The Russian GP relocated near Moscow?

Although some concerns have been raised about potential delays regarding the Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for 2014, Alexander Ivanov, chief deputy of the Krasnodar region, which includes the city of Sochi, assures that either the race will take place in 2014, or we won’t have Formula One at all, although he believes that the track will be built on time. Ivanov thus assures that all facilities will be in place even before the Winter Olympic Games hosted by the city the same year, while the laying of the tarmac will have to wait until April 2014, after the end of the Olympics.

A little earlier this month, Sovietsky Sport expressed concern over the fact that the organizers had not yet been able to obtain all federal authorizations, even though no company has been appointed to promote the event and no partnership has been signed yet, despite the Grand Prix benefiting from nearly 200 million dollars in federal aid.

According to Alexei Agafonov, another deputy from the region, the Sochi circuit could accommodate 80,000 spectators, the same as the Melbourne circuit. This should allow, according to him, the organizers to break even, even before the end of the organizing contract, scheduled for 2020: « According to our estimates, the investments made on the circuit will be compensated between three and a half to four years. We expect that at least one-third of the spectators will be foreigners and that this number will increase. »

In case of failure, Russia would benefit from a fallback option – aside from postponing the inaugural round to 2015 -, with the possibility of relocating the race to the Moscow Raceway, as indicated by Igor Yermelin, first vice-president of the Russian Automobile Federation, in the columns of Sovietsky Sport: « The Volokolamsk circuit [editor’s note: designed by Herman Tilke] fully meets Formula One safety standards, however, some infrastructure additions will be necessary, particularly concerning VIP accommodations. »

Yermilin, however, ensures that a decision regarding the transfer of the Russian Grand Prix will depend on the commercial success of the race in Sochi: if it is a success, there will be no discussion; otherwise, it would be advantageous to hold the race in the Moscow region by 2017 or 2018.

The Moscow circuit will be inaugurated in 2012 and will host, in July, a round of the World Series by Renault as well as a round of the Superbike World Championship.