South Korea gets on the Formula One map (News Feature)

By Jens Marx Oct 20, 2010, 12:09 GMT

Yeongam, South Korea - Formula One enters unchartered waters when the South Korean Grand Prix weekend starts on Friday at the new Korean International Circuit.

The final layer of asphalt on the 5.615-kilometres track was only laid a fortnight ago and architect Hermann Tike expects drivers and cars to face some difficulties early on.

'The track will probably have little grip in the beginning. But they are the best drivers in the world and must cope with it,' Tilke told the German Press Agency dpa.

'It will be very slippery in the beginning. But the track will become faster by the seconds until Sunday.'

Apart from simulator tests, drivers and teams have only three practice sessions Friday and Saturday ahead of Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race to come to terms with the track located some 400km south of Seoul.

'Korea is a new venue for everyone. It looks like a nice layout in terms of the track, we are all optimistic to go there and have a good run and I am looking forward to it,' said world championship leader Mark Webber of the Red Bull team.

Tilke said that Red Bull should do well on the course due to its good aerodynamics setup, but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is also upbeat that 'on paper, the track should suit our car quite well.'

Several delays earlier cast a question mark whether the inaugural race can really be held. The final go-ahead came only last week, two months after the original deadline, and the infrastructure is not fully completed in an area named Jeollenam-do.

The course is driven anti-clockwise. It features the longest straight of all Asian races at 1.2km, 11 left-hand turns and six right turns. The course offers several opportunities to overtake.

Partly overlooking the Yellow Sea, only just over three kilometres of the track are permanent, and the rest is a temporary street circuit which will resemble a city course as in Monaco, Valencia, Singapore once apartment blocks have been erected there.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defended the expansion of the sport into more countries which is due to continue with a first race in India in 2011 and in Russia in 2014.

'We're a world championship and so, by definition, we need to be in different parts of the world,' said Ecclestone.

Locals hope for a boost in motorsport and the economy in general.

'The F1 will increase the popularity of motor sports in Korea, and speed up its development as a future oriented sports culture that is strongly linked to the development of the automobile industry, a powerful driving force of a nation's economy,' said the race website.

The Formula One debut is also the latest step in the nation's effort to get major sports events from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul onwards.

South Korea co-hosted the 2002 football World Cup with Japan, was chosen to stage the 2011 world athletics championships in Daegu, is making a third bid for Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (2018) and is also a candidate for the 2022 football World Cup.

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