Zhongshan Road (South),
Shanghai,
200010