Photo : Pascal SAIVET - VSA

 

Air France's Boeing 777 landed this morning at 6:30 a.m., bringing from Paris after an 11-hour flight the regular ACO team for these events to the gray dawn of Shanghai. With a little sleep or not, the circuit is 70km and arrival on-site is at 10:30 a.m. Shanghai, a 10-year old, grade 1 circuit (for Formula 1) is no longer on top but remains nice overall to welcome this weekend the touring world championship (WTCC) and also the Chinese championship, the Maserati Trophy, the Asian GT championship, and other name championships as well as the third round of the Asian Le Mans Series. ACO forces are widely dessiminated as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is in Fuji, across from Shanghai on the other side of the China sea, and the Trucks 24 Hours is at the Bugatti circuit. The group for the third round is small with two LM P2s, two CNs and four GT prototypes (a Ferrari, two BMWs and a Mercedes). The big attraction of the day is the very late arrival of the WTCC containers from China. An endless procession of forklifts beeping in concert fills pit lane.

Shanghai and its…30 million inhabitants is a megalopolis: 100km wide, 1,000 towers, a gigantic port, millions of containers and thousands of red trucks to move it all. Roadways off the beaten path and beautiful tree-lined avenues. Suburban areas with red tile roofs, separated by market areas and factory zones,. The circuit is in the middle of all these types of zones, recognized by the press room straddling the track and a beautiful stands building, the architectural control tower, spacious but crowded paddocks at the center of the track, and an oasis of villas for competitors.

On the Asian Le Mans Series program: two free practice sessions, two free practice sessions included in the meeting (without the originally scheduled Polo cup), a half hour of qualifying, 24 hours of rest and three hours of racing on Saturday afternoon, allowing for the return to France during the night for Sunday at home. Hoping the weather will cooperate because at arrival, night will be falling. Everything is looking good, we shall see how it turns out.

Hervé Guyomard / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: SHANGHAI (CHINA), SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 2013, RACE. Regular meet of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with its six-hour race, this weekend Shanghai will host the Asian Le Mans Series for the first time.