Ordos International Circuit
Ordos International Circuit, built in 2010, is a motorsport facility located in Kangbashi New Area, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China. It hosted a round of the China Touring Car Championship, Scirocco Cup China and Superleague Formula in 2010. The circuit is long with 18 corners and resembles a galloping horse.
History
Orodos International Circuit opened in 2010 and is the first track that was designed and developed entirely by the Chinese. Taking its inspiration from the local culture, the unusual track layout mimics the shape of a horse dashing, while its main grandstand features a roofline in the shape of a swooping eagle.Completed in summer 2010, the circuit received FIA grade 2 certification that September. Allowing it to host single seater categories below contemporary Formula One, as well as prototype racing cars.
Jiang Tengyi was the first driver to win a race at Ordos, when he won round 1 of the China Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a Ford Focus. Ben Hanley became the first driver to win an international race at Ordos on 3 October 2010 when he won the first of two Superleague Formula races held here for Olympiacos.
Ordos was included in the [2011 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA GT1 World Championship season|2011 FIA GT1 World Championship] calendar by the FIA on 10 December 2010. Marc VDS Racing's Maxime Martin and Frédéric Makowiecki secured their third qualifying race victory of the year. The team then secured its first championship race win in the World GT1 series as Maxime Martin and Frédéric Makowiecki held JRM Nissan duo Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck at bay.
Since then international motorsport has ventured elsewhere in China, but Ordos continues to hold national and regional races, supplemented by driver training and manufacturer test days and new product launches.