Jeddah to Be F1's Fastest, Longest Street Circuit

Computer generated image of the Jeddah F1 circuit. (Formula1.com)
Computer generated image of the Jeddah F1 circuit. (Formula1.com)
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Jeddah to Be F1's Fastest, Longest Street Circuit

Computer generated image of the Jeddah F1 circuit. (Formula1.com)
Computer generated image of the Jeddah F1 circuit. (Formula1.com)

Formula One unveiled its longest and fastest street circuit on Thursday, predicting top speeds of 322kph and wheel-to-wheel racing when Saudi Arabia hosts a race for the first time in Jeddah in December.

Organizers said the Dec. 5 night race in the Corniche area of the Red Sea port city will be over a 6.175km layout, making it the sport’s second longest track after Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps.

Largely using existing roads, and encircling a lagoon, the floodlit circuit will feature 27 corners with cars lapping at average speeds of 252.8kph, according to Formula One’s simulations.

That would put it behind Italy’s Monza, the fastest of any circuit, but ahead of Britain’s Silverstone in terms of outright speed.

Formula One’s motorsport managing director Ross Brawn said the layout would create plenty of overtaking opportunities and wheel-to-wheel racing.

“We don’t want Mickey Mouse circuits,” he told the F1 website.

“We don’t want those old classic street circuits where you turn 90 (degrees). We want fast, sweeping circuits, we want circuits that are going to challenge the drivers and they are going to love it. We want circuits where we can have wheel-to-wheel racing.”

The fastest street circuit at the moment, for average speeds, is Melbourne’s Albert Park at 237.2kph. The longest is Azerbaijan’s Baku at 6.003km.

“This is a circuit that is utilizing some existing infrastructure but we’ve been lucky that there are areas where we’ve been able to build from scratch,” said Brawn.

“So we’ve been able to build some really exciting parts of the circuit.

“At one end, there will be a 180 degree corner with a moderate amount of banking, so it will be a high G-load and high stress for the drivers.”

The Saudi race is due to be the penultimate round on a record 23 race calendar.

“When you have a high-speed street circuit it doesn’t leave much room for error,” said Brawn.

“I hope we can have a championship that’s maintained to the end and this will be definitely a fitting venue to have those final battles in the championship.”



Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Double Dakar Rally motorcycle champion Sam Sunderland is gearing up to ride around the world in 19 days, a record bid that the Briton expects to be mentally more challenging than anything he has done before.

The bid, launched on Thursday, targets a record of 19 days, eight hours and 25 minutes set in 2002 by Kevin and Julia Sanders for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by motorcycle.

To beat the feat, which is no longer recognised by Guinness World Records because of the dangers involved, the 36-year-old will have to ride 1,000 miles every day and on public roads across Europe, Türkiye and into the Middle East, Reuters reported.

A flight will take him on to the Australian outback, New Zealand and the Americas. From there, he and the Triumph Tiger 1200 go to Morocco and loop back through Europe to Britain.

What could possibly go wrong?

"I don't think you can ride around the world and cover that many miles a day without having a few hiccups along the way," Sunderland told Reuters with a grin.

"When I try and compare it to the Dakar it's going to be probably, in some sense, tougher. Not physically but mentally.

"In the Dakar you've got a heap of adrenaline, you're super focused, things are changing quite often which makes you have to react. And this is like: 'Right, those are your miles for the day, get them done'. It's more like a mental fatigue."

 

ONE DIRECTION

 

The target time excludes ocean crossings but the journey, starting in September, must go one way around the world and start and finish at the same location on the same machine.

Two antipodal points must be reached on a journey through more than 15 countries and 13 time zones. The Dakar rally covers 5,000 miles over two weeks.

"I was trying to put it into perspective for my mum the other day, and my mum lives in Poole in the south of England, and I was like 'Mum, it's like you driving up to Scotland and perhaps halfway back every day for 19 days'," said Sunderland.

"I'm on the bike for around 17 hours (a day). I set off at 5 a.m. and arrive around 10, 11 p.m. most nights. So definitely later into the day you feel that sort of mental fatigue setting in, and to stay focused and stimulated is not that easy.

"But at least I don't have dunes and mountains to deal with and other riders in the dust, and hopefully not getting lost either."

"I need to behave, let's say, I need to follow the rules of the road and be a good boy with it," said Sunderland, who announced his retirement from professional racing last year.

Sunderland will have a support crew of six travelling behind by car, for security and assistance, but the Red Bull-backed rider expects to be well ahead.

He also hopes his bid will have a positive effect.

"In the news today, it's all sort of doom and gloom in the world, with all the wars going on," he said. "And I think it's quite nice to show people that you can still get out there and experience the world for what it really is."