The organizers expect this 32nd consecutive F-1 Grand Prix to be a “historic edition” at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which starts today. And it is that the Montmeló motor temple will dress up as a festival for the 2022 Spanish GP, the sixth round of the World Cup, which recovers the public in the stands after two years behind closed doors due to the coronavirus (in 2020, completely , and 2021, with only a thousand invited members). The managers of the installation do not speak of quantities, but they see it as feasible to recover the pre-pandemic attendance figures: approaching (and, why not, exceeding) the 100,000 spectators that were touched in 2010.
"After a few difficult years, we have an audience in the stands again, so we have had to work to increase the capacity of the facilities", commented the director of the Circuit, Josep Lluís Santamaría, encouraged by the great pace of ticket sales , since practically all the paper has been exhausted. Only low-visibility locations were available (with a 25% discount, starting at 180 euros for the three days). Thus, the Circuit has enabled 14 grandstands this year, nine permanent plus five ephemeral, which will be filled. Just as the 2,500 tickets for Pelouse Jove sold out in four minutes (at 45 euros only on Sunday, for young people up to 30 years old). The queues, yesterday, of fans at the entrances to participate in the Pit Walk, under a blazing sun, had not been seen in years.
The good popular response is due, on the one hand, to the hunger of F-1 after two years of closure and a winter without pre-season tests (they were done, but behind closed doors at the whim of F-1), and on the other , for the incentives of the championship, with a new and lively Verstappen-Leclerc rivalry, and the good moment of Carlos Sainz with Ferrari, 5th in the World Cup. The Madrid native will once again have a fan grandstand, this year grandstand B, in the Estadi area (three-day pack, official Ferrari cap and flag for 119 euros).
“That they give me all the support they can, that every bit that they give me, I notice; this year I have a car to make a podium, and with the support of the public I will even try to win, ”said Sainz, who dreams of achieving his first victory in F-1 at his home GP. “It would be unique to live it, that is why I work so hard and the one who wants the most is me”. The last Spanish victory in Montmeló dates back to the last in Fernando Alonso's account, in 2013, with Ferrari.
During the three days of the Grand Prix, the Circuit will once again have the fun zone, the Fan Zone (behind the main grandstand), with driving simulators, the pit-stop challenge (a change of wheels), a game reflections, a photo booth with the figures of the pilots and food stalls; There will be musical performances by DJs and children's games (in the Estadi area). And to bring the riders closer to the public for the first time, the Fan Forum is organized, in which they submit to questions from the fans (Saturday, in the Fan Zone). He also repeats the visit to the pit-lane and the Open Track, the invasion of the track at the end of the race.
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