Tag: Madrid

F1 announces new Madrid race to replace Spanish Grand Prix in 2026

The new street circuit will enter the Formula 1 calendar from 2026 onward.

Formula 1 has yet another new race heading to the calendar.

F1 announced Tuesday that the sport will race in Madrid, Spain from 2026 to 2035. The race is set to hold the Spanish Grand Prix name from then on, and F1 is still negotiating with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for a potential spot on the calendar for 2026 onward.

The track is set to be a hybrid of a street circuit and a traditional circuit, with 20 turns and an estimated lap time of 1:32.40. The circuit is located five minutes away from the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez airport and organizers aim to make it one of the most accessible F1 races, with public transportation able to accommodate 90% of fans per Formula 1’s release.

The addition is a recent trend for F1, as the sport seems to be more inclined to race at street circuits than actual tracks. The calendar has grown to 24 races, and of those 24 races in 2024, 6 (25%) are street tracks. Madrid will be the latest addition to that group, showcasing a pivot from the sport in its new additions to the calendar.

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F1 to race in Madrid from 2026

Formula 1 has announced the Spanish Grand Prix will move to Madrid from 2026, taking place on a semi-permanent track within the Spanish capital. Barcelona has been home to the race since 1991, and currently has a contract through 2026 after …

Formula 1 has announced the Spanish Grand Prix will move to Madrid from 2026, taking place on a semi-permanent track within the Spanish capital.

Barcelona has been home to the race since 1991, and currently has a contract through 2026 after committing to track upgrades at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. However, that deal now appears uncertain as discussions about its future continue following confirmation the Spanish GP will move to Madrid, returning to the region for the first time since 1981 when the grand prix used to be held at Jarama.

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The new race will be held around the IFEMA exhibition and events venue to the northeast of the city center, with the track stretching to 5.47km and promised to be a mix of both street and non-street sections. The yet-to-be finalized layout will incorporate 20 turns with a projected qualifying lap of 1m32s.

Race organizers are targeting an initial capacity of 110,000 spectators per day, rising to 140,000 during the ten-year contract to become one of the larger venues on the F1 calendar. F1 predicts that 90% of fans will be able to reach the circuit via public transport due to the connections with rail and metro lines and its close proximity to the city’s main airport.

“Madrid is an incredible city with amazing sporting and cultural heritage, and today’s announcement begins an exciting new chapter for F1 in Spain,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said.

“I would like to thank the team at IFEMA MADRID, the Regional Government of Madrid and the city’s Mayor for putting together a fantastic proposal that epitomizes Formula 1’s vision to create a multi-day spectacle of sport and entertainment that maximizes values for fans, whilst embracing innovation and sustainability.”

The president of the region of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, says the arrival of the race will have a major economic impact.

“It is with great satisfaction that we announce Formula 1 is coming to the Community of Madrid, to a region and a capital that inspires openness and confidence within and beyond our borders,” Díaz Ayuso said. “We are the main engine of Spain’s prosperity and progress. This event, which we expect to be followed on a global scale by 70 million people, will represent an increase of more than 450 million euros in Madrid’s GDP per year and the creation of 8,200 jobs.

“The Community of Madrid is a region with a great international projection, open, plural and competitive, and F1 will contribute to further consolidate the Madrid brand among the best in the world.”

Should Barcelona still host a race in 2026 it will not be the first time Spain has held two grands prix in the same year, as Valencia was also part of the calendar at the height of Fernando Alonso’s popularity from 2008 until 2012.

Cameron Jordan says brutal Cleveland snow game led to monthslong Spain vacation

Cameron Jordan says a Cleveland snow game led to his vacation to Spain, where he’s biked, wined, dined, and had a run-in with a ‘Tampa Bay bozo’ at a Michelin-starred restaurant

The New Orleans Saints might have a tough time prying Cameron Jordan out of the Spanish countryside. Their defensive captain was so shaken by the first snow game of his football career that he and his wife Nikki packed up their kids and took the family to Spain for a month. Then two.

Playing in Antarctic conditions was a thoroughly miserable experience, but at least the Saints left with a win over the Cleveland Browns. Jordan told WWL Radio’s Jeff Nowak that spending his Christmas Eve in the brutal wind and snow has made Cleveland a place he’ll never return.

“And I was looking at the fans (huddling for warmth in the stands), I was like, much respect. Because there is no amount of money that could ever make me play for this team,” Jordan said. “Like, you could be like Cam, I have $58 million a year for you, an unprecedented amount, you’ve never been paid this much for 1 year of football. And I’d be like, thank you very much. If there’s 50 on the table here, there’s got to be 40 on the table somewhere in a warmer climate. Thank you, I’ll be leaving.”

That below-freezing afternoon sent Jordan looking for somewhere warm. After visiting Rio De Janeiro for Carnival celebrations, the family traveled to Spain. They haven’t been stateside since February, though Jordan says they’ll be home in time for the Saints offseason program to begin in earnest.

In the meantime, they’ve made stops in Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Seville. The Jordans have gone cycling in the Spanish countryside, toured cultural heritage sites, attended pro soccer games, and yucked it up with other tourists (Jordan had to laugh off an encounter with one “Tampa Bay bozo” at Etxebarri, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Bilbao).

Here’s some of the highlights Jordan has shared from their adventures abroad on social media:

Los partidos en Europa que nunca debieron ser

La pandemia del coronavirus ha afectado de manera aún incuantificable al mundo y ya se ha cobrado la vida de más de 352 mil personas en todos los países afectados según reportes de la OMS. Si bien no se puede volver el tiempo atrás, hubieron muchos …

La pandemia del coronavirus ha afectado de manera aún incuantificable al mundo y ya se ha cobrado la vida de más de 352 mil personas en todos los países afectados según reportes de la OMS.

