Saudi Arabia is working on building small race circuits around the kingdom’s regions, Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) said.
The circuits will include academies and school to teach racing, Prince Khalid confirmed to Saudi Gazette.
The move is part of the many efforts of the kingdom to diversify its economy away from oil. The SAMF president also added that the kingdom is set to “witness many changes” in terms of circuits, local events and academies in the coming years.
Qiddiya: Saudi Arabia’s hub for entertainment and sports
Prince Khalid also explained that there are plans to build “permanent circuits” for cars and motorcycles in the Qiddiya project.
Described as Saudi Arabia’s “capital of entertainment, sports, and the arts”, the 334km2 Qiddiya gigaproject is among the biggest construction projects of the kingdom. The prince said that there the venue will see a” lot of local tournaments will be held to enable amateurs and professionals to race continuously in Saudi Arabia.”
“The completion of the Qiddiya project and the circuits around the regions of the kingdom will enhance the local sport, and enable the Saudi youth to compete in these tournaments,” Prince Khalid said.
Recently, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco entered a partnership with Aston Martin, which Prince Khalid described as “positive”.
“The support of companies to Saudi Arabia will help it leave a mark in the most important tournaments and races,” he said, adding that he is sure that international companies and teams would have “a desire to have a place here in Saudi Arabia to benefit from its programmes, which are witnessed by the companies that are already in the kingdom”, in terms of manufacturing Formula 1 cars.
Follow us on
