The helicopter over the Egypt circuit: the Egypt racing game

Egyptian Grand Prix

Egypt Racing GameRace a 5.2 km circuit drawn from Egypt's outline

Length: 5.2km
Turns: 8
Main straight: 1230m
Slowest corner: 52km/h
Climb: 6m
Setting: Open dunes

Open sand, eight corners and the Pyramids: the Egypt racing game keeps it simple. It's a race track shaped like Egypt, 5.2 km long. From Al Wadi at Jadid the lap runs north over the Libyan Plateau to the Nile Delta and Ad Daqahliyah, then out round Sinai, where Shamal Sina', the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez come one after another, before the long run home through the Eastern Desert.

The Egyptian Grand Prix is a desert race on open dunes, as flat as the Giza plateau with just 6 metres of climb, and it's hot out there.

The Egypt circuit map

The racing line (orange) inside Egypt's outline; ○ is the start and finish. Open the map

T1Al Wadi at Jadid
T2Libyan Plateau
T3Nile Delta
T4Ad Daqahliyah
T5Shamal Sina'
T6Gulf of Aqaba
T7Gulf of Suez
T8Eastern Desert

Each corner is named after the place on Egypt's outline it traces.

Screenshots from the Egypt circuit

Through the slowest corner, Gulf of Suez

On the grid for the Egyptian Grand Prix: Egypt racing game screenshot — On the grid for the Egyptian Grand Prix

Chasing through a corner in Egypt: Egypt racing game screenshot — Chasing through a corner in Egypt

Craning over the Egypt track: Egypt racing game screenshot — Craning over the Egypt track

On board around Egypt: Egypt racing game screenshot — On board around Egypt

Crossing the line at the Egypt circuit: Egypt racing game screenshot — Crossing the line at the Egypt circuit

Around the Egypt track

The Pyramids of Giza loom over the track, and the Great Sphinx and an obelisk stand closer to the road. Feluccas sail on the water. Dunes run on every side, with camels, Land Cruisers and minibuses parked behind the fences. The banner reads أهلاً بكم في مصر, and the boards name Alexandria, the Nile, Luxor, Aswan, Sinai and Cairo. Heat shimmers over the sand.

Pyramids of Giza
Great Sphinx
Felucca sailboats
Obelisk

How to drive the Egypt circuit

The 1,230-metre main straight ends at Al Wadi at Jadid, turn 1, and the run-up is long enough to pass on. The corner that decides the lap is the Gulf of Suez, turn 7, at just 52 km/h: brake early and get a clean exit for the Eastern Desert. There's almost no climb, so it's all about the brakes.