javier romagosa
Forty-five years after intense competition activity, vehicle presentations and corporate events, the RACE has undertaken the works to prevent the death of the Jarama Circuit.
During the past month of September, Carmelo Sanz de Barros, president of RACE, revealed to the media, authorities and personalities of the motor world the Jarama 2021 Project, consisting of "Make a series of systematic investments that turn the circuit into a place of leisure and enjoyment for all motor racing fans."
The project will be developed in three phases until the end of 2021. The control tower will be the first point of execution, and in it an in-depth restoration will be carried out but without losing its essence as an icon of the circuit. It will have on its upper floors a series of spaces for recreation and restoration, from which to watch the races or simply enjoy unbeatable views of the entire track.
At the base of the tower, the current buildings that house the offices and timing have begun to collapse, with the aim of building in this space restaurant areas with an outdoor terrace, as well as a meeting room and an auditorium. .
The estimated execution time for this first part is around a year and a half, that is to say that the works should end in mid-2015. In the first phase, 250 meters of the façade of the "ribs" will also be undertaken.
In the second phase of Jarama 2021, a series of modifications are planned to be made to the straight grandstand, which will be extended by about 100 meters to accommodate meeting rooms and offices and the entire pit area.
In the third and final phase, the construction of a museum will be carried out to house a sample of cars made in Spain and the collection of vintage cars and the RACE Foundation library. In addition, a new karting track and another series of minor works will finish the job.
In the opinion of the undersigned, the project should have aimed not to replace the old infrastructures but to integrate them with the new ones, creating a historic complex that is both renovated and functional. No matter how outdated they may have been, they bore witness to the era of motorsports in which they were built, which is extremely distant today. What do readers think?
