- 08 Feb 09, 17:30#90180
Turkish GP's long-term future in doubt
By Matt Beer Sunday, February 8th 2009, 10:43 GMT
Turkish Grand Prix organisers fear they could lose their Formula One race after 2011, amid reports that Bernie Ecclestone does not plan to renew his current deal with the Istanbul Park circuit.
The Today's Zaman newspaper reports that Ecclestone, who took charge of the track several years ago, has given the circuit's original builder and financier the Istabul Chamber of Commerce notice that he plans to take the race off the F1 calendar after three more years.
Istanbul Park's general director Can Guclu confirmed that the race's long-term future was in doubt as other countries clamoured for dates on the F1 schedule.
"We are afraid that 2011 may be the last year of the staging of F1 in Istanbul," Guclu told Zaman.
"There is serious competition from such countries as South Africa, Russia, Bulgaria and South Korea. South Korea has a highly developed economy and they place importance on sporting events. The [football] world cup was held in there in 2002. And Russia has already started constructing a race course."
Guclu said he was concerned that negotiations had not yet begun to extend Istanbul Park's F1 deal, especially as it had originally taken four years from securing agreement with Ecclestone in 2001 to hosting the inaugural Turkish GP in 2005.
"If we want the Turkish Grand Prix to stay on the calendar, we need to start working immediately," he said.
"Or else, we cannot just begin negotiating for the race in the last year of the contract.
"We made a deal with Ecclestone in 2003 and the first race was organised in 2005. As you see, there is a four-year process in order to be included in the calendar.
"There is still nothing about extending the deal and no demand from either side."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73176
FIA could help safeguard British GP
By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer Saturday, February 7th 2009, 09:58 GMT
Max Mosley says the FIA would be willing to help keep the British Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar if the national governing body the MSA approached it in the event of problems with Donington Park's rebuild.
The British GP will move from Silverstone to Donington from 2010 on a long-term deal. The Leicestershire track is currently beginning a multi-million pound revamp to bring it up to modern F1 standards, and while the circuit owners are extremely confident that this will be completed on time, Bernie Ecclestone has previously suggested that if Donington should hit problems, Britain will lose its GP rather than Silverstone reclaiming the race.
But at a media lunch attended by autosport.com this week, Mosley said the British GP was one of the traditional races that the FIA felt duty-bound to safeguard if the national body needed assistance.
"We have a rule that in a world championship there must be at least three continents, but we don't say how many or in which continents," Mosley explained.
"And we have an arrangement with Bernie whereby we won't have a calendar that eliminates the traditional events without our agreement, and the traditional events... there is some argument about it.
"The traditional were the six that were in the championship in 1950 and have been there ever since: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Monaco and Belgium. But so far, there has never been an ASN coming to us saying we have got a problem, so if they do then we will have to look at it."
He confirmed that he would be willing to help the MSA in this manner if the British GP came under threat.
"We would have to look at it, absolutely," said Mosley. "What we would do would depend on all the circumstances of the case, as the lawyers would say.
"The thing is that our deal with Bernie says he cannot cancel one of those races without our agreement, which must not be unreasonably withheld. Clearly if someone said to Bernie 'I am a traditional race I am going to give you 100 dollars' and we will say, 'you can't do that'.
"But equally if they were paying the going rate and he wanted to chop them to go somewhere for 100 million dollars we would say you cannot do that... It depends what the going rate was and we would ask Bernie for his comments."
This year the calendar is already lacking one of the designated 'traditional' races due to the absence of the French GP, which is set to return in the future once a new venue is secured. Mosley said the decision to drop France had ultimately been down to its national authority the FFSA.
"We've had no complaint from the ASN, they haven't come to us and said 'we cannot agree with Bernie and you have to do something,'" he said.
"The absence of the French GP in 2009 was done with the accord of the national sporting authority, so it is not up to us."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73164
I say good riddence to Turkey. Decent Tilke circuit, but empty grandstands. Waste of a calendar slot.
