Over the years we have often heard of plans for Formula 1 races in the Balkans, but none of them are ever really taken very seriously as money has always been a problem and aspirations may exist, but have never been followed up with hard cash. That could change soon with a new project that is beginning to emerge in Croatia.
The Balkans tend to confuse people so it is perhaps best to explain that Croatia is to the south of Slovenia and Hungary. Its northern border is only around 45 miles south of Austria. In the west the Croatian coast runs from just south of Trieste down the eastern side of the Adriatic to Dubrovnik. In the east the country borders Serbia and it loops around the north and west of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The capital city is Zagreb, which is in the north, close to the Slovenian border.
It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until Yugoslavia was established in 1929. Croatia declared independence in 1991 and there was a war with Serbia which lasted until 1995. This did serious damage to the economy but after 2000 the country revived with steady growth and an increase in tourism. The country has applied to join the European Union in 2003 and has been going through the necessary processes ever since, accession into the union is expected to be in the next year or so.
The country has a population of 4.5 million with an average salary of $17,500. Zagreb boasts a population of nearly one million and the plans for a Formula 1 circuit are, not surprisingly, in this area. The project, which has the support of both President Ivo Josipović and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, began with the mayor of the town of Bistra, Kresimir Gulić. Bistra is located about 15 miles north of Zagreb, but on the other side of the Medvednica mountain. In 2005 Gulić embarked on a programme to attract business to his commune and developed a ski resort up in the mountains. In order to promote this he did a deal with the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) to host international races, notably the Snow Queen Trophy, which has been each year since then.
Not content with this Gulić now wants to develop a motorsport centre for the entire region and has acquired 450 acres of land on which a circuit will be built, using private investment of around $420 million. The circuit will be located in the floor of the valley in which Bistra is located, but has a stream running across the site, which will create some interesting changes of elevation. The track will be located alongside the A2 motorway, which runs north into Slovenia and from there to Austria. Gulić signed a contract with Hermann Tilke in November and a circuit has now been designed, featuring a Formula 1 standard track, a karting facility and a large open air concert venue. In addition there will be parking for 25,000 cars, plus a hotel and there will be other sports grounds around the facility. The track will have seating for 70,000 but will have a maximum capacity of 150,000. Additional parking will be available at a large shopping centre called West Gate, which is located about a kilometre from the site. The project has the support of the local ASN – the Hrvatski Auto I Karting Savez – which is headed by Zrinko Gregurek, a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
If all goes to plan the work on the circuit will begin in 2012 and the circuit will be finished in 2014, with the entire development finished by 2016.
“Gulić signed a contract with Hermann Tilke in November”
Ahhh.. it all sounded so good until that point!
… sounds good though, I think Croatia may be a good place for F1 to go to! (for the fans anyway!)
Perhaps better than some of the other ‘new’ tracks and closer to western europe, relatively cheap so might get good crowds.
Getting a racing facility up and running might make sense to promote the area with skiing, shopping and fun. Building an F1 (and Moto GP?) feasable track could be worth it too.
But would Bernie really give the GP a chance and would anyone in Croatia bring along those EUR 20-30 million each year for the race fees?
Personally I cannot really see this happening. Isn’t Bernie talking to Hungary (or someone else) about renewal and so needs a bit of pressure on them?
Especially as the track looks a bit like they took the Austin draft, changed direction, made the curves more hook like and stretched it to fit it into the piece of land.
Maybe a move to get better a price for the land.
Sounds like a good plan; lovely country, good catchment area of tourists/visitors (Western and Eastern Europe) + Russia, etc. Fairly well connected for flights.
Oh and a stable country wanting to drive tourism.
Now if only they could have been bold enough to build something as fun as a Spa type track… rather than Tilke. It’s a shame he has had such a monopoly on design – are they no others that get to pitch for such projects?
That was a really interesting article right up until
“Gulić signed a contract with Hermann Tilke in November and a circuit has now been designed, featuring a Formula 1 standard track…”
at which point it became rather annoying.
