Wednesday October 9th, 2002

Ensuring a smooth flow of traffic is one of the biggest hurdles Bahrain faces in staging a Formula One Grand Prix, according to the kingdom's Crown Prince Court President Shaikh Mohammed Al Khalifa.

The Shaikh revealed that he had to park his car and walk a mile to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone a few years ago and says he does not want the island, in the Arabian Gulf, to suffer the same traffic gridlock.

"It might sound like a small thing, particularly when compared to all the work that will have to be undertaken to build the circuit, but I want us to ensure people can get to and from the facility as quickly as possible," he said.

"When it happened to me I was on my own without any bodyguards, but then again I don't suppose anyone realised who I might be."

Bahrain is linked to neighbouring Saudia Arabia by a 25-kilometre causeway which, when holding thousands of race fans all eager for their first taste of Formula One, is expected to grind to a standstill with traffic.

In addition, the island's location means it is easily accessible by aeroplane for about 200 million visitors from between Iran and Morocco. In addition to the estimated US $150 million it will cost to build the circuit, more money is being spent on extra roads, hotels and increasing the island's airport capacity.

Although neither the Shaikh nor the circuit's manager Peter Hansen would be drawn on how long Bahrain's F1 contract runs for, sources close to the project say they believe it has a contract with Bernie Ecclestone for approximately seven years.

They have just 16 months to turn a barren four-by-seven kilometre stretch of desert land into one of the world's finest F1 facilities. Construction manager Gordon Calder, who oversaw the building of England's Rockingham oval circuit, says it will be essential for whoever wins the contract to carry out the work to get on top of the project straight away.

"Probably the most time-consuming and certainly one of the most expensive tasks will be to profile the rock the circuit is going to be laid on," he said. "That will take two to three months but we are lucky in that the vast bulk of materials can be sourced from the Gulf region."

Meanwhile, McLaren's David Coulthard is one of Formula One's current drivers who have agreed to advise Hansen, who will be responsible for building the infrastructure to run the event smoothly, on the circuit's final lay-out.

"It is important that the drivers have a say and we have an agreement with David Coulthard for him to give us his thoughts," said Hansen. "We are happy with our design but they will probably be asked to help us fine tune the angles of certain corners."

One section of the proposed lay-out has already been changed before construction work gets underway. A series of long, sweeping bends that followed the start finish line have been replaced by a straight to encourage overtaking.

Published at 12:48:03 GMT