The International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) have approved the project for the Island Motor Circuit. Project that the Cabildo will receive today, whose works are expected to start this year and end in 2024. With this, the venue acquires the degree that will allow its use to carry out Formula 1 and Moto GP training. “We still need one step to reach the highest level, which will be to have formalized contracts with Dorna and with Liberty Media, to motorcycle gp Y Formula 1, respectively. “It is not our objective, now,” explains the vice president, Enrique Arriaga.
The certifications of the formally named Tenerife International Motor Park were finalized last June, in the case of the International Motorcycle Federationor, and in December, that of Motoring. Both introduced many modifications to the project in matters such as radii of curvature, entrance to the pits, run-off speeds, number of tire barriers, lengths and materials, among other issues. Its inclusion is part of the “deaf work” carried out by Carreteras del Cabildo during the last two years, says the counselor, who highlights the work of the specialized company SCT International Motorsport SL, hired to complete this homologation.
The project that Gestur delivers today, whose homologation advanced the program zero stopwatch of Channel 4 Television, conforms to the rules that will govern the competitions from the year 2023, which means that “we anticipate the requirements that the circuits will have to start up from next year”.
First phase
With the reception of the project today, the process of preparing the specifications to tender, next month, begins the first of the 11 phases in which the work is divided, including both accesses. In fact, the first call contemplates the completion of the northern access, as well as the channeling of the ravines and rainwater in the area, in addition to the Circuit track, which requires an investment of 30 million euros.
But this year there will be a second tender linked to this infrastructure. It will be convened between May and June and will refer to the paddock or the area reserved for the teams participating in the tests to be held, the hydraulic infrastructure (purification and supply, among others) as well as the boxes, garages and stands, which make up the first phase of the complex building.
Arriaga clarifies that the Government of the Cabildo de Tenerife “wants” to have the Insular Motor Circuit “approved for the highest category”, that is, to celebrate Formula 1 and Motorcycling grand prix. That happens “due to a very strong economic commitment that we are not considering at this time,” he points out. He stresses that “that is not the purpose.”
It is one of the few circuits in the world approved for car and motorcycle competitions.
The insular vice president places the objective, in the short term, in “responding to the needs of the motor world in Teneirfe, which has been waiting for many years”. He defends this investment by explaining that the Cabildo has invested “in all sports, except in facilities for the motor world, although it moves a lot of fans and generates a lot of money.”
The island councilor for Highways emphasizes that “the priority” is that the venue be used for local, national competitions “and the occasional international one.” To do this, they work “hand in hand” with the Canarian and island federations. One step further, he recalls that he has already presented the final project to the Spanish Automobile Federation in Fitur, “with good reception and disposition”. “The Circuit will start with competitions in Tenerife and training sessions and other external tests will be included little by little,” highlights Arriaga, who highlights the fact that Atogo “is one of the few (three, perhaps) circuits in the world approved for car and motorcycle competitions. That gives it a lot of versatility”.
management assignment
The Cabildo faces the implementation of this project, but projects the International Motor Park, which is configured as the upper part of the Circuit and is included in a territorial action plan. This planning contemplates the installation of industries and activities related to this sector: dealers, spare parts, mechanical workshops, sheet metal and paint… It will form part of the sports complex as a second phase to, through the encomienda formula, promote the management of the Insular Motor Circuit and the construction and operation of the International Motor Park itself. All this for an undetermined period, but greater than 20 years. Enrique Arriaga concludes by emphasizing that “we are talking about realities, which is what people have been waiting for since 1989”.
The October 30, 1990andhe Cabildo de Tenerife and the company TN, from Barcelona, signed the agreement to draw up the project for the Tenerife circuit. The same one that intervened in a circuit of Albacete and Montmeló. In addition to the island president, Adán Martín, the Minister of Sports, Paulino Rivero, as well as José Miguel Báez and Tomás Gimeno, president and vice president of the Tenerife Automobile Federation, respectively, attended. During the last four years of the last century (from 1997 to 2000) was when the same company developed the project for Tenerife, but that will not be the one that is finally done. The March 25, 1995the file of the Motor Sports Center (its first name) was initiated by the Cabildo, proceeding to the final approval by the Plenary on March 12, 2008. It would not be until May 18, 2015 when the Cabildo would award the work to the company Kiti Trans SLU, which laid the first stone on October 28 of the following year. Almost eleven months later, in June 2017, the works were paralyzed and the Corporation was forced to terminate the contract with the company. With the new mandate, in October 2020 the works of the North access began while the project was expected to be completed.
