Bavaria City Racing Moscow Forms Basis to Moscow Grand Prix 2012

MOSCOW, July 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Moscow government is preparing a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the streets of Moscow for 2012. That was announced today by Mr. Vladimir Makarov, representative of the Moscow Government, during a press conference held at the 3rd edition of the Bavaria Moscow City Racing. The engineering company Tilke, specialist in race tracks, is working on the design. The Moscow circuit will be the fastest street track in Formula 1, with speeds up to 320 km/hour.

Bavaria City Racing Moscow has evolved into a big public event over the last three years. Despite the high temperatures in Moscow this year, a record number of spectators was counted. The first edition in 2008 had some 10,000s of spectators. Last year, the Moscow police counted a little over 100,000 people and this year over 200,000 spectators visited the race track. On the back of that, some 600 international journalists and camera teams were present in the Russian capital.

Bavaria board member Peer Swinkels thanked all partners during the press conference, the city of Moscow, Independent Media and the Formula 1 teams, for their support in organizing Bavaria City Racing Moscow. "We have started three years ago with organizing this event in Moscow. Today's popularity demonstrates that the city is ready for the next step. We are proud of having been able to contribute in preparing Moscow for the first Grand Prix ever held here. That is our biggest reward. We are already looking forward to next year's edition."

Also, Derk Sauer, director of Bavaria City Racing Moscow, was pleased with Mr Makarov's plans. "A city like Moscow deserves its own Grand Prix. The contracts have not been signed yet, but a major step has been taken."

Today, Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button drove his McLaren Mercedes with speeds over 200 km/hr through the Moscow city center. He told the media: "I consider it a privilege to drive my Formula 1 car through the city center of Moscow. This is not work, but pure fun." Also, Vitaly Petrov burned some of the rubber tires of his Renault in the streets of Moscow. Petrov is the first Russian Formula 1 driver ever.

Photo and video material is available on the special website: http://www.bavariacityracingmoscow.com.

The WORLD FEED by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will be at 15:30h GMT and is available on the following satellite links: Europe (W3A), the Americas (NSS806) and Asia (Asiasat2).

SOURCE Bavaria N.V.