A race-track of international standards will be built at Hal-Far, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced today.
He was speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting which was held at the Ta’ Qali basketball pavilion. The meeting discussed Malta's strategy in sports.
Abela said that €20 million will be invested in the project.
“We want to go for something professional, without causing inconvenience to residents. The track will be built in Hal Far in a zone which is already used for such sport,” he said.
No ODZ land will be taken up by the project, he said, adding that the government had discarded plans that were drawn up years ago and which would have taken up more land and be in closer vicinity to residential areas.
Discussions also involved the impact of the noise generated by the track, and mitigating efforts will be in place, he said.
A plan of the race-track (above) was uploaded on Facebook by parliamentary secretary for sport, Clifton Grima.
Video: Newsbook
Grima said that motor sport that already takes place in Malta, such as drag racing and karting, will be strengthened, while the circuit will be built close to already-existing facilities, which will be upgraded.
Duncan Micallef, President of the Malta Motorsport Federation, welcomed the news. He said in a video on Facebook, that the past seven months have seen intensive work, working to bring motorsport to its best possible level. He said the circuit will be of around 2km, and will be homologated up to Formula 3 or GT3.
Speaking later in the day, Micallef said the plans for the three race tracks – circuit training, drag racing and karting – have already been submitted with the planning authority. If the project is completed by next year, something which he said is doable, Malta could be in a position to host the FIA Drag Racing Championship in 2023.
The idea of the creation of a motorsport track has long been promised.
In its 2013 electoral manifesto, the Labour Party had pledged to identify a site for the development of a motorsports track. In its 2017 manifesto, the Labour Party said: "after the necessary studies took place, a call will be issued so that our country will have a car racing track. The zone identified in which this racetrack should be built is in Ta' Qali, and it is to be be built without recreational or natural space being lost."
The government seems to have now dropped the idea of using Tq' Qali, and gone for the Hal-Far option.
Back in 2018, Structural engineering firm Periti Studio had taken the initiative to design a concept proposal for a race track in Hal-Far. However, hopes for that track were later dashed as the land was earmarked for industrial purposes. The design and precise location of the government proposed track is slightly different than that which had been proposed in 2018.