Hermann Tilke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hermann Tilke
Tilke in 2009
Born	Hermann Tilke (1954-12-31) 31 December 1954 (age 69) Olpe, Germany
Occupation	Engineer racing driver circuit designer
Children	1, Carsten Tilke

Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. His son is architect Carsten Tilke.

Racing

During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring car racing, mainly on the old Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. He also competed in VLN endurance racing and the 24 Hours Nürburgring. He and Dirk Adorf won some VLN races with a V8Star Series in 2003 and 2004.

Civil engineering

After completing his civil engineering degree with specialization in transport and traffic management at Fachhochschule Aachen, Tilke established Tilke Engineering in 1984, combining skills in architecture, civil engineering and electronic engineering to provide complete solutions for motor racing and waste disposal projects.

Formula One

Tilke is one of four designers recognised by the FIA but has, with the exception of the Silverstone redesign in 2010, been the only one to be commissioned to design Formula One tracks. One of his first minor tasks was to design and build a short access road at the Nürburgring, earned due to contacts made by his racing efforts there. His first major job was the transformation of the fast Österreichring to the much shorter A1-Ring in Austria, in the 1990s.

Tilke was involved in the radical overhauls of European circuits, such as the Hockenheimring, Circuit de Catalunya and Nürburgring, as well as Fuji Speedway in Japan.

Tilke secured the contracts to design many high-profile new world circuits from scratch, mainly in Asia but also in eastern Europe. He designed Sepang International Circuit, Bahrain International Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, Istanbul Park Racing Circuit, Valencia Street Circuit, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Yas Marina Circuit, Korea International Circuit and the Buddh International Circuit. Tilke also designed the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where F1 made its return to the United States in 2012. Tilke's latest designs include Sochi Autodrom which hosted its first race in 2014 with the debut of Russia in F1, Kuwait Motor Town (Kuwait) which opened officially in 2019, and the Hanoi Street Circuit which was set for an inaugural race in April 2020 but got cancelled due to COVID-19.

Tilke has designed every track with several other engineers from Tilke Engineering, as well as F1's former commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone. After viewing the track site and "once factors such as topography, wind direction, infrastructure and soil quality are known" the design work can begin. Tilke focuses on "conceiving dramatic architecture that reflects the host country, like Sepang's lotus-leaf grandstands in Malaysia", while also aiming for spectator comfort and clear viewing. He "build[s] corners that promise a fast and interesting race but avoid pulling the field apart".

List of circuits

Tilke has secured contracts to design many new circuits.

Year	Circuit	Location
1996	A1 Ring	Spielberg, Styria, Austria
1999	Sepang International Circuit	Sepang District, Selangor, Malaysia
2001	Sachsenring	Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Saxony, Germany
2002	Nürburgring	Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
	Hockenheimring	Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
2004	Bahrain International Circuit	Sakhir, Southern Governorate, Bahrain
	Shanghai International Circuit	Jiading District, Shanghai, China
2005	Fuji Speedway	Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
	Istanbul Park	Tuzla, Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey
2006	Cancún	Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico
	Jingkai Street Circuit	Yizhuang, Beijing, China
2007	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya	Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain
	Bucharest Ring	Bucharest, Romania
	Colorado Motorsports Country Club Circuit	Colorado, United States
2008	Marina Bay Street Circuit	Marina Bay, Singapore
	Kandavas Kartodroms	Kandava, Latvia
	Valencia Street Circuit	Valencia, Spain
2009	Lippo Village International Formula Circuit	Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
	Yas Marina Circuit	Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
	Ciudad del Motor de Aragón	Alcañiz, Aragon, Spain
2010	Dublin Street Circuit	Dublin, Ireland
	Korea International Circuit	Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, Honam, South Korea
	Kazakhstan Motorcity	Kazakhstan
	Atlanta Motorsports Park	Dawson County, Georgia, United States
	Oslofjord Panoramic Racepark	Oslofjord, Oslo, Eastern Norway, Norway
2011	Rudskogen Motorpark	Rakkestad, Østfold, Norway
	Buddh International Circuit	Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
2012	Moscow Raceway	Volokolamsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia
	Circuit of the Americas	Austin, Texas, United States
	Sibirian Ring	Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia
2013	Port Imperial Street Circuit	New Jersey, United States
	Autodromo y Centro Cultural Motorpark	Chile
	Bilster Berg	Bad Driburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
2014	Sochi Autodrom	Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
	Osijek - Tvrđa	Osijek and Tvrđa, Croatia
	Bistra - Zagreb	Bistra and Zagreb, Croatia
	Chang International Circuit	Buriram, Thailand
2015	Mercedes-Benz Arena Temporary Track	Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico
2016	Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit	Duncan, British Columbia, Canada
	Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan	Marrakech, Marrakesh-Safi, Morocco
	Baku City Circuit	Azadliq Square, Baku, Azerbaijan
2017	Jakabaring International Circuit	Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia
	Sentul International Circuit	Bogor, West Java, Indonesia
2018	Pradera Verde Racing Circuit	Lubao, Pampanga, Central Luzon, Philippines
	V1 Auto World Tianjin	Tianjin, China
2019	Kuwait Motor Town	Ali Sabah Al Salem, Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait
	Igora Drive	Priozersk, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
2020	Hanoi Street Circuit	Nam Từ Liêm, Hanoi, Vietnam
	Jakarta Monument Street Circuit	Jakarta, Indonesia
2021	Jeddah Corniche Circuit	Jeddah Corniche, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2023	Sokol International Racetrack	Sokol, Almaty, Kazakhstan
	Las Vegas Strip Circuit	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

See also

In Spanish: Hermann Tilke para niños