The masquerade is over The "truth" has been revealed !! The $500 million COTA facility, billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, and millions of Texas taxpayers are nothing but pawns of ... of ... wait for it ... Ferrari of Austin !! YES ... Ferrari of Austin, that grandmaster puppeteer, has been pulling the strings all along. The truth is out.
CNN is reporting that the management of Ferrari of Austin secretly met with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud and Khalid A. Al-Falih at an undisclosed location in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in late November 2014. It is believed that at the meeting the Austinites laid out a mutually beneficial plan whereby Aramco would significantly boost its production and export of petroleum. Ferrari of Austin would then take advantage of the drop in gasoline prices to promote the sales of their cars and the Saudis would cripple the North American hydraulic fracturing boom. Neither Al-Waleed, Al-Falih, nor Anthony Nevotti, General Manager at Ferrari of Austin immediately returned calls regarding this report.
FoA is the same franchise owner as the long time dealership in Houston... So, no connection to COTA to my knowledge, they pay to lease the track actually, like everyone else!! Did COTA fire the electrician?? I want to apply for that....
... definition of free-rider: those who usurp a benefit, who contribute nothing. Principal indirect beneficiary of COTA, not one gutter cent does Ferrari of Austin fund the USGP. The other way around, it's the Texas policy community, subverted by COTA and the USGP, indirectly subsidizing free marketing and advertising, for Ferrari of Austin. Ferrari of Austin doesn't have income sufficient to sponsor a go-kart race, let alone the USGP. If Ferrari of Austin had to cut a check, this instant, for 250 large? It would bounce -- asj.
I'm not sure Bernie stepping down or dying solves the problem of high sanctioning fees. Bernie works for CVC. CVC isn't dying any time soon, but maybe Bernie can get them out of the picture eventually. I actually think that may be on his agenda. Between CVC and Bernie, I'd say Bernie is definitely the lesser of two evils.
+1 For all the blame and 'hate' aimed at the Pygmy, he, single handedly, has made it the most popular sport on the planet..... The only thing Bernie cares about is F1 - not his wife, not his kids, not even his own 'situation' any longer. He's made a gazillion bucks, both for himself and many others. I'm sure CVC skimming the profits out of the sport pisses him off, but that's the deal he made, and he never reneges on a deal...... CVC OTOH, is a money fund. They don't give a crap about F1 beyond what they can get out of it. As you said, 'be careful what you wish for'..... Cheers, Ian
Yep. Bernie isn't perfect, but I don't think there's any way to deny he really does care about what happens in F1. As I posted on another board, he's the only remaining buffer between the old F1 and an F1 run purely by CVC's soulless corporate suits.
After the way they screwed Kevin Schwantz they deserve all the bad Karma that is coming there way. I hope the greedy slugs BK and learn their lesson. What a mismanaged fiasco
OBTW, not F1, but the IndyCar opener in Brazil was cancelled, so now they're looking for somewhere to kick off their season. Looks like one of the possibilities is COTA... Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - IndyCar: Series working on contingency plan after Brazil cancellation
Cool ad..... I saw a doctor last week, when she heard of my interests, she mentioned her son "starting in carting"... I said, "be careful what you wish for.." and left with my Rx...
They mended fences and he now works for them in the Broadcast Booth, for MotoGP... Ducati Island! I'm going to Ducati Island.....LOL! I think it's in Turn 12
Behind T15 between entrance gate and amphitheatre. I took my Ducati Superlite last year. May take the 68' scrambler this year.
I don't know if the track is in trouble or not, just like everyone else, but it is being used more frequently than some have portrayed. BMW has been out there, Nissan has been out there, IndyCars have tested there, Lamborghini's "Bull Run" was just there over the weekend, the U.S. Touring Car Championship is coming, and too many other track-rental events that simply don't get mentioned. Add to that, a fairly strong concert season for the ampitheater, and I think some of the expressed opinions are simply that, and little more.
All I know is that last year there were fewer vendors on site and when I asked them some questions I found out that 40% of their take went to COTA. Since Ferrari had given us 1000 flags to hand out to the fans for free, those same flags selling for 35.00 inside were not selling at all.. I would not be surprised if they were having trouble making ends meeting given what Mr. E wants for his traveling circus to show up!
I will not attend F1 until they bring back the NA V10's or V12's. I'll stick to Moto GP and World Superbike for the time being.
