Turkey Dropped Next Season?

[Ardius]

He's right to assume the Japanese GP is going ahead though, we haven't heard anything to suggest otherwise, I'd have thought we would've by now.

Gotta remember Russia is on the horizon aswell, as much as Turkey will be missed from a driving challenge point of view, there's plenty in line waiting.

There have always been worries since the Earthquake that Japan may not be able to host future races. The race this year might go ahead, but will they be able to keep footing the costs every year? It depends a lot on the economic recovery of Japan which is still very uncertain.
And I know Russia is on the way, I'm not arguing there won't be many races left or anything.

I'm not being ignorant - I'm just pointing out that one of the primary arguments against these races is that it costs so much to the point where the government needs to invest in the race. But the costs associated are just a fraction of the money they have at their disposal. This applies to Turkey just as much as Japan.

One country != another country. Turkey is entirely funded by the government, Japan is run by Honda and partially relies on ticket sales. Japan doesn't need to spend money to put itself on the world stage....Turkey feels the need to because it really isn't anything on the world stage.
This is why Silverstone and other tracks are under threat from newer countries, because governments in new countries are more likely to foot the bill, whereas established countries have no reason to do so.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

This is why Silverstone and other tracks are under threat from newer countries, because governments in new countries are more likely to foot the bill, whereas established countries have no reason to do so.

One would assume that established countries do not get government funding because they don't need it - the circuit organisers are capable of getting the money themselves. For all his questionable tactics, when was the last time Bernie cancelled a race in the middle of its contract simply because another country was willing to pay more?

 

[Ardius]

Again, quite ignorant, I guess you forgot the whole "OMGNoMoreBritishGP" thing? Or the constant threat to Spa-Francorchamps?
Its not that they don't "need" government support, its that they can't get it. Why? Because the government(s) doesn't see it the same way as a country like Turkey, Bahrain or Abu Dhabi does. To many European (and American I guess too) governments, its actually bad publicity to be seen to be funding motor-racing because it has the rich image and the constant environmental criticism. People wouldn't like the idea of their taxes paying for so-called rich boys to produce more pollution.
The whole idea of promoting the country on a world stage doesn't appeal to these governments because they already are on the world stage in motorsport and in various other sports.

Silverstone and Spa have needed government support for a long time, Spa gets a little bit of support, but Silverstone gets none. Silverstone has to run as a business, its not possible for it to run at a loss like Turkey, Abu Dhabi or wherever.
The same applies to Suzuka, except with them they can run slightly at a loss as far as Honda is willing to. In the end though, they are still restricted by local economy and how many people turn up and pay for tickets. The Japanese government are very unlikely to step in to help, they have no obligation to do so and I doubt it would go down well with the general public.

Personally, I actually prefer circuits to be run privately, they are much more likely to be run for the benefit of everyone and I do hate sports becoming involved in politics. Turkey is now an example of that; as soon as its not good for the government, it gets axed. Whereas a private company would much more likely have tried harder to promote the race and it keep it alive.
Its the same principle as having privateer F1 teams over manufacturer teams - the privateer teams exist just for F1, they will do everything to try and stay alive in F1. Manufacturers, governments, etc all have other priorities.

 

[thesrdic]

The French deserve a much better circuit than Paul Ricard or Magny-Cours...they used to have legendary tracks like Rouen-Les-Essarts.

La Sarthe?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Its not that they don't "need" government support, its that they can't get it. Why? Because the government(s) doesn't see it the same way as a country like Turkey, Bahrain or Abu Dhabi does.

And yet, they're still capable of securing their own funding.

 

[Ardius]

That isn't the point though, either you are choosing to ignore what I'm saying or you don't understand. If these circuits are in trouble, they have no "trillions" to fall back on. To assume all governments in all countries will happily go about throwing money at Grand Prix when they are in trouble is pretty naive.

I was using the example of Silverstone and Spa to demonstrate to you that not every country's government values their GP highly and that Suzuka is very much at risk.

And not only that, but most countries that have any good sense know that spending on sporting events is the last thing they should be doing in a crisis. Only the biggest sporting events such as the Olympics or the World Cup are worth really trying to keep because of their major boost to the local economy. While a GP also has a positive effect with tourism, etc, its not quite as big as those two and the length of the event and number of spectators are significantly smaller while the costs are still rediculously high.