Which of course means that the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin isn’t on life support, as we seem to be being led to believe.
And who might the source of this latest twist on the U.S. soil be? None other than Bernie Ecclestone, himself:
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is eyeing plans for a second race in the United States, after confirming on Thursday that talks are ongoing about an event in New York.
[snip]
And despite plans for a race in Liberty State Park falling through earlier this year, Ecclestone has said that another idea for an event in New York is being seriously considered.
“It’s happening,” he told AUTOSPORT. “We are talking to them and trying to do our best. Let’s see what happens.”
When asked how sure he was that the Texas race would go ahead, amid scepticism from some quarters about whether the funding exists for the event, Ecclestone said: “100 per cent.”
I’d like to be the first to suggest that the race in New York — which would seem to skirt the whole “one country, one race” operation — be named, no, not the North American Grand Prix (although I’d not be surprised to see that), but the European Grand Prix of New York.
That way, we get rid of Valencia and get a race in New York. If that isn’t a win-win, I don’t know what is.
More seriously, I’m glad to hear that Bernie says the Austin race is 100% for sure (I’d be more comfortable with 212%, but you can’t have everything), but that then raises all the questions about how the U.S. ends up with two races. Can anyone piece through that scenario?
Also, should we take this as anything more than the usual Bernie noise? (Right, the answer is, “No,” I know.)
