Barcelona expecting thousands of F1 fans for weekend test session

Tomorrow the pre-season test session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona will kick-off. There will be eight teams participating in the three-day test. The circuit is expecting a lot of visitors for the test as it takes place during the weekend. Last week, Valencia was already overwhelmed as thousands and thousands of Spanish fans came to see Fernando Alonso in the new R28.

McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Williams, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Honda and Force India will participate in the Barcelona test while Ferrari and Toyota will travel to Bahrain to start testing on Monday. Super Aguri will not attend any of the test sessions this week.

The Circuit de Catalunya is expecting more than 35.000 visitors as the test session will take place during the weekend. Ramon Praderas, General Manager of the Circuit de Catalunya, said: “For this event, instead of opening one gate to the facilities - as it is usually done in F-1 group tests - we will open four: entrance gates 1, 3, 4 and 7. To guarantee an optimal traffic flow in access areas, the Catalan Police and the Traffic Control Service will be cooperating. Additional security staff will be guarding the ticket offices and public access. We also aim to offer a top quality service to spectators, therefore, the public areas will have more food and beverage stands than the usual for normal testing days. As a novelty, the access on gate 3 now has a Customer Service and Circuit Members Office directed to bring better customer support in a permanent way..”

The general entrance fee is six Euro.