Some updates on the inaugural KL City Grand Prix, which is due take place on August 7-9. The event - which is set to be held annually for five years - was announced last December, and according to the organiser everything is going according to plan.
Organiser GT Global Race had previously highlighted the proposed 11-turn circuit, which starts at KLCC Suria and proceeds through Jalan P Ramlee, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Pinang before returning to the chequered flag, through a map outline as well as a video of the track from a driver's perspective.
The street race will see race cars from the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Cup, Formula Masters and Scirocco Cup series dicing it out on a specially-designed 3.2 km street circuit in the KLCC area.
According to a report by The Star, preparations for the Category 3 level-race event are due to begin seven weeks before the event. The publication recently spoke to the project's director and lead technical consultant Simon Gardini, who is delighted that the event is coming to fruition.
Gardini told the publication that the there was every intention to make the race into an annual event, and he was optimistic it would still be running 50 years from now, citing the Macau GP as an example. He said that the street circuit, with its elevation changes and curves, promises to be quite a spectacle.
In terms of planning, he said that requirements of the race will involve a number of changes on city roads that the track will run on. The report indicates that these include the removal of a traffic island near Jalan Raja Chulan as well as making sure there will are no road signs and traffic lights in between the barriers within the circuit.
He added that the changes would not be permanent and involve a switch to a removable type, as these items were needed for traffic regulation on a daily basis. Gardini also explained to the publication that the three major roads used for the circuit will be opened to traffic at the end of each race day to ensure proper traffic management.
The roads utilised by the race are also set to be resurfaced soon to ensure the circuit is smooth and manhole covers level with the road surface, a job which DBKL will oversee. Expect things to start getting busy around the area in the coming weeks.
The race is expected to be a biggie - according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers independent evaluation carried out last year, the KL City Grand Prix is expected to draw an estimated 100,000 new visitors to the country, create over 6,300 jobs from the first event and raise RM750 million in national income. By 2020, it expects 150,000 visitors, over 10,000 jobs and RM1.2 billion in national income for that year.
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