International flavour to Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix

posted on 04/10/2012: 516 views

Preparations are well underway for the upcoming Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 2-4 with 83 per cent of tickets for the eagerly-anticipated race already sold.

Revealing Yas Marina Circuit's 2012-13 calendar, CEO Richard Cregan said the majority of ticket sales for the Formula One race were from international customers, but that he expected and encouraged UAE residents to purchase their passes for the Circuit's flagship event soon.

"We live in a last-minute market in the UAE so we've seen very, very good international take-up on our tickets and there are some very unique buying patterns this year, which is obviously changing all the time,” said Cregan.

"But what's important for us is that we're actually slightly ahead of schedule in terms of sales. There are still tickets available, there's still hospitality available, but from what we've seen, we've gone into our last phase basically in terms of selling and there's been a big take-up in the last week to ten days especially.

"Things are going out the door fast, and that's obviously what we want to see,” he added.

The 2012/2013 season is poised to be the Circuit's biggest and busiest to date and this year the calendar incorporates all events hosted at the Circuit including motorsport and community events.

Also announced, and new this year, is the Yas Motor Racing Club, which was founded to develop grassroots motorsport racing across the UAE.

The establishment of the Club means that the Circuit for the first time is able to host and in collaboration with ATC-UAE, sanction its own races.

Under the banner of the Yas Motor Racing Club, Yas Marina Circuit will host a wide variety of motorsport events including six rounds of Yas Marina Circuit's own Yas Racing Series, four rounds of the Pro Drag Racing Series, two rounds of the GCC Drag Race Championship, Gulf 12 Hours, and the UAE Rotax Max Challenge.

The 2012/2013 Calendar also includes the largest schedule of Yas Marina Circuit community events to date, which include the increasingly popular Train Yas nights, ADNIC Yas Run, Tri Yas, Walk 2012, as well as new events such as Cycle Yas.

What's more, the Circuit welcomes the F1 in Schools World Finals later this month which will see students from across the globe visit Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Marina Circuit to take part in this special "F1 before the F1”.

"This exciting new calendar reflects our ongoing dialogue with the UAE community as it also aims to engage and excite new Yas Marina Circuit fans and talent,” Cregan added. – Sport 360°

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