Valencia awaits F1 circus in August

Valencia is a familiar venue for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. However, Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will still be entering uncharted waters when they race at the European Grand Prix at the end of the month August.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has already completed many kilometres of tests at Valencia's "Circuit de la Comunitat". This is also where every BMW Sauber F1 Team car has made its track premiere since 2006.

As a result, Nick, Robert and the other team members know Valencia very well. However, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers will face a new challenge when the Formula One circus stops on the Mediterranean on 24th August for the European Grand Prix: the "Valencia Street Circuit".

"I am always pleased when a new circuit makes it onto the calendar," says Heidfeld. "I am particularly intrigued by Valencia. It is a proper street course in the inner city sense, unlike the circuits in Melbourne or Montreal. In terms of charm and challenge, I guess Valencia is closest to Monaco."

The first impressions of the "Valencia Street Circuit" are certainly of an exciting venue. A top speed of over 320 km/h has been projected; among other highlights the route leads across a swing bridge over a canal joining the harbour and the ocean. Numerous novelties, therefore, await the drivers when they venture onto Valencia's street circuit for the first time in free practice on 22 August.