Autosportfoto

Magnussen on ‘dream come true’ of potential Danish GP

Kevin Magnussen says the news of a Danish Grand Prix possibly joining the Formula 1 calendar as early as 2020 came as a pleasant surprise, while he says he's already familiar with the Copenhagen streets in the circuit proposal.

During the build-up to the Briths Grand Prix, news broke of a potential plan for the first ever Danish Grand Prix in F1 which would he held on the Copenhagen city streets.

The Haas driver is just the fifth person from Denmark to race in F1 and despite its small 5.6m population compared to other F1 hosts, the country is known for its dedicated support of the sport.

After the success of the Baku city race and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a similar proposal is being lined up for a street race in Copenhagen led by a consortium of businessmen headed up by Lars Seier Christensen and former Science Minister Helge Sander.

Last week the initial plans and route were revealed with a 40 million euros fund for the street circuit at the Danish national Jyllands-Posten, while taking in iconic Copenhagen landmarks including Christiansbourg Palace and parliament buildings plus the historic Tivoli amusement park.

The route would also cross the Sydhavnen river twice and form a figure of eight style circuit.

Responding to the news of a potential Danish Grand Prix, Magnussen has naturally thrown his support behind the project and says it'd be a special feeling racing on the city streets he uses 'nearly every day'.

"It'd be amazing to have a home grand prix. It's something that I never dared to hope for," Magnussen said. "It's a big surprise to hear those news. It's been worked on and it's a serious possibility that there could be a Danish Grand Prix. So for me that would be a dream come true.

"I mean I am driving those streets nearly every day, on those exact streets, we will be doing 200 miles an hour down those streets then it will be pretty cool."

It is believed F1 owners Liberty are positive about the project, while an upcoming national election could prove critical to get the project up and running, with a targeted 2020 debut.

Zdroj: crash.net