BarcelonaLast Friday marked the thirtieth anniversary of the official inauguration of the Barcelona-Catalonia Circuit, where the first F1 Grand Prix was held on September 29, 1991. For three decades, races and events have been added continuously to the calendar of activities of this facility until it hosts, as this year, tests of four world championships. This weekend’s Superbikes is an example.
Now, after three decades, the Circuit is at a crossroads, at a crucial point in its history. At a time when the country’s economy is as it is, it must decide what model of exploitation it wants to have in the future, and what sense it must give to its existence.
Since July, Roger Torrent has held the position of President of the Circuit, “although temporarily, waiting for the incorporation of a person with a professional profile who will lead the process of transformation that he must live and who has a vision of how it can be maximized through the exploitation of the own resources that it can generate ”, as the Minister of Business and Work explained in the podcast Paddock coffee.
The Circuit has been discussed many times, especially for the losses it has dragged over the years, mainly due to the high fee for organizing F1 races. But the benefits indirectly passed on to the economy of its area of influence advise maintaining the permanence of what has been considered a true state infrastructure.
The City Council, and now ERC, face
On Thursday, at the official presentation of the Superbike race, Francesc Xavier Marcé, Councilor for Tourism and Creative Industries of Barcelona City Council explained: “We have carried out a small study in recent months during the pandemic on the strengths of the Barcelona brand and its reputation and has once again come out of the Circuit as a key piece. The world of hotels, shops and restaurants is asking us to keep the world events in Barcelona, at the Circuit, and we must all be there. So welcome your work, count on us. We are very interested in the tests that are done here and the pedagogical role of the Circuit ”. Marcé’s words fully agree with what Jaume Collboni expressed in the official ceremony prior to the F1 Grand Prix, when he reiterated the will of the City Council of the Catalan capital to support the Generalitat in its commitment to this sports grounds.
The Department of Business and Labor has been preparing a strategic plan for some time to define its future, and this summer the employer Pimec proposed transforming the Circuit into a hub technological to work on the new formats of mobility of the future, which goes through the electric vehicle as we saw recently at the Munich Motor Show and soon we will see at the Barcelona Motor Show.
Will the future be electric?
For some months now, a project has been circulating around the tables of different Catalan offices to turn the Montmeló route into the first track in the world that would have an area to compete in electric vehicles that would charge the energy needed to operate through ‘an asphalt lattice made of induction plates. A real revolution that, in any case, could come into conflict with the most traditional competitions, such as F1 and MotoGP, the original leitmotif of the creation of the substitute for the legend of Montjuïc.
This idea agrees with the creation of a center of I + D + I that proposes Pimec and that forms part of the plan of urban development (PDU) of the zone, that wants to strengthen and give a new orientation to the industry of the car and SMEs in the region “to avoid factory closures, more relocations and attract new capital investments,” says Daniel Boil, president of this employer in the Vallès Oriental.
Josep Lluís Santamaria, who has been general director of the Circuit since the summer of 2020, is “very optimistic” about the renewal of the contracts that must guarantee the continuity of F1 and MotoGP in this space.
Several sources in the Circuit have expressed satisfaction with the way the negotiations are being conducted by the Government in recent times. In fact, a Representation from Business and Labor attended the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and met with Stefano Domenicali, CEO of F1 Group, to address the renewal of the already-concluded contract.
Last week, at the Italian GP, a pre-calendar for 2022 ran through the paddock with the return of the winter tests to the Circuit (from 23 to 25 February) and the celebration of the race initially scheduled for 21 May. More than favorable indicators.
Renovations, on track
The main obstacles at the moment are the duration of the contract and the improvement works that should be done in some structural areas of the Circuit. “We need to rebuild the service road and improve the water and electricity supply points for the equipment, as well as the paddock, which requires new asphalt,” says Santamaria.
All this would involve an investment of about 100 million euros, which can be a problem if this does not have a direct impact on the gradients of the escalation of the fee of this contract. A priori, and after knowing first hand how are the services and infrastructures of many circuits that host grand prizes of the championship, and that have not been rushed with the same urgency, it feels that the improvement of facilities – which would be very well – it’s an excuse. And it is not very clear who puts it. Believe me if I tell you that historic venues such as Monza, Spa-Francorchamps and Hungaroring would already like to have the level of resources that complement the layout of the Catalan track, despite the obvious wear and tear of three decades using them.
Torrent explained in the broadcast: “The Government’s will is to obtain a long-term renewal that will give us stability. We want F1 and motorcycles to stay at home for many years. But now we need a GPS that tells us which route we want to take ”.
For now, with regard to motorcycles – although the contract has also expired, and is “officially” not yet renewed – the publication of the 2022 preseason calendar provides for the same four races that have been done in recent years in the State –among them that of Catalonia–, which dilutes the need to introduce rotations in these races, as Carmelo Ezpeleta, the top executive of the World Championship, had explained more than a year ago. motorcycling.
We now understand part of this optimism surrounded by so much opacity, and the good prospects also in the face of the continuity of F1.
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