South Korea to host F1 in 2010
South Korea will join the Formula 1 world championship in 2010, organisers announced on Monday.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone flew to Seoul following the Chinese Grand Prix and signed a seven-year contract with Park Joon-yung, governor of South Cholla province, where a new circuit will be built.
The project will be financed by the Korea Auto Valley Operation, a public-private joint venture launched by the provincial government, and will involve the construction of a 3.39-mile circuit in Yongam county (240 miles south of Seoul) at a cost of $264 million.
Work on the new facility, which will be designed by F1’s favourite architect Hermann Tilke and has tentatively been named the 'Korean International Circuit', is scheduled to begin next year.
The inaugural race in 2010 will be South Korea’s first international motor racing event and continues F1’s expansion into emerging markets, which has seen Bahrain, China and Turkey added to the calendar since 2004.
Ecclestone said F1 would come as something of a culture shock to South Korea despite its developed car industry, and pledged support for nurturing young Korean drivers to maximise the race’s appeal.
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