Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that he has no reason to doubt that the inaugural Korean Grand Prix will go ahead later on this year, despite suggestions earlier this weeke that the track building was behind schedule.
The Korean International Circuit is currently being built in the Yeongam County area of the country at a cost of some $264 million, and a report in the German Focus magazine this week claimed that the track designer Hermann Tilke was worried that the new circuit would not be completed on time.
The first Korean GP is scheduled for October 24th on the 2010 schedule, and tickets for the weekend have already gone on general sale.
But Ecclestone has backed up the comments made by the race organisers after the Focus report, by saying that the project was going to be completed on time, and moreover that Tilke himself has denied suggesting the track was behind schedule.
"I'm absolutely sure," Bernie told Reuters when asked if the Yeongam track would be completed on time, "No doubt at all."
Ecclestone, who travelled to check on the progress of the track after the Malaysian GP, added that: "I've spoken to Tilke and he denies saying [the Focus quote]."
The report had quoted the track tinkerer as saying that: "For the first time I am concerned that a [Tilke] circuit is not going to be finished on time."
Ecclestone added that plans for a Russian Grand Prix in the near future were gathering pace, with the city of Sochi leading the way in the bidding to host the event.
"We've got two or three places in Russia which we're dealing with at the moment," he explained smugly, "There is a big push for us to do something with Sochi."
The Russian race would add to an increasingly congested calendar. With an Indian GP scheduled for a 2011 debut leaving F1 at the unofficial maximum figure of 20 races in a season, Ecclestone has already stated that some races would lose their spots in favour of newer and more lucrative events.
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