An application for a two-kilometer race track in Ħal Far and the updating of the existing go-karting and drag-racing circuits have been submitted to the planning authority.

The project is expected to be completed by November next year. If all goes according to plan, in April 2023, Malta will host one leg of the European FIA drag racing championship, said the president of the Malta Motorsport Federation Duncan Micallef in a press conference on Two.

The federation has been lobbying for the track for a long time and track was one of Labor’s electoral promises before the 2017 election.

But the plans of driving enthusiasts appeared to have been halted in 2019, when their proposal for such a track was dropped by the government.

The construction of a € 20 million project in Ħal Far, financed through the sale of Maltese passports, was announced by Robert Abela on Monday morning.

Later in the day, Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship Alex Muscat said the sum was more than three times the initial proposal, however, the government was committed to the investment.

“The investment will generate 220 full-time jobs and, in the long run, the € 20 million will be recovered,” he said at the press conference.

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima meanwhile noted that the sports facility, which measures 80,000 square meters, will be the best in the Mediterranean.

It will be built on government land in the development zone, and will not touch agricultural land, he promised.

Grima said proposals the government has received in the past would have an impact on residents and the environment.

He said the current proposal was based on several studies, adding that sound barriers will also be installed around the facility.