Moscow Raceway is an FIA-approved motor racing venue, which is situated in the Volokolamsky District of Moscow Oblast, near the villages of Sheludkovo and Fedyukovo, from Moscow, Russia. It opened on 13 July 2012 for its first event as the fifth round of the World Series by Renault becoming the first major international motor-sport race track event in Russia. It is an FIA Grade 1 circuit, which means that it has all the requirements necessary to host a Formula One race, though the Sochi Autodrom previously hosted Russian Formula One races during the existence of the Russian Grand Prix as a World Championship event. History In September 2008, it was revealed that work was to begin on a Formula One circuit to be located at the village of Fedyukovo, Volokolamsky District. Hans Geist, who at that time was the managing director of the project, stated that the track could pass an FIA inspection by June 2010, and that even without Formula 1 the project would be profitable staging either DTM or MotoGP. The cost of the project overall was 4.5 billion rub when it opened on 13 July 2012. Design Moscow Raceway was designed to be categorized FIA 1T and FIM A, which would allow motorsport competition at any level, from national championships in auto and motorcycle racing, to Formula 1 and MotoGP. The total designed track length is , with widths of between . The start/finish line has a width of at an elevation of . The longest straight of is designed to allow Formula 1 cars to reach a speed of . The circuit was finally classified as a FIM B grade course following inspections on 18 July 2012, one grade down from what was expected. Construction Built under a Russian–German joint venture named "Autobahn", the general contractor for construction of buildings and race track to international level was Stroytech-5, a member of a group of companies Stroytech. Sub-contract partners included Siemens, while Sergei Krylov was working as an adviser. After initially signing a deal with Bernie Ecclestone in 2008, the project was dropped from the 2010 Formula 1 calendar in early 2009, and construction stopped. Construction resumed in June 2010, with the new contractor agreeing to complete the road section of the track by the end of 2011. Race history The first events held at the circuit were part of the World Series by Renault on 13–15