Egypt Eager to Speed Up 'the Sphinx'

Picture a Formula One Grand Prix at a circuit designed in the shape of the Sphinx and with the desert sands and Great Pyramid as a backdrop. Egypt hopes it could happen by 2005.

"The plans are pretty advanced at this stage," said Ashraf Mahmoud, chairman of the Egyptian Motor Sport Corporation, who was attending the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday as a guest of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"We've been working on this project since July 1998. We have now the full approval and support of the Egyptian government. That was expressed in an official letter sent to Formula One Management.

"We are almost there. I think we are going to be starting very soon on all the remaining details for the track site and design.

"I have my own design, which is not yet approved, which is of the Sphinx's body and looks like a very fast circuit," Mahmoud told Reuters.

He drew an outline, with the base of the ancient Sphinx - a lion's body with its paws outstretched and a Pharaonic head - serving as a long straight, before entering the curves of the rest of the monument.

The preferred site would be on the outskirts of Cairo, on the west side of the river Nile and a 10 minute drive from the Pyramids, which will be visible in the distance. The area is under development, with a satellite city being built and the government planning new leisure facilities including golf courses and hotels.

Logical Date

Mahmoud said that, despite its proximity to the historic sites of ancient Egypt, there were no archaeological problems expected in that area. He was also confident that, despite the September 11th attacks on the United States and the Middle East's tortured history, security would not be an issue.

"I believe 2005, that is the most logical," said Mahmoud when asked for a target date for a race. "From the time we start working we need two years. So I think either late 2004 or presumably some time in 2005. And the best time is either March or October."

Circuit designer Hermann Tilke, the man who created Malaysia's state of the art Sepang track and is working on a planned Moscow Grand Prix layout, is expected to be commissioned by the Egyptians as well.

"If Formula One wants to come to the Middle East, Egypt is the place," said Mahmoud.

Ecclestone has spoken of the desirability of a Grand Prix in the Arab world but Egypt, which has little motor sport history, is not the only Middle Eastern country seeking a race.

Bahrain and Dubai are also seen as strong contenders while the Lebanese capital Beirut took out a two-page advertisement in the latest edition of the Ecclestone-owned F1 Magazine for a Monaco-style race.