South Korea is looking to re-establish itself onto the Formula 1 scene with plans of a night race in the streets of the country’s capital Seoul known to be unveiled.
The race at the Korea International Circuit in Yeougam was axed from the F1 calendar after last season, with the circuit and race promoters failing to attract a sufficient number of individuals to the event, posting financial losses of over $200 million (£122 million) for last year’s race.
The country is now eyeing up following up on the success of this year’s night race in Bahrain as part of its 10th race anniversary and the regular success Singapore brings to its streets during the night also. With prints of the proposed street circuit shown to F1’s commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone according to Singapore’s TODAY.
“Chung [Yung-cho] showed Bernie prints of the proposed street layout and he liked it,” told a source close to the news publication.
“They are now talking about the rights fee and have tentatively agreed to have a race in the city centre of Seoul in 2016. Singapore took less than a year to build the pit building and Chung is confident his team can build one in about the same time.”
Should a deal be agreed it’ll be the fourth race on an ever-expanding race calendar to be held under lights, following in the footsteps of Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, who will continue to host its race in the night. And South Korea will take on the marketing blueprints layed out by Singapore.
“The business model for the Singapore Grand Prix is attractive, and if we can do the same in our city, it makes more sense for people to buy tickets to watch the race. I think it will work for Korea this time if Bernie and Chung can reach a deal,
