THE buzz of the British Grand Prix will come to the city centre this weekend with a 'Pitstop Challenge' and live racing on the big screen.

Crowds are expected to come and cheer on Jenson Button as he takes to the Silverstone track in a bid to extend his championship lead.

The free event will also see a replica 2008 Formula 1 car take pride of place on the Piazza for Plymouth's first ever Pitstop Challenge.

A support crew and all of the pitstop equipment will be there, including car jacks, air guns and compressor, overalls and a digital timing board, and teams will be invited to take the challenge from 10am to 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday.

The free event is open for all ages, families, individuals and groups or friends and colleagues. Groups will be split in to teams of six and given a briefing on techniques. Each team will then have a practice session before the timed challenge.

The F1 professionals can do a full pitstop, re-fuelling and tyre change in a matter of seconds. The Pitstop Challenge will give people a whopping 10 minute to complete the task.

Eve Wooldridge, BID retail manager at Plymouth City Centre Company, said: "We're really excited to be able to hold such a great free event on the Piazza."

The Piazza will have catering and seating in front of the Big Screen. There will also be a Surf Simulator for people to try out their surf skills and plenty of entertainment all day.

This year the Plymouth Big Screen is featuring the entire Formula 1 season as part of a packed programme of City Centre events within the Plymouth Summer Festival (www.plymouthsummerfestival.com).

The British Grand Prix the first in a series of major Big Screen events as coverage ramps up for the Plymouth Summer Festival – with live Wimbledon coverage between June 22 and July 5 and La Traviata live from the Royal Opera House on June 30.

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