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Yas Marina Circuit Prepares To Host Season Finale Of F1 |
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Teams of cleaners, painters, gardeners and technical experts descend on Yas Marina Circuit to prepare the track for the 2017 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIXThe engines have fallen silent, pit doors are closed, and the grandstands are empty, but Yas Marina Circuit is anything but quiet. While motorsports fans eagerly await the start of the season-closing 2017 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX, the task of making sure the Circuit is ready to host the biggest race of the year is well under way. To make sure everything is perfect before the arrival of the drivers, 60,000 fans, scores of team officials plus dignitaries, celebrities and media from across the world, an army of cleaners, painters, gardeners and technical experts have descended on Yas Marina Circuit. Al Tareq Al Ameri, CEO of Yas Marina Circuit, said: "The Circuit is a hive of activity leading up to the F1®. A huge amount of work goes into preparing for the race weekend to make sure the Circuit looks perfect and the fans in the grandstand and those watching on TV around the world enjoy the best F1® experience. "Since our first Grand Prix in 2009 we have been finely tuning our operations. It's a massive logistical task that is the culmination of 12 months' meticulous planning." To make sure the Circuit is at its best for when the world's best racing drivers arrive, 4,500 litres of 'Yas blue' paint, 720 litres of ivory, 1,440 litres of red and 1,440 litres of white paint will be applied by teams of painters. The paint weighs between 2-3 tonnes, with 500 kgs alone being applied to kerbing each day. The track's famous 'Yas blue' is unique to Yas Marina Circuit. Called pantone 321, the colour was chosen as it closely resembles the blue seas of the Arabian Gulf. The team tasked with painting the track's distinctive white edging will have to cover a total of 26 kilometers. These are painted four times, which requires 450 litres of white paint. The record number of steps taken by a single track painter is 42,000. Thanks to the wider cars competing in the 2017 F1® Championship, the grid markings on the start/finish line have been removed and replaced with markings that are 200mm wider than previous slots to accommodate them. Clearing away months of sand and dust from the Circuit's grandstands is another important task for the cleaners, who are all equipped with high-pressure hoses, while the 75 acres of landscaped areas are given some TLC by gardeners who will plant 715 palm trees and 150,000 flowers before the race. It's not just the Circuit that is cleaned and polished before the F1® weekend beings. Every inch of the hotels on Yas Island, including the famous 'glowing facade' of the Yas Viceroy, are left sparkling in time for guest to check in, while teams of street cleaners make sure the island's roads are looking their best. While the huge cleaning operation is going on, behind the scenes the business of Formula 1® is getting into full swing ahead of race weekend on November 23-26. Teams of motor racing experts and logistics managers direct fleets of transporters carrying everything required for the F2 Series and GP3 Series teams. These competitions, which will provide the F1® champion drivers of tomorrow, will battle it out for podium honours over the weekend. As the safety of the drivers, teams and spectators is paramount in F1®, experts will go over every inch of the Circuit to make sure vital crash barriers are placed correctly and intact, the track is clean and clear and the Circuit's medical teams and first responders are positioned to deal with any emergency. The logistics of organising the race weekend also extends to catering for tens of thousands of spectators in the grandstands, making sure the small army of customer service staff are on hand and prepared to help visitors enjoy the F1® experience to the fullest and ensuring sure the world's media are positioned to get the best view of the action on the track for the hundreds of millions watching around the world. With the huge to-do list slowly being ticked off, the 11 teams that make up the F1® juggernaut can finally arrive. A fleet of articulated lorries loaded with the essentials that keep an F1® team racing – including the spare parts, support vehicles and fuel – will arrive in Abu Dhabi fresh from the season's penultimate race in Brazil. Six charter flights will land at Abu Dhabi Airport, each loaded with more than 90 tonnes of gear, while Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port will handle 140 containers, each carrying the kit needed to make sure the F1®, F2 and GP3 teams are able to put on yet another thrilling display of motorsport action. Aside from the hardware, the teams also require hundreds of hotel rooms and hire cars, while the motorhomes for driver must be positioned correctly and online and data links connected so engineers can access essential data for each race. After 20 rounds of the 2017 F1® season it's hard to predict what will happen in the big finale, but Yas Marina Circuit is guaranteed to be looking its very best. For more information on the #AbuDhabiGP, please visit www.yasmarinacircuit.com |
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