A1 GP

Is this for real or a premature April fool's joke?

If it is real I'd say it is interesting, but won't have much to do with F1. No F1 drivers will be in it. All cars are identical Lolas, hmm sounds like CART. Not a bad idea, but so what?

It would be very interesting to see such a championship on Sunday morning before the real F1 GP. THAT's what F1 needs.

 

This is a fantastic idea for drivers, mechanics and race engineers that are looking to forward their careers. It will also boost interest in motor sport in Dubai.

Dubai is a beautiful city in the United Arab Emirates. I would recommend visting Dubai to everyone. It has some worlderful things to do and places to visit for the entire family. The beach is magnificent and there are several desert safaris you can take too. There is also a huge shopping festival that is held in March. They have several lotteries for luxury cars for shoppers and shopping for gold is fantastic.

 

The world is big enough and rich enough and has enough TV coverage and potential sponsors to support a Grand Prix every two weeks all year round, if not even more; Bernie Ecclestone would certainly like to take advantage of this, but the teams won't accept any more, which is why he keeps pressuring to get rid of some of the 'traditional' races like Spa, Imola and Silverstone which are less profitable than the potential alternatives such as Russia, China, etc.

The first attempt at running an alternative/additional series, sponsored by and associated with, major world soccer clubs was a failure, but if this one gets quasi-governmental support it should work.

The one-make cars aren't an issue IMHO; the FIA F3000 series and many top national series have been one-make for years, to say nothing of CART.

I suspect Ecclestone has recognised the potential threat to the official GP support series, F3000, which is why it is being replaced for next year with a series with bigger noisier cars.

Paul M

 

The A1 GP series has nothing to do with Eccelstone. It is a venture of the Dubai Royal Family and is headed up by the young Sheik Maktoum. It is affiliated with the FIA. The FIA is not controlled by Eccelstone. The FIA is a seperate organization headed up by President Max Mosely that represents the interests of motorists and motoring organizations. One of those organizations is the Formula One Company headed up by Eccelstone. The A1 GP is another seperate motoring organization affiliated with the FIA. It is important to keep that distiction.

I think this is a fantastic series that will further boost the interests of Dubai. It will increase tourism in Dubai, act as a Public Relations out reach for Dubai and also satisyfy the local desire to have a formula style series. Dubai is a great place for a family vacation and I stronly recommend it to anyone that is looking for fun for the entire family.

 

Well, if you can't be the best in one series, go to a lower ranked one, where you race with no-names. Makes sense to me.

 

Sounds like a good series. Anybody knows if this will be televised in North America, specifically in Canada. We usually don't get a lot of the shows that you guys in America get.

I'd watch it in winter for sure!

 

If you read Autosport, they've been covering this for the last year or so. Like most upstart series', you tend to take an "I'll believe it when I see it" stance. As far as I'm concerned, the more racing the better. But I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Jack's right...........you guys are a bunch of Motorsport ROOKIES !!!!!!!

This series has been in the news for over a year. Several top drivers from the lower rungs (F3/F3000/Nissan Telephonica etc..) have tested the cars.

Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing the series succeed and have something to do on the "off season" besides wathcing reruns and hitting my XBOX and PSII....

...but the reality is that I think it will not succeed. A perfect example is F3000 or the World Series Nissan Championship. The only people who watch these races or follow them are die hard race fans. The cars are all the same so the fun in rooting for your make (what you drive to work ...i.e. Honda, Merc, Ferrari ...) is not there. And secondly, unless you know who Heikki Kovalainen, or Tiago Monteiro are, it's doubtful you'll follow a series in which you can't differentiate the cars nor the drivers.

I hope it succeeds but I am doubtful. I think the Sheik is bored and looking for places to spend his money. Remember that Sheik, who invested in Arrows a few years back and then lost interest in a month or two.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

You're probably still overestimating his abilities.

 

Yea right....

 

Sorry, the Sheik you are thinking about was from another Arab Emirate. This is the Sheik from the Royal family of Dubai.

Also the notion that these guys are rookies will very soon be proven wrong. The project for the new track in Dubai is massive and makes Shanghai look like a dwarf. The Sheik is planning to use the A1 GP series as a way to select personel for his own new Dubai F1 team.

 

I am pretty sure that A1 GP will succeed. It seems to have some serious backing and they have actually produced some real cars! Premier F1 never got that far.
The first race is at Brands Hatch on Sept 25th. I just might go along.

 

I think it will succeed; it's got some major backing. Already 2 nations have unveiled their cars (South Africa and Lebanon). 16 other nations are in discussion to purchase their cars. They have a total of 30 Lola Chassis; I don't know if that's how many cars will actually race. Plus, announcing the Brands Hatch (first race) date is a major step. I'm sure the promoters, teams, and organizers wouldn't have announced this date unless they had all the players on board.