A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Parque Fundidora Monterrey, Mexico
The Fundidora Park of Monterrey is located inside the facilities of the formerly first steel mill of Latin America. Fundidora opened on May 5th, 1900 and closed 83 years later.
More than 30,000 square meters of soil were covered with grass, and 13,900 trees were planted at the Park. An artificial lake of two and a half hectares was also created inside Fundidora Park.
Since construction the circuit has been very popular with the Champ car series, and has hosted the Tecate-Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix for the last five consecutive years, attracting over one million spectators during the course of the 3-day 2005 event. Other national series races are also hosted here, such as such as T4, Pickups and Formula Renault.
The park is also a cultural hub for the city, with a nonprofit arts cinema running not just Spanish-language arts films, but also rare works from European and North American small filmmakers. Adjacent to the cinema is a very pleasant, bright, and thoroughly modern portrait gallery.
As you walk around the park, you can't help but marvel at how derelict pieces of industrial equipment have been strategically placed around the grounds to give the place an air of recent abandonment. It adds enormous character to the park, plus it's all very relevant local history since the city's fortunes were built on steel, glass, and cement.