Countdown begins for F1 Korea GP

Formula One is coming to Korea for the first time in its 60-year history.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say the sport is marginal here ― no Korean teams are competing and there are no licensed Korean F1 drivers.

What F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is gambling on is for the locals to turn up anyway out of that powerful human driving force ― no pun intended ― curiosity.

Exactly 100 days from now, the South Jeolla city of Yeongam will be host to the F1 Korea Grand Prix, where 12 teams will be competing in Round 17 of the 2010 season.

When it comes to hopping on board what’s in and what’s popular in the world, Koreans are known to be keen on joining in on the party.

Then how fitting is having a Formula One race here?

Having always been anchored to its base in Europe, where it enjoys immense popularity, there is no doubt that locals will lap up every bit of it once that checkered flag is raised.

With a global viewership of about 600 million broadcast throughout 184 countries, it is a massive television event and a revenue-generating beast.

Considered to be the world’s most expensive sport, its economic gains for the sponsors of competing racing teams are significant.

According to KAVO (Korea Auto Valley Operation) ― the developers of the KoreaGP circuit ― the tracks are now “82 percent” complete and will be good to go come Oct. 22 when the competition commences before moving onto Brazil two days later.

The grandstand at the F1 Korean Grand Prix track under construction in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province

The country’s first F1 circuit is going through its final phase of construction on approximately 1.853 million square meters of land with a track that measures 5.615 km at a cost of 340 million won ― this is including the grand stand, pit, paddock, control tower, and team building media center.

A final circuit inspection headed by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), the competition’s governing body, is scheduled for sometime in August.

In recent years, F1 has been looking to untapped regions of the world to roll out its racing extravaganza to a new audience.

With the exception of Japan, Asia and the Middle East were not hosts to races until 2001, when Malaysia became the first to do so.　　This is due to a widely believed notion that Formula One’s goal over the years has been to lower costs to more manageable levels and make it appear to the outside world that the richest and most glamorous of sports has not buried its head in the sand in the aftermath of a global economic crisis.

By contracting its Grand Prix in emerging markets, the competition has been able to branch out further and inch closer to the rest of the world where fans can actually attend the races as opposed to watch them on television thousands of miles away.

However, one of the biggest concerns is the high ticket prices.

The cheapest tickets available on the main grandstands overlooking the starting line are priced at 900,000 won for the full three days.

Admissions to the circuit are divided into eight grades, with the least expensive priced at 117,000 won for the preliminaries on the second day of the competition.