The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Series of packages for Bahrain GP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 07, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Series of packages for Bahrain GP

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Gulf Air Bahrain F-1 Grand Prix has charted a series of packages to give a chance for Indian fans to visit Sakhir and experience the flavour of the only desert Grand Prix in the world.

At a press conference held here on Thursday, as part of the road show to promote the race that is celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) Chief Executive Officer, Martin Whitaker, and the General Manager of Gulf Air, Rajeev Nambiar, announced that every effort was being made to make it an enjoyable experience for Indian visitors.

“India is going to have its own Grand Prix in a couple of years. It is also launching its own team Force India at the Australian Grand Prix shortly. Am sure there is enthusiasm throughout the population. Bahrain is the closest Grand Prix for the Indian fans, and we expect hundreds of them to visit the race,” said Martin Whitaker.

Highlighting that the race was sold out last year and that 90,000 people watched it over three days, it was mentioned that new stands had come up to increase the capacity.

Easier now

This year the government will support the event and thus it will be easy for fans to get visas within 24 to 48 hours if they have the race and Gulf Air flight tickets. Earlier, getting the visa was a problem, said Rajeev Nambiar, even as he highlighted that an all-inclusive package with four-star accommodation for four nights, ticket to the race etc. could be bought for as low as $500 per person.

It was also announced that convenient flight timings would ensure that a person could fly to the race on April 6 in the morning and return the same evening to India.

The Motor Sport Business Forum (MSBF) will step out of Monaco for the first time since the inaugural event in 2004, and be staged on April 1 and 2 in Bahrain. Vijay Mallya, CMD of Force India, will be one of the speakers.

The FIA Institute will host its second annual summit in Bahrain on April 3, and discuss medicine in motor sport with more than 150 senior medical professionals from around the world.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport