Award for Paul Ricard circuit

At the 18th Grand Prix du Festival Automobile awards which took place at the Ritz Hotel in Paris (France) on January 28th, Philippe Gurdjian, President & CEO of Excelis, was honoured with the 'beauty and design linked to safety and security' prize for the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track. He accepted the prize from Mr Jean-Christophe Babin -- President & CEO of TAG Heuer and Professor Gérard Saillant.

Promoter of 18 Formula One Grand Prix in France, Spain and Malaysia, Philippe Gurdjian has made safety his utmost priority on race tracks. Passionate and attached to art in Motorsport, he constantly searches perfection, style and design in his environment. Having received the Grand Prix du Festival Automobile in 2000 for the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, Philippe Gurdjian has been once again rewarded for his creativity and his dedication to the improvement of safety.

The Grand Prix du Festival 2003 issued to the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track 'For its Design linked to Safety and Security' is a new demonstration of the never-ending perspicacity of Philippe Gurdjian....

"I am honestly very honoured to receive this award for the Circuit Paul Ricard HTTT," he said. "After two years of intense work with efficient and motivated teams, I can say today, that the now called Circuit Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track is the first test track of the third millennium. Everything is new and there was place for compromise. I thought, imagined and conceived this track for the safety of the drivers, for the pleasure of driving, for the comfort of the teams and the sponsors and to optimise the data on the track."

"Exclusively reserved for testing, the Paul Ricard HTTT is also, thanks to the environment, a quite privileged place for incentives, for clubs and sponsors, for the media and photographers... Everything was put together to create a perfect host and I am very pleased to see, that action shot fans are having fun. That also, was one of my objectives."

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