By Matt Beer Sunday, February 8th 2009, 10:43 GMT
Turkish Grand Prix organisers fear they could lose their Formula One race after 2011, amid reports that Bernie Ecclestone does not plan to renew his current deal with the Istanbul Park circuit.
The Today's Zaman newspaper reports that Ecclestone, who took charge of the track several years ago, has given the circuit's original builder and financier the Istabul Chamber of Commerce notice that he plans to take the race off the F1 calendar after three more years.
Istanbul Park's general director Can Guclu confirmed that the race's long-term future was in doubt as other countries clamoured for dates on the F1 schedule.
"We are afraid that 2011 may be the last year of the staging of F1 in Istanbul," Guclu told Zaman.
"There is serious competition from such countries as South Africa, Russia, Bulgaria and South Korea. South Korea has a highly developed economy and they place importance on sporting events. The [football] world cup was held in there in 2002. And Russia has already started constructing a race course."
Guclu said he was concerned that negotiations had not yet begun to extend Istanbul Park's F1 deal, especially as it had originally taken four years from securing agreement with Ecclestone in 2001 to hosting the inaugural Turkish GP in 2005.
"If we want the Turkish Grand Prix to stay on the calendar, we need to start working immediately," he said.
"Or else, we cannot just begin negotiating for the race in the last year of the contract.
"We made a deal with Ecclestone in 2003 and the first race was organised in 2005. As you see, there is a four-year process in order to be included in the calendar.
"There is still nothing about extending the deal and no demand from either side."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73176
FIA could help safeguard British GP
By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer Saturday, February 7th 2009, 09:58 GMT
Max Mosley says the FIA would be willing to help keep the British Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar if the national governing body the MSA approached it in the event of problems with Donington Park's rebuild.
The British GP will move from Silverstone to Donington from 2010 on a long-term deal. The Leicestershire track is currently beginning a multi-million pound revamp to bring it up to modern F1 standards, and while the circuit owners are extremely confident that this will be completed on time, Bernie Ecclestone has previously suggested that if Donington should hit problems, Britain will lose its GP rather than Silverstone reclaiming the race.
But at a media lunch attended by autosport.com this week, Mosley said the British GP was one of the traditional races that the FIA felt duty-bound to safeguard if the national body needed assistance.
"We have a rule that in a world championship there must be at least three continents, but we don't say how many or in which continents," Mosley explained.
"And we have an arrangement with Bernie whereby we won't have a calendar that eliminates the traditional events without our agreement, and the traditional events... there is some argument about it.
"The traditional were the six that were in the championship in 1950 and have been there ever since: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Monaco and Belgium. But so far, there has never been an ASN coming to us saying we have got a problem, so if they do then we will have to look at it."
He confirmed that he would be willing to help the MSA in this manner if the British GP came under threat.
"We would have to look at it, absolutely," said Mosley. "What we would do would depend on all the circumstances of the case, as the lawyers would say.
"The thing is that our deal with Bernie says he cannot cancel one of those races without our agreement, which must not be unreasonably withheld. Clearly if someone said to Bernie 'I am a traditional race I am going to give you 100 dollars' and we will say, 'you can't do that'.
"But equally if they were paying the going rate and he wanted to chop them to go somewhere for 100 million dollars we would say you cannot do that... It depends what the going rate was and we would ask Bernie for his comments."
This year the calendar is already lacking one of the designated 'traditional' races due to the absence of the French GP, which is set to return in the future once a new venue is secured. Mosley said the decision to drop France had ultimately been down to its national authority the FFSA.
"We've had no complaint from the ASN, they haven't come to us and said 'we cannot agree with Bernie and you have to do something,'" he said.
"The absence of the French GP in 2009 was done with the accord of the national sporting authority, so it is not up to us."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73164
I say good riddence to Turkey. Decent Tilke circuit, but empty grandstands. Waste of a calendar slot.
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