Bernie better get busy and start building grandstands, since he tore them all down when he bought the circuit in 1999 and converted it to a test facility! I think there was one grandstand for 5,000 spectators added on the main straight when they re-introduced racing in 2009, along with a public viewing area on a hill for another 5,000. That's a long way from the race day capacity they'd need of 80K+. I wonder if Bernie would have to pay the typical 20 million plus race hosting fee to himself?
To be confirmed on Monday. Finance is coming from the region, whose president is former 1980s F3 racer Christian Estrosi. He is a political ally of François Fillion who just won the primary to select the conservative candidate in next year's French Presidential election – and whose brother Pierre is President of the ACO. C'est un retour aux jours de Mitterand et Magny-Cours! Anyway, this will be great. If they build a grandstand at Signes, go for that. And for all you FChat high-rollers out there, Bandol is the place to stay (exceptional rosé and you can bring your own boat)...
I was afraid of that. It's never a good idea when the taxpayers are footing the bill for the extravaganza of politicians. It always fail in the end.
Mitterrand, not Mitterand: 2 "t"s, 2 "r"s. Estrosi is not an ally of Fillon, but an ally of Sarkozy; but it's true that after a defeat in politics, they change allegiance quickly. I suppose that Fillion doesn't matter anyway: the submission must have been done before he was selected as for candidate, and he is still VERY far from being president. And I hate "rosé", by the way. So I'm rather skeptical for the time being; last time the Paul Ricard's submission was studied, it was rejected partly due to impossible acces / egress to/from the track in summer, taking into account the number of spectators and the numbers of persons in holidays there, and the traffic on roads. I'll wait until the official announcement. Much too early to rejoice. Rgds
And the French minister of sports has always said time and again that it is out of the question that the french taxpayer's money will end in Bernie Ecclestone's pockets... I'm skeptical; if this is the way they finance the race, I can't support the idea. But I wouldn't be surprised that it is, if Estrosi is implied: not the brighest brain on earth, if you ask me. Bernie must have had a field day with him. Or perhaps not: Bernie likes challenges, and to negociate with intelligent people. Rgds
Serious sources still have the information with the verbs at the conditionnal tense. Guarantors would be the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the Var departement and the city of Toulon: bad, bad, bad idea...(but at least, as it is not at national level, it will not be taken in my pocket, ha!) The second link is the same article than the first one in English, but in French; I have included it because it says that the key element of the negociations with Bernie seems to have been Eric Boullier... French GP poised for surprise F1 return in 2018 Vers un retour du Grand Prix de France F1 en 2018 ? - Motorsport.com Rgds
Ricard would be great, i also enjoy a little Pernod now and then. People also still remember 'awesome' Dijon....
Depends on what actual circuit you use: the track offers, by short-cuts, by-passes, etc 167 different combinations of circuits. The longest is 5,861 kms, the shortest 0,826 kms. "In the old days" the long circuit was used, but for the last two editions (1989 and 1990) a shorter one was chosen. Rgds
That is a question? Seriously? France is the cradle of GP racing. They held the first Grand Prix ever.
Apologies for the misspelling. I had heard Estrosi shifted his support to Fillon not too long before the primary. I think the race may well have been 'on the shelf' and can now be dusted off for electioneering purposes – hence my ironic reference to the King of the Grands Projets. I wouldn't be surprised either if there is a new access road off the A50 somewhere in the plan... and I'll gladly have that rosé if you're not drinking it.
I really, really hate rosé. An awful invention. From the official communiqué on Monday here, we understand that the local authorities (Région PACA, département du Var, ville de Toulon) are indeed guarantors, which (to me) is a very, very bad idea: no public money should be involved. Details of the financial structuration were said to be "confidential" by Estrosi, which is absolutely inacceptable when public money is, or might be, involved. He acknowledged the invaluable contribution of Eric Boullier. They hope for about 35 millions of economic fall-outs, and this with "about 65.000" spectators attending. To attract those 65.000 spectators, they hope for an agreement on an"end of August" date, to take advantage of all people vacationing in the region. That should not help the traffic... Actually, and not to play the contradictor here, to me that project can't have any effect on the elections or votes: nobody cares in France for a french Grand Prix anymore, except some die-hard enthusiasts; but even many of these are against using public money as guarantor. It might even act against its promotors, as most french voters do not want a Grand Prix at all. Rgds
Perhaps are you confusing Reims (last used for the 1966 french Grand Prix in Formula one) with Charade, which was the venue for the 1972 french Grand Prix? a very fast and difficult circuit also, but that doesn't exist in its original form anymore: a shorter track is now used. (but Charade is not in the Champagne country, nor is it in a 100 miles range from Paris) Rgds