Renovated Lusail circuit set to be world class venue: QMMF president

After Qatar signed a six-year deal to host the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2024, Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) president Abdulrahman bin Abdullatif al-Mannai said the renovated Lusail International Circuit will provide a ‘world class state-of-the-art experience to fans and drivers’ with the latest renders of the track revealed at yesterday’s announcement ceremony.The 5.4-km circuit is undergoing extensive renovation and remodelling to the paddock area and circuit facilities for 2023 season, with the track already confirmed on the MotoGP calendar until 2031 and Formula One calendar until 2031. The renovation works, which also includes new areas for spectators, will further confirm the motorsport venue’s status as one of the world’s best-equipped racing facilities.Lusail circuit will host the 2023 MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar upon completion of the work, meaning the event will therefore not be the opening round, as it has been from 2007. Instead it will take place towards the end of the season under the floodlights.Qatar hosted F1 for the first time in 2021, replacing the scrapped GP of Australia. A 10-year contract was agreed before the first race. No F1 race was held in 2022 due to the FIFA World Cup, but after that a GP will be held in Qatar every year.First built in 2004, the Lusail International Circuit is the only circuit in the region to have both FIA and FIM homologation licenses."We are very proud of this Lusail circuit project,” al-Mannai said yesterday at the announcement of the World Endurance Championship race in Qatar. "The layout of the circuit is very popular. We want to modernise it keeping sustainability in mind. We wanted to build a circuit that is for the future. We’ve already made the necessary circuit renovations and upgrades to deliver a world-class state-of-the-art experience to both spectating fans and participating drivers, implementing all the changes that are needed for us to conform with the FIA’s technical standards and bringing in advanced technologies that are fitting for one of its sporting events."But we’re certain that this six-year journey we’ve embarked on with the FIA World Endurance Championship will motivate us to push the boundaries of what we previously thought to be achievable even further, allowing us to make tremendous improvements to the venue come 2030,” the QMMF president added.The inaugural 6 Hours of Qatar is set to take place in 2024, with the World Endurance Championship due to race here until at least 2029. The WEC’s official pre-season test, more commonly known as The Prologue, is to take place in Qatar preceding the race.The Qatar fixture will take over from the Sebring 1000 Miles as the WEC curtain-raiser after the end of the WEC’s five-year contract to race at the Florida circuit next year. Sebring rejoined the WEC in 2019 as part of a double-header weekend with the 12-hour round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but the 1000 Miles fixture was cancelled in both 2020 and ’21 as a result of Covid before returning this year. Qatar will become the second Middle East country visited by the WEC after Bahrain, which has a contract running through to 2027.Richard Mille, president of the FIA Endurance Commission, said: "Lusail International Circuit is a modern venue that is well accustomed to the demands of world-level motor sport events. Therefore, having it joining FIA World Endurance Championship is a positive and logical development. Enhancing regional diversity is something very important to the FIA. At the same time, promoting motorsport and promoting FIA WEC at new markets is something that will be beneficial for the fans, the manufacturers involved and the promoter. It’s good to see the FIA WEC ecosystem growing in a controlled manner and expanding through addition of events located outside Europe.”Pierre Fillon, ACO President: We are delighted to extend the FIA World Endurance championship to include such a fabulous circuit. From 2024, Lusail will open the championship, offering competitors top-class surroundings. My heartfelt thanks to Abdulrahman al-Mannai and everyone at the circuit for this superb opportunity for endurance racing.”