Amateur racing buffs rev up to emulate pros
Print Edition
THE Shanghai Tianma Circuit, located near Sheshan Hill in Songjiang, is a popular place for car racing aficionados who want to experience the thrill of high speeds on a professional track.
The circuit, certificated by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), runs a length of 2.063 kilometers, with eight left turns and six right ones.
It is part of a themed resort that includes a 10,000-meter-square proving ground, a 4x4 course, a media center and grandstand, a cinema showing motoring-related films, a multifunctional hall, a clubhouse with restaurant, barbecue facilities, a gym, a mini-supermarket and a shop for motor-racing supplies.
An open day is held every month for amateurs to try their skills.
Before going onto the track, a driver is fastened in with seatbelts and turned upside-down in a car.
“We want the drivers to realize how important seatbelts are,” said the circuit’s manager Zhuo Yue.
Wearing helmets and racing suits, and strapped in by no less than five seatbelts, amateur drivers can accelerate to very high speeds.
The circuit is the training base for the Shanghai Volkswagen 333 race team, the country’s biggest professional racing club.
One of the club’s star drivers is Han Han, a best-selling author, singer and professional rally driver, who has just made a big splash with “The Continent,” a 2014 road trip comedy film he wrote and directed.
The modified VW Polo driven in the movie by actor Feng Shaofeng sits alongside other Polos in a garage at the circuit grounds.
“The car was modified here,” said technique director Li Jungang.
The club offers car modification services at prices ranging from 20,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan (US$3,223 to US$32,233). In 2005, a 333 Team car was transported to Germany for modifications that cost more than 1 million yuan, a record high price in China.
“It all depends on what one wants and what one can afford,” said circuit general manager Wang Xiao.
With at least two years of driving experience, racing buffs can apply for formal training at the circuit’s Lisheng School, the biggest institution of its kind in China. The course instructors are professional racers.
Since 2001, the school has trained more than 2,000 people who have gone on to attain a racer licenses from the China Federation of Automobile Sports.
Driving is a dangerous sport that doesn’t lend itself easily to family outings, but Wang said the circuit is developing go-kart tracks for the younger set.
“Go-karting is for children aged from 6-15,” Wang said. “That’s a great age for nurturing future Formula 1 drivers.”
How to get there
By car:
Take Highway A8 (the Shanghai-Hangzhou route). Turn on the A30 in the direction of Jiading.
Or take the Huqingping Highway. Change to the A30 in the direction of Xin Nong. Get off at the Tianma Exit. Turn right and drive about 500 meters.
By public transport:
Take the Metro Line 9 and disembark at the Dongjing Station. Shift to the Songzhu Line shuttle bus.
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