On the other hand, I allowed myself a wry smile at your choice of words – to paraphrase, it’s going to be another standard Tilke-track.
Sounds like a dream come true for my Balkan soul. Really nice plan, I hope to see it realized.
And it all sounded so good until I read that!
That’s good news. Croatia isn’t new to F1 aspirations or motorsport. They have the Rijeka track which is often used by motorcycle teams from Italy and even hosted MotoGP, it’s still a good track for testing, but poorly promoted. Then in the 90′s they had an attempt to lure F1 with Bernie & Slavica meeting the president, prime minister and so on. In fact I think the prime minister’s son was racing in Porsche Cup thanks to this. But this didn’t happen because of some scandals inside Croatia which resulted in Bernie & Slavica being very disappointed. I think Slavica wanted this to happen, because she’s a Croatian from Rijeka:)
Otherwise they don’t have any drivers in single-seaters, just Colak in touring-cars and from time to time some karters in higher profile events.
It would be great to have more tracks in the region, also Croatia is so beautiful by the sea!
wow, surely if they’re putting that much investment into something like that, and hiring Tillke, they must be pretty confident of getting a race?
Aaarrgghhh !!! not Tilke again !
This man must be stopped !!
It all sounded interesting until I read Hermann Tilke’s name.
Looks suspiciously like Austin
Just what F1 needs, another Tilke circuit in a country with very little interest in motorsport or F1, promoted by a business minded civil servant who is playing with other peoples money. Images of the track blasted around the internet recently make it look exactly like the US austin layout…also a Tilke design I believe.
When will they ever learn?
Cool. It can join Portimao and Motorland Aragon on the list of shiny new F1-spec European circuits that will never get to host an F1 race…
Andy,
Maybe the government will pay the fees in this case. Who knows?
Maybe they should have hired Jackie Stewart as an adviser – at least he would’ve told them to go visit someone other than Tilke.
There are a few mistakes in article – Kingdom of Yugoslavia was created in 1918. Second (communistic) Yugoslavia was created in 1943 and lasted until 1991.
As a Croat I think it would be great to have a racing track so near the capital but I doubt anything will come out of this plan. Croatia is losing the tv coverage of Formula 1 after 20 years for lack of funds as there doesn’t seem to be a sufficient commercial interest to continue the broadcast (even though croatian television was offered a discount).
My biggest beef with this project are the mysterious investors that are mentioned. It isn’t clear who they are, they are only mentioned as foreign investors who wish to build a track here to make profit by hosting an f1 race. Government said they offer their moral support but have specifically said they don’t intend to pay for it, I guess that only means they will make the process of issuing building permits easier.
If it weren’t for Tilke’s blueprint I would think there is nothing to this story.
Gabal,
I think you need to do a little homework before telling people that they have made mistakes. Between 1919 and 1929 Yugoslavia may have existed as an entity but it was not called Yugoslavia. It was known to the world as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Google it, if you do not believe me. The name Yugoslavia was used after 1929 and went on being used until 1991, so that is not a mistake either. You can add that there was a kingdom followed by a communist dictatorship but I did not get into that because it was not necessary. As to the rest of the article I do not know if it is true or not. I am simply reporting what is being said.
Hello Joe,
i posted comments here for a few times so im a bit surprised that this news is about my country, i heard some similar stuff too, but i think its more a dream than reality, financial situation in our state is bad, and its getting only worse, we get elections this or next year and its almost a definitive that this political option will not stay on the top, meaning that every big project (and this is a big project) will go on hold and be rethinked, so it might just not happen in the end.
And Henry, there are alot of fans in Croatia, some of them really into F1, myself included, i know that UK is much more advanced in motorsports, but there is no need to be disrespective to F1 fans in other countries, if you ever went to Monza, Imola or Hungaroring you definitely could have seen alot of Croatian flags there, so you might reconsider that opinion.
