- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Yes, four of them: Canada, New Jersey, Austin and Brazil.Any chance that one of them will be a prime time race for North American fans?
Yes, four of them: Canada, New Jersey, Austin and Brazil.Any chance that one of them will be a prime time race for North American fans?
I can't believe Greece has the nerve to make preliminary moves to host a GP. Just unbelievable after the chances they've been given and the chaos they caused globally. I can't wait till Germany repossesses everything they have.
I hope so, as the Port Imperial race is practically in my own back yard, or at least let's say, a 45 minute hop and skip, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it happening. At least not in 2013. I don't have any special insight, but from the outside, looking in, things appear in disarray.
After the huge fanfare surrounding the announcement last October, the race is less than 9 months away and yet:
There's construction in the port imperial area with a paddock and garages but it seems to have stalled. The last time I was there a few weeks ago, it looked no different than it did in the late spring and there didn't seem to be any active work taking place. (This is just my own subjective observation)
It's on the provisional calendar but with an asterisk next to it. And two months ago, Bernie Eccelstone himself made comments to the effect that he didn't think it would happen in 2013. (See here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100659/
There is no official website for the event, only a few fan made sites and facebook pages. And there hasn't been any sort of announcement or promotion. By now, things should be in full swing.
There is an official twitter feed but it's been silent for almost 10 months.
In August, Grand Prix of America President, Tom Cotter stepped down and there's been no announcement who's replacing him.
I'm familiar with those roads and major repaving work needs to be done if this race has any hope of taking place. Granted that could, and probably should be done next spring. But by now, there should already be a full on marketing campaign in full swing. There should be announcements, news stories, full banner ads, billboards--anything to draw attention to it. It's less than 9 months and that time will fly by.
I was doubtful of this race from the very beginning. I found it nearly inconceivable that they'd be able to properly cordon off the area and be able to push something like this through with the amount of closed minded NIMBYers in the area. Almost half the track is on roads that transverse a residential area. But when I saw the governor on TV last October, giving his stamp of approval, I began to believe it. I revised my opinion and thought it might really happen.
Unfortunately, the utter silence since that announcement, has given rise to little other than doubts. The fact that it's on the provisional calendar does leave me with some hope. But if I had to place a bet today, I'm sad to say, I doubt it's going to happen.
It was already confirmed last night by the mayor of Weekhawken NJ, one of the two towns the course would pass through.
Maybe 2014. But trust me, there's not a chance in hell it's going to happen in 2013.
I wouldn't put much faith in Buxton's tweets. While the US has a sizable, knowledgeable, and devoted F1 fan base, it's still small relative to the size of it's population, and the number of people in the country who consider themselves motor heads or motorsports fans. And with the upwardly spiraling costs of F1 since the early 90s, it remains to be seen if the US can sustain even ONE profitable F1 race, long term, let alone two.
F1 is a money gobbling circus that will pitch it's tent wherever the FOA/FOM can collect the most sanctioning fees. Over the last decade, that trend has been in emerging economies like Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, India and South Korea, where they enjoy the added benefit of government assistance in building circuits or paying sanctioning fees. Aside from the IMS, which already said goodbye to F1 after what turned into a tumultuous relationship, I don't think there is another permanent circuit in the United States that meets the unique criteria of FIA certification, located close enough to a major population center and wealthy urban area, and large intentional airport.
If Buxton thinks there's another circuit in the running, I'd like to know which one he thinks it is.
He thinks Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Road America should be looked at.
If COTA has a brilliant race this year, hopefully it will renew interest. Was really looking forward to this race.![]()
I don't think it is dependent on COTA. They couldn't get the track ready in time according to Eccelstone.
Here's what I don't get. It's a street circuit. Granted, a lot of corners & curbs need to be re-profiled. And probably some general repaving. (At least, I would assume so). And during the days leading up to the race weekend, like at any street circuit, there's an enormous amount of work constructing barriers, armco, catch fences, pedestrian walkways, etc. A particularly daunting task considering what a busy commuter hub the Port Imperial area is.
But the roads and most of the basic infrastructure are already there. The race is taking place on EXISTING roads. If the organizers hit snags, what were they? Lack of funding? Local ordinances and red tape? Legal issues? One would think they would have had most of this worked out before holding the press conference last year and receiving an endorsement from the governor and both mayors.
And yet, living in New Jersey, and I'm assuming it's the same for you Blitz24, I've heard absolute diddly about the race. And as a big motorsports fan, I've been actively seeking such news. The delay and cancellation of the 2013 event was announced on network news this morning. But I'm sure the average person was thinking "Huh? What race?" Because there has been absolutely no kind of promotion by the organizers what-so-ever. We're talking stonewall silence. Nada. Zip. After the initial press conference, it's as if they all took a vow of silence. (The May promo with Coulthard and Vettel was done by Redbull for their own marketing purposes). Even their twitter feed has been dead for 10 months. It's all a bit...fishy.
There's obviously more going on, but it's irksome that nobody is talking. And local papers and news media either aren't getting the story or simply don't think it's important enough to even investigate it.
The Thai authorities reckon they just need final approval from the government for a race to go ahead in 2014.
Bernie is ready to put France back on the calendar to fill the void left by New Jersey:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103816
I'm getting exhausted for entirely different reasons - the last few races have been totally boring.I'm getting F1 exhaustion with the current calendar, already. Twenty four might be pushing it.