Baku World Challenge

The Baku World Challenge is an upcoming street circuit in Motorsport Challenge All-Round. It is located in Baku, Azerbaijan, and has hosted races for the Blancpain GT Series.

**Baku World Challenge (2013-2014)**
 Location
 Main Race Class
 Creator(s)
 Converted by:

**Baku World Challenge (2012)**
 Location
 Main Race Class
 Creator(s)
 Converted By:

## General Info

The story of Baku's racing association began in June 2012, when the organisers of the former GT street races in Bucharest and at the Hungaroring reached agreement with the Azeri authorities to bring their 'City Challenge' concept to Baku.

The invitational race for GT3 machinery would take place on a temporary street circuit around the Government House, with the pits, paddock and start/finish straight on Freedom Square. Close to the seafront, the circuit took in the streets of the old town, with the famous Flame Towers overlooking proceedings from the hillside above.

The project was announced to the world at the 2012 Spa 24 Hours. leaving three months to prepare for the race, to be held at the end of October. Among the challenges was construction of the 1,540 concrete blocks needed to create the barriers, each weighing in at least 3.5 tons, with those for the pit straight heavier still at 7.5 tons. Up to 80 per day were produced off site and once completed, the barriers were transported at night by trucks from the construction site to the city centre, starting on 12 October. The track was completed on 25 October, a day ahead of first practice.

The drivers found a layout that was a mix of wider boulevards and narrower side streets, joined in the main by slow 90-degree corners, often with a single racing line and some requiring first gear. It was not a track destined to provide particularly thrilling racing, though as a first taste of motorsport for the watching fans – estimated at around 42,000 over the two days – it was judged a success. The grandstand seating, catering for 15,000, was completely sold out on race day as locals enjoyed their first glimpse of live racing.

Hexis McLaren duo Frédéric Makowiecki and Stef Dusseldorp won the one hour City Challenge GT race, ahead of the Vita4One BMWs, while a Grand Prix event for powerful single seaters was won by the ex-Formula One Benetton B197 of Dutchman Marijn van Kalmthout. Less successful was the traffic chaos the race brought to the streets of Baku, as one of the main thoroughfares was closed off for the track, leading to long delays for motorists. It was clear that a new location would be needed for the follow up event.

The following year saw new promoters agree a deal for the race; ex-Belgian Formula One driver Thierry Boutsen invited Spa 24 Hours organiser Jean-François Chaumont to Baku in November and soon brought fellow Belgian Renaud Jeanfils on board to create a new Baku GT event, this time held as the final round of Blancpain GT Sprint Series. Seeking to build on the 2012 event's successes and eliminate some of the problems, a new location was chosen, further down the seafront and making more use of the modern wide boulevard that runs its length. As a backdrop, the pits and paddock used land in front of the impressive Crystal Hall, venue for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, while the enormous national flag – the size of a small football field – flutters overhead in the distance, leaving competitors with no doubt as to which country they are in!

The course was longer and much more spectacular, featuring fast blasts down the seafront, interspersed by hairpins at either end, several chicanes and a section through the narrower streets of the old town. Drivers faced a bit of a wait to get started, as delays in completing the circuit led to hastily rescheduled timings for the event.

The 'newness' of motorsport to the Azeris came to the fore on the Saturday morning, however, when the teams arrived at the circuit to find that the local officials, in a bid to show off the country to its best possible advantage during the televised broadcasts, had power-washed the rubber from the racing line overnight... Worse still, it was cold when they did it, leading to ice-like track conditions which led to further delays. In scenes perhaps not out of place in a Jacques Tati comedy, something was evidently lost in translation the next morning when they repeated the trick – this time using soapy water instead of high-pressure jets!

To compound issues, a generator then failed, depriving the pits and race control of power, causing further delays. When racing did eventually get under way (with a safety car start), an action-packed event saw the WRT Audi R8 of Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor emerge with victory – and the championship to boot.

For the 2014 race, revisions were made to the course, which saw the removal of the slow 'Bus Stop' area after the first hairpin and the entry into the old city has been altered to reduce the speed. The third chicane - which proved ineffective and was straightlined by almost all the cars in 2013 - was also removed and the hairpin brought forward, while the final chicane altered from right-to-left to left-to-right.  The changes brought the lap length down to 2.4 miles and were well received by the drivers, who reported that the track was among the most challenging they had encoutered.

Alas, it was to prove the last hurrah for this course varient and GT racing. When the Formula One deal was announced in 2014, attentions immediately switched to preparations for the new course and the Blancpain GT finale had to be dropped from the 2015 schedule, replaced by a round at Zandvoort.

## Trivia

* The Baku World challenge saw international motorsport coming to Azerbaijan for the very first time.

## See Also

* Baku City Circuit
* Blancpain GT Series
* Blancpain Endurance Series