Akrotiri Bay International Circuit
The Akrotiri Bay International Circuit is a motor racing circuit located on the outskirts of Limassol, Cyprus. Opened in 2013, the track has hosted the ARWS Mediterranean Grand Prix on two occasions, and now holds the Cyprus Grand Prix annually.
History
Construction on the circuit which was to be used as a testing facility for car owners and for European racing series began in early 2012, and was completed before the opening in June 2013. The track was designed by Daytona Raceway Ltd., owners of the Cypriot karting track of the same name, assisted by German motorsport veteran Leonhard von Gottorp, and built by Egnatia Odos Α.E.. Funding for the track was provided by the EU and the CMF (Cyprus Motorsport Federation) in order to allow Cypriot drivers to get a jump on the big stage of European motorsport and raise Limassol's touristic profile. Daniel Prieto announced February 2013 that the track would hold the F1RWRS Mediterranean Grand Prix, depending on it being opened on time. The first race at the track was hold in July and was won by Chris Dagnall after Ben Fleet made pole position.
Shortly after that Grand Prix, the track and Daytona Raceway Ltd. got in financial trouble, having underestimated the costs of maintaining the facility. On the 16 November 2013, the track was bought by a consortium consisting of Kay Lon's merchandising company, Volkswagen Group and Asian investors, running it under the guise of German firm Akrotiri Bay Track Management KG, planning on using the track as a test track for Volkswagen's luxury brands. Shortly before the 2014 F1RWRS Mediterranean Grand Prix, the F1RWRS Commission announced that the two-year contract would not be extended, making this the last F1RWRS championship race, which was won by Mark Dagnall. The Akrotiri Bay Track Management KG arranged 2016 race deals with DTM and Formula 2 and are rumoured to be planning on having a non-championship F1RWRS Grand Prix after the end of the 2015 F1RWRS season although the F1RWRS Commission decided to award the city of Helsinki said non-championship race and christened it the Baltic Sea F1RWRS Grand Prix. Before the start of the F1 season, Akrotiri Bay Track Management KG signed a deal with Christian Horner and Formula One Management to add the Cyprus Grands Prix to the F1 calendar for five seasons. The first F1 races on the circuit were won by Fernando Alonso, driving a Williams-Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo, driving a McLaren-Hyundai, the latter on his way to winning the F1 world championship that season.
After a few successful outings, the contract for the Formula One Grand Prix was extended with both sides signing a 15-year contract. In the seasons after the debut, Sebastian Vettel won races at the venue thrice, becoming the (as of 2020) only multi-time winner at this venue. In 2018, Vettel drove the official lap record, a record that stands to this day. In 2019, the venue was the location of the at-the-time joint-closest finish in Formula One history, as Pastor Maldonado and Dean Stoneman settled the race with a difference of 0.033 seconds. This record was broken a year later, as Daniel Melrose and Marvin Kirchhöfer were seperated by 0.009 seconds at the Argentine Grand Prix held at the Autódromo Roberto José Mouras. Unfortunately, the venue also saw some accidents: the second race at the Akrotiri Bay International Circuit saw Daniil Kvyat picking up a season-ending injury in a racing accident.
The Track
The track is known for being a very fast circuit - the record lap had an average speed of 357.21 km/h, by far the fastest lap ever done in a Formula One race - and basically consists of two long straights. At one end they are connected by a long banked corner, with a very slow and tight hairpin at the other. The back straight also has a chicane part of the way along to slow the cars and make setup decisions slightly more tricky. The track was clearly built with the purpose of testing cars as well, which in combination with the generally decent weather has earned it a place as a welcome location for testing, both pre- and mid-season. Generally, drivers consider the layout boring, after the first F1 session at the venue Alexandre-Laurent Voeckler famously was quoted saying "an 8-year old child could drive this track properly", but it is popular with engineers for pushing engines and wear parts to the absolute limit, providing useful data for development.