Oh hurrah, another Tilke track. And how much is he charging for tracing out his Austin track and writing Croatia at the top?
By all means let him design the infrastructure and all that crap, but please let somebody else design the actual circuit, it’s got beyond a joke now
It would make commercial sense to Croatia to get an F1 race there. Tourism still isn’t anywhere near as high as it was before the war and an F1 race would definately raise the profile.
Got to echo other peoples views though, “not another Tilke track”.
The plans that I’ve seen look suspiciously like the plans for Austin – the tracks are a little bit similar…
never mind, the EU will pay for it just like they did with the Athens Olympics.
Are Mr. Tilke, along with his company, the only folks in the world that can design a road-racing track? It sadly seems that along with the announcement of any new track there comes the mention of Mr. Tilke being the designer.
Hasn’t Bernie declared that there are already too many F1 races in Europe? Seems hard to think he would accept a Croatian track into the schedule given all the other claimants he has expressed an interest in seeing involved.
And I see I am not the only observer who cringed a little (OK a lot) at the sight of Mr Tilke’s name in your article! My thoughts harken back to the sad loss of Mosport in Canada from the F1 circus. I understand why it is no longer an acceptable venue but if there is truth to the story that Stirling Moss had a hand in the circuit’s fantastic design, surely someone should give an opportunity to a few ex F1 pilots to gather around a table with a big sheet of paper…
Adjustable Rear Wings for overtaking…
Highly Degradable tyres to force pit-stops to overtake…
KERS boost overtaking…
Bernie Ecclestone’s hilarious “short-cuts” idea…
ALL of these things would never have been necessary if only Hermann Tilke was told to stick his track designs somewhere unpleasant. The man is ruining Formula 1 with his awful track design. Not one of his creations has the elegance or simpistic beauty of the classics like Silverstone, Monza or Spa.
Why is EVERY track these days being done by him? It’s ludicrous.
Brian Lelas,
KERS is a good thing
BasCB
“Personally I cannot really see this happening. Isn’t Bernie talking to Hungary (or someone else) about renewal and so needs a bit of pressure on them?”
I don’t think Bernie needs to apply too much pressure. The Hungarian government that assumed office last year will honour the existing contract that runs until 2016 but hasn’t indicated it wants to renew it. In fact, it seems unlikely. The sanctioning fee will exceed $35 million by then which will be simply too much public money for a small country like ours. I can see Croatia replacing Hungary.
Just a minor correction, Joe: Croatia is to the south of SLOVAKIA and Hungary. Slovenia is to the west of Croatia. Don’t worry, even the best of us can confuse Slovakia and Slovenia.
Otherwise, a very interesting article. I reckon they’re too close to Hungary to have a good crowd of their own. Not to mention Hungary plays host to a lot of vacationing Finns. If Turkey loses its spot on the calendar, maybe Croatia can attract that crowd, but that’s not really saying much, is it?
Journeyer,
You need to journey some more. Slovenia is north of Croatia. Slovakia is further east, to the north of Hungary…
Interesting to note that a lot of discussion is about where and what Croatia is. Quite sad for a Croat to read.
Sorry to correct you Joe but the map you posted is a bit old. Yugoslavia does not exist anymore, it was renamed into Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 and then in 2006 they split into two separate countries. I don’t blame you, things changed quickly and often in the last 20 years
http://www.europeetravel.com/images/maps/europe-political-large.gif
Back to the topic. I don’t see a Croatian GP happening because I don’t see where the money would come from. Croatia doesn’t have big companies that would support it and gain from global marketing. Also, the state has no money to back it up.
All in all I would be very surprised and very happy if it happens.
Mr Pink,
I simply wanted to show where Slovakia was in relation to Croatia. Why bring Serbia into this matter. I really don’t know why I bother sometimes…
And as for the money. Perhaps the Ecclestone Family Trust might invest. It has Croatian links, doesn’t it? Who knows. Smart people can make money out of a racing circuit.
Why Tilke?
