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Lusail International Circuit

Coordinates: 25°29′24″N 51°27′15″E / 25.49000°N 51.45417°E / 25.49000; 51.45417
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cerebral726 (talk | contribs) at 16:28, 3 October 2023 (using spelling used in article title wherever it references the circuit, not the city). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Losail International Circuit
LocationLusail, Al Daayen, Qatar
Time zoneUTC+03:00
Coordinates25°29′24″N 51°27′15″E / 25.49000°N 51.45417°E / 25.49000; 51.45417
Capacity52,000
FIA Grade1
Broke ground2003
Opened30 September 2004; 20 years ago (2004-09-30)
Construction costUS$58 million
Major eventsCurrent:
Formula One
Qatar Grand Prix (2021, 2023)
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
(2004–present)
Doha motorcycle Grand Prix (2021)
Future:
FIA World Endurance Championship
Qatar 1812 km (2024)
Former:
World SBK
(2005–2009, 2014–2019)
WTCC Race of Qatar
(2015–2017)
Motocross World Championship (2013–2017)
FIM EWC 8 Hours of Doha
(2007–2012)
GP2 Asia (2009)
Websitehttps://www.circuitlosail.com/
Grand Prix Circuit (2023)
Length5.419 km (3.367 miles)
Turns16
Grand Prix Circuit (2004–2022)
Length5.380 km (3.343 miles)
Turns16
Race lap record1:23.196 (Netherlands Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, 2021, F1)
2016 FIA WTCC Race of Qatar
View from the grandstand

The Losail International Circuit or Lusail International Circuit (Arabic: حلبة لوسيل الدولية) is a motor racing circuit located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar. The track is 5.419 km (3.367 mi) in length, with a main straight of 1.068 km (0.664 mi). It is surrounded by artificial grass intended to stop the sand encroaching on the track.

Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers at the cost of US$58 million, the track opened in 2004 and hosted the inaugural 2004 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix, won by Sete Gibernau.[1] In 2007, Losail added permanent outdoor lighting for night races. At the time, the lighting of the Losail Circuit by Musco Lighting was the largest permanent venue sports lighting project in the world, a distinction that now belongs to another Persian Gulf motorsport venue, Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The first night race in MotoGP history was the 2008 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix in March 2008.

In February 2009, a GP2 Asia Series nighttime race took place. The World SBK visited Losail in 2005–2009 and 2014–2019; and the WTCC visited there in 2015–2017.

The circuit hosted the 20th race of the 2021 Formula One season, the inaugural edition of the Qatar Grand Prix.[2] Before the second edition of the Grand Prix,[3] the circuit was renovated, the facilities upgraded, and the capacity was increased from 8,000 to 52,000.[4]

Beginning in 2024, the FIA World Endurance Championship is set to host its season opener at Losail, the Qatar 1812 km, in addition to the Prologue, the championship's pre-season testing sessions.[5]

Lap records

The official lap record for the current circuit layout is 1:23.196, set by Max Verstappen driving for Red Bull Racing in the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix. As of March 2022, the fastest official race lap records at the Losail International Circuit are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Grand Prix Circuit: 5.419 km (2023)
Formula One [6] 2023 Qatar Grand Prix
Grand Prix Circuit: 5.380 km (2004–2022)
Formula One 1:23.196[7] Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB16B 2021 Qatar Grand Prix
GP2 Asia 1:38.699[8] Davide Rigon Dallara GP2/05 2009 Qatar GP2 Asia Series round
GP Masters 1:49.116[9] Pierluigi Martini Delta Motorsport GP Masters car 2006 Losail Grand Prix Masters
MotoGP 1:54.338 Enea Bastianini Ducati Desmosedici GP21 2022 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
World SBK 1:56.687[10] Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR 2019 Losail World SBK round
Moto2 1:58.711 Thomas Lüthi Kalex Moto2 2019 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
MRF Challenge 1:59.519[11] Toby Sowery Dallara Formulino Pro 2014 Losail MRF Challenge round
Porsche Carrera Cup 2:00.322[12] Clemens Schmid Porsche 911 (991 I) GT3 Cup 2015 2nd Losail Porsche GT3 Middle East Championship round
TC1 2:01.628[13] José María López Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 2015 FIA WTCC Race of Qatar
World SSP 2:01.832[14] Kenan Sofuoğlu Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 2017 Losail World SSP round
Stock car racing 2:04.508[15] Vitantonio Liuzzi Speedcar V8 2009 Losail Speedcar Series round
Moto3 2:05.403 Romano Fenati Honda NSF250RW 2019 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix
Supersport 300 2:13.798[16] Ana Carrasco Kawasaki Ninja 400 2019 Losail Supersport 300 round
Asia Productions 250 2:24.177[17] Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin Yamaha YZF-R25 2015 Losail ARRC round
Asia Underbone 130 2:31.934[18] Ferlando Herdian Yamaha T-150 2014 Losail ARRC round

Events

Current
Future
Former

Racing history

Since 2008, MotoGP class has run under lights at Losail

Formula One

Year Winning driver Winning team
2021 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes

MotoGP

Year MotoGP 250cc/Moto2 125cc/Moto3
2004 Spain Sete Gibernau Argentina Sebastián Porto Spain Jorge Lorenzo
2005 Italy Valentino Rossi Australia Casey Stoner Hungary Gábor Talmácsi
2006 Italy Valentino Rossi Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Álvaro Bautista
2007 Australia Casey Stoner Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Héctor Faubel
2008 Australia Casey Stoner Italy Mattia Pasini Spain Sergio Gadea
2009 Australia Casey Stoner Spain Héctor Barberá Italy Andrea Iannone
2010 Italy Valentino Rossi Japan Shoya Tomizawa Spain Nicolás Terol
2011 Australia Casey Stoner Germany Stefan Bradl Spain Nicolás Terol
2012 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Marc Márquez Spain Maverick Viñales
2013 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Spain Pol Espargaró Spain Luis Salom
2014 Spain Marc Márquez Spain Esteve Rabat Australia Jack Miller
2015 Italy Valentino Rossi Germany Jonas Folger France Alexis Masbou
2016 Spain Jorge Lorenzo Switzerland Thomas Lüthi Italy Niccolò Antonelli
2017 Spain Maverick Viñales Italy Franco Morbidelli Spain Joan Mir
2018 Italy Andrea Dovizioso Italy Francesco Bagnaia Spain Jorge Martín
2019 Italy Andrea Dovizioso Italy Lorenzo Baldassarri Japan Kaito Toba
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns Japan Tetsuta Nagashima Spain Albert Arenas
2021 Qatar Spain Maverick Viñales United Kingdom Sam Lowes Spain Jaume Masiá
2021 Doha France Fabio Quartararo United Kingdom Sam Lowes Spain Pedro Acosta
2022 Italy Enea Bastianini Italy Celestino Vietti Italy Andrea Migno

Superbike World Championship

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2005 Race 1 Australia Troy Corser Alstare Suzuki
Race 2 Japan Yukio Kagayama Alstare Suzuki
2006 Race 1 United Kingdom James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda
Race 2 Australia Troy Corser Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
2007 Race 1 Italy Max Biaggi Alstare Suzuki
Race 2 United Kingdom James Toseland Ten Kate Honda
2008 Race 1 Australia Troy Bayliss Ducati Xerox Team
Race 2 Spain Fonsi Nieto Team Alstare Suzuki
2009 Race 1 United States Ben Spies Yamaha WSB
Race 2 United States Ben Spies Yamaha WSB
2014 Race 1 France Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia Racing Team
Race 2 France Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia Racing Team
2015 Race 1 Spain Jordi Torres Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
Race 2 United Kingdom Leon Haslam Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
2016 Race 1 United Kingdom Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
Race 2 United Kingdom Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
2017 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team
Race 2 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team
2018 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Race 2 Race cancelled
2019 Race 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
SR United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Race 2 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
2020 Race cancelled

World Touring Car Championship

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2015 Race 1 Argentina José María López France Citroën Total WTCC
Race 2 France Yvan Muller France Citroën Total WTCC
2016 Race 1 Italy Gabriele Tarquini Russia Lada Sport Rosneft
Race 2 Morocco Mehdi Bennani France Sébastien Loeb Racing
2017 Race 1 United Kingdom Tom Chilton France Sébastien Loeb Racing
Race 2 Argentina Esteban Guerrieri Japan Honda Racing Team JAS

Motocross World Championship

Year Race MX1 MX2
2013 Race 1 Belgium Clément Desalle Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Race 2 Italy Tony Cairoli Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Year Race MXGP MX2
2014 Race 1 Germany Maximilian Nagl France Dylan Ferrandis
Race 2 France Gautier Paulin Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
2015 Race 1 Germany Maximilian Nagl Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings
Race 2 Germany Maximilian Nagl Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings WMX
2016 Race 1 Slovenia Tim Gajser Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings New Zealand Courtney Duncan
Race 2 Slovenia Tim Gajser Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings New Zealand Courtney Duncan
2017 Race 1 Italy Tony Cairoli Latvia Pauls Jonass
Race 2 Italy Tony Cairoli Latvia Pauls Jonass

Speedcar Series

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2009 Race 1 Italy Gianni Morbidelli United States Palm Beach
Race 2 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi United Arab Emirates Union Properties

GP2 Asia

Year Race Winning driver Winning team
2009 Race 1 Germany Nico Hülkenberg France ART Grand Prix
Race 2 Mexico Sergio Pérez Spain Barwa International Campos

References

  1. ^ "Losail International Circuit". RacingCircuits.info. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  2. ^ "F1 to hold first Qatar Grand Prix at Losail this November". Motor Sport Magazine. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023".
  4. ^ Horton, Phillip (30 May 2023). "Qatar GP organisers reveal Lusail renovations". motorsportweek.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  5. ^ Tribune, Qatar (2023-06-11). "'Qatar 1812' unveiled as name for 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship race". Qatar Tribune. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  6. ^ "Qatar Grand Prix 2023". Formula1.com. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Qatar Grand Prix 2021". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Lusail International Circuit, Qatar 2009 – GP2 Asia results". autoevolution.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011.
  9. ^ "2006 Losail Grand Prix Masters". Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  10. ^ "World Superbike Motul Qatar Round, 24-26 October 2019 Results Tissot Superpole Race" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Qatar Superbike1-QCH1-MRF Challenge 17th Friday October QSBK-1 QCH-1-MRF Challenge – MRF Challenge Race-2". 16 October 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. ^ "QCH R5-Porsche G3 CUP-Radical Car Feb.6,2015- QCH4-GT3 Cup-Radical Car – GT3 Cup Race 2". 4 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  13. ^ "WTCC 2015 » Losail International Circuit Round 23 Results". Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Qatar Round, 2-3-4 November 2017 World Supersport – Results Race" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  15. ^ "2009 Losail Speedcar – Round 5". Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Motul Qatar Round, 24-26 October 2019 Race Results" (PDF). World Superbike. Dorna. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Asia Road Racing Championship Saturday 3rd October 2015 Asian Production 250 CC Race 2 Race (9 Laps) started at 21:30:53". 3 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  18. ^ "2014 Asia Road Racing Championship Round 6 Losail International Circuit, Qatar December 14, 2014 Underbone 130cc Race 1" (PDF). 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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