Si bien no se puede volver el tiempo atrás, hubieron muchos indicativos que pudieron haber permitido una propagación menos rápida del virus, sobre todo en Europa pues el mes de marzo fue clave para la evolución de la pandemia y aún no se tenían las medidas de prevención adecuadas.

La cronología del COVID-19 en Europa

Enero, llega a Europa

Sin que aún se hiciera oficial durante todo el mes de enero el virus empezó a circular por Europa y el 20 de enero se detectó al paciente cero en Inglaterra.

Febrero, explota en Italia y España

El mes clave para la evolución de la pandemia en Europa fue febrero pues se dieron los pacientes cero en Italia y Madrid.

Si bien en la región de Lombardia el paciente cero fue detectado el 21 de febrero, se dice que el 19 de febrero durante el partido de Champions League entre Atalanta y Valencia jugado en San Siro, al menos 45 mil bergamascos se contagiaron en Milán.

Foto vía @LigadeCampeones

El 25 de febrero fue el día del paciente cero en Madrid.

Marzo, la pandemia imparable

Marzo comenzó con una pandemia invisible moviéndose rápidamente por Europa y aún sin las medidas de precaución establecidas. El 11 de marzo otro partido clave en el desarrollo de la pandemia se jugó, el Atlético de Madrid visitó al Liverpool y con ellos tres mil hinchas colchoneros hicieron el viaje y estuvieron presentes en Ainfield.

Foto vía @AtleticoPlay

Apenas dos semanas después el Liverpool anunció el contagio de 10 miembros de su plantilla.

Mayo, lloramos las muertes

Al 27 de mayo las cifras de muertos son alarmantes, en el Reino Unido rebasan las 37 mil, en España las 27 mil y en Italia las 33 mil y ambos partidos de Champions League solo ayudaron a propagar más rápido la pandemia en una pésima decisión directiva que no midió el riesgo de jugar con público aquellos duelos con la emergencia en la puerta de tu casa.

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Sergio Martinez, 45 but feeling good, still planning to fight again

Sergio Martinez, 45 but feeling good, said he still intends to make a comeback after six years away from the sport.

Sergio Martinez, 45, is still determined to make a comeback after six years away from the sport.

Martinez announced in February that he was training in his native Spain and planned to fight again. He even had a date and site, June 6 in Madrid. However, that went by the wayside in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I need it, I want to do this comeback,” the former two-division champ told The Ring. “I want to check my feelings in the ring and feel the punches again. Then we will see [what I can do].”

Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) had hoped to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a rematch but, after Chavez went a different direction, he’s now targeting countryman Kerman Lejarraga (30-2, 24 KOs), according to BoxingScene.com. He hopes to fight late this year or early next year.

“I think it would be a good fight,” Martinez said. “He is a good boxer, he looks very strong. It is a fight that would make me excited. It would be a duel of very different styles. I would like it very much, it excites me.

“Kerman is very strong and he has also been active. I have not fought for six years. I think that maybe I should have had a fight before to have contact with the mat, the ropes, the ring … because it is different from the one you train in.

“As much as I am doing well in training, I think the most logical thing would be to do a fight. With Kerman it will be between December and January. I will be almost 46 years old, I am aware of that.

“… It doesn’t seem crazy. Where it happens, in Madrid or Bilbao, there may be an audience. In Spain there may be a lot of people. I’ll keep training and at any time there will be news [about the pandemic subsiding] and then we will know [when the fight will take place].”

Martinez last fought on June 7, 2014, when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Miguel Cotto. The Spanaird’s knee was so damaged from his first fight with Chavez that he was essentially a one-legged boxer against Cotto.

Time has allowed his body to heal.

“Boxing is my life,” Martinez told The Ring. “Everything was wrong in my last fight against Cotto: training camp, the injuries, my knee. Now, I am feeling really good and my knees are better. All these years of rest were very good for my knees and elbows.”

He went: “I was training to do the rematch against Chavez, but he let me down at the last minute. Since then, I’ve been training for a fight. None of the big names want to face me, and this is why I will make a comeback in a small show in Spain. We don’t have too much of a budget but, for sure, the opponent will be a tough one.”

Sergio Martinez, 44, hoping to make comeback in June: report

Former middleweight champ Sergio Martinez is training in Spain, hoping to make a comeback on June 6 in Madrid.

Sergio Martinez, a middle-aged former middleweight champion, wants to fight again.

Martinez is training in Spain, hoping to make a comeback on June 6 in Madrid, RingTV.com reported.

“I need it, I want to do this comeback,” Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) told The Ring in a story published Thursday. “I want to check my feelings in the ring and feel the punches again. Then, we will see [what I can do].”

Martinez has been retired for about 5½ years. He lost to Miguel Cotto, failing to answer the bell for the 10th round in his last bout June 7, 2014 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“Boxing is my life,” said Martinez, who will turn 45 on Feb. 21. “Everything was wrong in my last fight against Cotto: training camp, the injuries, my knee. Now, I am feeling really good and my knees are better. All these years of rest were very good for my knees and elbows.’’

There had been talk that Martinez would fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in mid-November. But Chavez decided to fight Daniel Jacobs instead, losing on Dec. 20 in Phoenix in a bout that ended with angry fans tossing debris into the ring after Chavez quit after five rounds.

“I was training to do the rematch against Chavez, but he let me down at the last minute,’’ said Martinez, who won a wild 12-round decision over the Mexican in September 2012 in Las Vegas. “Since then, I’ve been training for a fight.

“None of the big names want to face me, and this is why I will make a comeback in a small show in Spain. We don’t have too much of a budget but, for sure, the opponent will be a tough one.”