BIC, Al Sakhir: Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) announced on Tuesday that it had sold out its Main Grandstand for this weekend’s 2015 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
The three-day race weekend roars into action Friday and the Kingdom of Bahrain is already buzzing with excitement for the year’s biggest and most highly anticipated event.
The Main Grandstand can accommodate a maximum of 10,500 spectators at a time. It is the perfect place to enjoy the upcoming night race, as it overlooks the start and finish line, the Formula One pit lane, the main straight and the podium.
Several giant screens are also strategically located opposite the Main Grandstand for fans to be able to follow all the action as the cars make their way across the rest of the circuit.
“We are extremely delighted to have sold out our Main Grandstand for this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix,” BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, said.
“This illustrates the great interest the public has in our race, and we hope that it is an indicator for a record event ahead, in terms of attendance for all three days.
“We are now only a couple of days away from welcoming our fans to BIC. We are greatly looking forward to a wonderful weekend of world-class racing and entertainment.”
Formula One’s star drivers continued to arrive in Bahrain on Tuesday and the teams stepped up their preparations at the circuit leading up to this weekend’s racing. Among those touching down on the island were Felipe Massa of Williams, Pastor Maldonado of Lotus and Marcus Ericsson of Sauber.
BIC’s Formula One Paddock was busy with staff emptying large crates of equipment and setting up their team buildings and garages.
This year’s Bahrain Grand Prix is the fourth of 19 races on the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship. It will be the second successive year that the race will be held under floodlights, making for a brilliant spectacle for race fans who are both attending the event and those watching on live television from around the world.
Racing will also be held all weekend in the pair of supporting championships, including the GP2 Series and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.
Tickets continue to be available and fans that have yet to buy theirs are advised to do so as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment. Apart from the Main Grandstand, tickets can be purchased for seating along the Batelco Grandstand for BD120 apiece, the Turn One Grandstand for BD100 each, and the University Grandstand and Victory Grandstand for BD60 each.
Certain discounts are available for the groups of individuals. Children aged three to 12 years old can get 50 per cent off on a ticket, while school students aged 13 to 17 years old can get a 25 per cent discount. University students can get 10 per cent off, while senior citizens aged 60 and above along with people with special needs can get 25per cent discount.
Meanwhile, all those seated on the Main Grandstand will have a chance to win fantastic prizes every 10 minutes during Formula One qualifying on Saturday and throughout Sunday’s 57-lap night race.
BIC’s “10Every 10” raffle offers a series of fantastic prizes. The raffle on Saturday will run from the start of qualifying at 6pm until the end one hour later.
On Sunday, it will begin at 4.45pm, continue through the start of the Grand Prix at 6pm and conclude at the end of the race.
The prizes include brand new, top-of-the-line electronic products such as the Apple iPhone 6, Sony M2 Aqua, Sony Xperia T3, Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy E5, Samsung Galaxy A5, Fit Bit Scale and Charge, LG G3, HTC Desire 820, HTC Re Camera, Huawei Mate 7, Samsung A7, HTC Desire i, iPad Mini 1 32GB, Go Pro Hero 4 Black, HTC 1 M8 Mini.
The raffle is available only for fans who are seated along the Main Grandstand. Winners will be identified by their seat numbers; therefore, they must be in their seat in order to claim their prize.
Race-goers will be able to enjoy a wide variety of family entertainment all throughout the weekend.
This will be highlighted by the mega concert on Saturday featuring global hip-hop superstar Pitbull.
All those with tickets to the weekend will be able to gain access to the concert and enjoy Pitbull’s generation-transcending music.
Born Armando Christian Perez, Pitbull is a globally successful musician, performer, business entrepreneur, fashion trendsetter and actor whose career sales have exceeded five million albums and over 60 million singles worldwide.
He is a Latin Grammy Award winner, and he has collaborated with many other top world renowned artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Gloria Estefan, Kesha, Pharrell Williams, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Akon, T-Pain, Sean Paul, and Flo Rida, to name a few.
BIC’s Media Accreditation Centre will be open from Wednesday (Editor’s note: April 15), and BIC’s state-of-the-art Media Centre will also begin welcoming media members from around the world.
BIC is expected to welcome around 500 media professionals from all over the world to be at BIC covering the weekend’s events.
Media members may pick up their credentials at the Media Accreditation Centre located in a special tent next to the Sakhir Service Station along the Gulf of Bahrain Avenue.
On Wednesday, the accreditation centre will be open from 12noon to 6pm. From Thursday to Sunday, it will be open from 10am. It will close Thursday night at 9pm and on Friday evening at 7pm.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Media Accreditation Centre will close at 3pm. The centre will be open to members of the National Press only on Sunday.
All media professionals who will be collecting their passes for the Bahrain Grand Prix are reminded to bring all their necessary documentation, completed and signed.
