The FIA Institute, in cooperation with its Facilities Advisory Partner Apex Circuit Design, has developed a guide to help National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) understand current best practice in the establishment of safe and sustainable circuit facilities.

The framework has been developed as part of the Facility Improvement Programme, which is one of three programmes being funded by the Motor Sport Safety Development Fund and managed by the FIA Institute.

The primary goal of the enhanced Facility Improvement Programme is to improve the safety standards and the economic and environmental sustainability of existing or proposed motor racing circuits around the world, especially in developing motor sport regions. The Programme will provide tools to help maximise each project’s potential for generating the necessary investment capital to fund construction and start-up costs.

The best practice framework offers a detailed explanation of the key elements required to develop or enhance safe and sustainable motor sport facilities. It is split between five key areas: vision plan module, commercial module, environmental module, operational module and master plan module.

Quentin Crombie, the FIA Institute’s Head of Educational and Excellence Programmes, said: “The areas within the framework contain what is currently considered by the FIA Institute to be best practice principles, and they indicate the standard that should characterise the process for the development or enhancement of motor sport facilities.”

For new facilities, best practice dictates that all five modules should be completed, with the process typically taking around six months. The Framework is underpinned by four key objectives, which dictate that a motor sport facility should be: safe and accommodate the appropriate FIA / CIK circuit and safety guidelines; commercially viable; environmentally sustainable; and operationally sustainable.

Clive Bowen, Managing Director of Apex Circuit Design, said: “The definition of a master plan is important and core to this framework. A common misconception is that a preliminary model or design can qualify as ‘master plan’ without undergoing a suitably robust performance assessment. In this framework such a model is called a ‘vision plan’, as it is only the first step in a process leading to the development of a master plan.”

According to Bowen, it is only once the vision plan has been assessed and tuned against safety, commercial, operational and environmental criteria does the vision plan become a master plan. This process helps to enable the confident identification of genuine opportunities and helps to maximise a project’s opportunity for success.

Those ASNs that receive support for applications made under the Facility Improvement Programme will be expected to work with Apex to carry out the project in line with the framework.

The best practice framework is available for download on the FIA Institute website.