Pit Lane Tunnel Exit, Dusk Finale Will Not Change for 2010 Abu Dhabi GP

The famous pit lane exit from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will not be changed. Track boss Richard Cregan made that very clear in an interview with British publication Autosport, ending the speculation that the race officials were considering to proceed to some changes regarding that aspect following some criticism after the last season's finale.

The pit lane exit tunnel that goes under the track was seen as one of the radical elements of the new Yas Marina Circuit, alongside the organizers' decision to end the F1 action at dusk, under artificial lights.

However, Cregan pointed out that the feedback from both the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone and the fans regarding the maiden Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009 were mostly positive, therefore there is no reason to change the aforementioned aspects of the event. Some minor modifications will however be operated in order to make the action even more enjoyable for both the racers and the spectators.

“We are doing some small modifications in light of some of the things that we recognised over the course of the event, but nothing major. Like anything new, there is always that challenge of breaking the mould, as in designing a circuit that has a pitlane tunnel as an exit. You will have lots of people who will detract from the spectacle of it by talking only of the doom and gloom, but we didn’t have it – it worked very, very well,” said Cregan, according to Autosport.

“I think the most important thing was that we did sell out, and people went away, they were happy, and they want to come back. We have already had a lot of people contacting us through our numbers and emails to book their tickets again, so they had a great experience. (...)We were very happy that the event went off very well. Both the FIA and FOM said the event was fantastic,” added the Yas Marina Circuit boss.