Is he the only guy that can design and build race tracks?
I would much rather have read that Croatia had asked Joe to design the track.
Yep, with no experience. I’d still prefer to give someone else (anyone else, really) a go than Tilke.
His track record after Sepang hasn’t been good.
wow that looks like an old map, but it could be said that slovenia is actually northwest, depending on from where you look at it, if you’re from Istria or souther, then its north, if you’re from Zagreb or norther (as i am) then its to west. Alltogether irrelevant. Maybe we (Croatia) will get some help from Bernie just because of Slavica, yes, they are divorced now, but his daughters have half Croatian blood and he knows alot of people in Croatia thanks to being married to Croatian girl for a lot of time (so long that she is quite far from a girl now).
Although, i still wouldnt bet on us getting F1 race anytime soon, we would most certainly need Hungary to give up on their race, and even then, we would need someone with enough cash to make the whole project happen. Ofcourse, Zagreb would profit alot, also West Gate is biggest shopping mall in country ( i dont know how big those things get in other countries, but this one is huge) so i guess there is a profit to make. Not to mention that the F1 weekend in summer could go hand in hand with vacations at our sea, which we have plenty of it. So there probably is a way to make F1 happen in Croatia, and to make profit off it, but if there are people capable of doing that…i doubt it.
Jackie Stewart complained about Tilke only last week. Everyone else except Bernie does it all the time. Why aren’t the powers that be listening? No, seriously, Joe, why does the ‘Tilke tracks are boring’ message fall on deaf ears?
As much as people find Tilke tracks boring, there has to be a reason why all the circuit owners keep going to him. After all there other firms that specialize in motor racing circuit design.
I don’t know why they keep going to Tilke; but it would sure be nice to find out.
Pinball,
Send a postcard to 6 Princes Gate…
Zoltan is right. Bernie has a contract with the Hungaroring . I cannot see both tracks on the F1 calendar at the same time but should the Hungarians run out of money the new Croatian track would be in a perfect location to take over catering to the same enthusiasts .By then Croatia will be in the EU which will make matters even easier.
andrew,
I do not see the logic of the argument. Geographically, Zagreb is the same distance from Budapest as Bahrain is from Abu Dhabi, or Singapore is from Kuala Lumpur. And the distances between other European circuits are far shorter than this. Why can the two races not co-exist?
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@Zoltán – I can also see Croatia replacing Hungary, even Turkey (people say it’s kinda hard to enjoy your off-track time) – if the rumors about Turkey as a bad travel destination are true (nice track, however). As a Bulgarian, I will be more happy to travel to Croatia to watch the race, I have quite a few friends there, too.
@joesaward – the question about countries on Balkans has always been picky topic – Balkan people have been killing each other for ages, everyone here runs on a “hot blood”, but that’s not the matter of the discussion.
Tilke’s name seem to have a lot of negative effect on readers, but most of the tracks’ design are regulated by FIA, and just executed by the German. Actually, why not write an article about it ? I don’t think it’s fair to demonize that person, when it’s not entirely his fault.
I don’t think East European “tifosi” have the sort of income that would allow them to visit both.If you look at Robert’s supporters as an example they are the loveliest people you would ever wish to meet but thousands of them stay on campsites and you rarely see them in town. Who knows? Maybe the two will alternate like Hockenheim and the ‘Ring.
Racing is not my bag, but tourism in Croatia is. At the moment, many projects are stuck in a wait-and-see holding pattern, to see if EU accession will really happen. Many Croatian citizens are looking to EU as a Sugar Daddy – but there are also plenty of folks who would say no to the EU if it came to a national referendum. Mr. Pink is right about lack of funds all around. Maybe Bernie’s ex-wife could throw a couple hundred million into such a project.
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Joe,
no intention on bringing Serbia into discussion. I just wanted to make things straight when there are a lot of people her that don’t get where Croatia is. And as Serbia is it’s neighbor…
Sorry to go so off topic.
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