Formula 1 has a new suitor, but this is among the most surreal cases ever seen. It isn’t a state or a circuit trying to organize its own race, but a family of millionaires. They want a Formula 1 Danish Grand Prix, and they are prepared to spend whatever it takes to make it happen.
Henrik Lyngbye Pedersen and his son Mathias Lyngbye Villadsen have laid on the table 510 million euros to drive forward a megaproject: building a circuit for 100,000 spectators in a southern Denmark town where Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and the rest could race.
The circuit will be in Padborg, a town of 4,393 inhabitants
Padborg might not be a name that rings a bell for many, but soon it could have its very own Formula 1 Grand Prix. That is the aim of the Lyngbye Villadsen father-and-son duo, who are determined to have F1 visit their small southern Danish town, and they are not inclined to scrimp on costs.
The Lyngbye Villadsens have commissioned Wurz Design, a design firm led by former Formula 1 driver Álex Wurz, to draft a Formula 1 circuit in Padborg, a town that currently has 4,393 inhabitants. The objective is that one day there will be a Danish Grand Prix held there for 100,000 spectators.
There is already the small Padborg Park, but these millionaires intend to expand it into the Circuit of Denmark, and they have a budget of 3.8 billion Danish crowns, which amounts to about 510 million euros at current rates. They aim to construct a track measuring 6,006 meters in length.
Taking advantage of the nearby Dutch Grand Prix, held at Zandvoort, which will leave the calendar at the end of the current season, these Danish millionaires have concluded that their town would be the best possible place to inherit the slot and host the first Grand Prix of Denmark in history.
And Denmark is not exactly the country with the most tradition in Formula 1. It has had four drivers, two of whom are Jan Magnussen, and his son. Kevin Magnussen, in fact, achieved the only podium for a Dane in Formula 1 and also the sole pole. The other drivers from the country are Nicolas Kiesa, who competed in five races with Minardi, and Tom Belso, who appeared in two with Iso.
We will see whether the Lyngbye Villadsens can, with millions, bring a Formula 1 Grand Prix to the very doorstep of their homes.
Images | Wurz Design
