Future Formula One Track Shows Abu Dhabi's Commitment to Lifestyle Marketing

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(ABU DHABI, UAE) - For more than a week residents and visitors in Abu Dhabi have been looking at photos and interactive models of the future Yas Marina Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The exhibits can be viewed at the Emirates Palace Hotel until the end of November.

The first Abu Dhabi Formula 1 race is more than a year away on November 15, 2009.

At the opening of the exhibition, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, showed guests including Sheikh Mohamed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, some of the features of the new facility that is being built on Yas Island, just outside the current city center of Abu Dhabi.

The track will run through the luxurious Yas Marina Hotel. The Sun Tower 60 meters above the track will allow VIP guests a bird's eye view of the action, and the marina features a yacht club. The Yas Marina Circuit is being developed by ALDAR Properties as part of the overall development of Yas Island.

The Formula 1 track is related to Abu Dhabi's attempt to attract wealthy visitors, both tourists and potential investors by allying itself to top sports brands. Members of the royal family recently bought the English Premier League soccer club Manchester City. Khaldoon Al Mubarak is also the new chairman of that enterprise.

Sports is the second pillar of Abu Dhabi lifestyle investment. The first is culture evidenced by the Sadiyaat Island project that features branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim Museums, the Sorbonne University, a performing arts center, and other public institutions designed to make Abu Dhabi the cultural capital of the Middle East.