MONTREAL - It is up to government if the cancelled Canadian Grand Prix is to be revived.
A spokesman for race promoter Normand Legault said Wednesday that government bodies were already looking at ways to bring back the annual race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve that was abruptly dropped from the Formula One calendar this week.
The event draws an estimated $100 million per year in revenues and economic spinoffs to the city.
Spokesman Paul Wilson said Michael Fortier, the Conservative Minister for the Montreal region, has already called F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone at the urging of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Fortier, Quebec Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand and Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay are to meet with the promoters and then hold a news conference on Thursday.
"I know that Michael wants to start moving things and wants to have meetings, and as I said to him today, if he needs our help to speak to people and build a business plan of what it could be like, we'll be there for sure,"' said Wilson.
"It's for them to call the shots. If they think it's a good idea for the city, for the province, for the country, let's go for it."
He confirmed that the 2009 race will not be held and said Legault's company, F1 Grand Prix du Canada, is no longer interested in promoting the event. He said rising costs have put the race out of reach of a private promoter.
Legault was in Europe on a personal matter this week and asked Wilson to meet with the media.
Racing fans and even the race organizers were in shock on Tuesday when FIA, the world governing body for motor sports, announced on Tuesday that Montreal had been dropped. The Turkish Grand Prix, which was already on the 2009 schedule, was moved into Montreal's June 5-7 dates.
Montreal was a popular stop for drivers and teams and was one of the sport's best-attended events, drawing more than 300,000 spectators for three days of competition each year since 2001, with 120,000 at the track for the race on Sunday.
Reports quoted Ecclestone as saying he would welcome seeing Montreal return to the F1 calendar in the future.
"It's a technical problem with the contract," Ecclestone told Bloomberg.com in a phone interview, declining to give details. "Next year, we'll lose it for sure."
"It's disappointing not to have a race in North America. If we could be there again in the future, we'd like to be. We'll get it sorted out."
It was dropped due to a "commercial disagreement" between FIA and the promoter. Wilson said F1 officials and teams demanded a steep increase in rights fees that "unfortunately, are no longer feasible for our market."
He said a handful of proposals of ways to reduce Montreal's financial burden were put to FIA and they expected at least one of them to be accepted, but were surprised when they were turned down.
"It is true that a commercial disagreement existed between us, and we are sorry that Mr. Ecclestone deemed it appropriate to cut short the negotiations and react in this manner," Wilson said.
"For an organization like ours, which is to say a private promoter, the actual business model implemented by the owners and the Formula One teams is no longer feasible."
Legault's company had three years to run on a five-year extension of its contract signed in 2006 with Ecclestone's company, which runs Formula One and has since been sold to British-based CVC. But it had out-clauses that could be exercised each year.
Legault will not contest the decision.
Now, it is up to government to determine if the economic returns as well as the visibility the event brings make it worth injecting the cash to try to bring it back, he said.
F1 races are watched on television by an estimated 300 million viewers. The Montreal race reportedly draws better than average audiences because its early afternoon starting time puts it in prime time in Europe.
"Is it worth it? I can't answer that, they (governments) can," said Wilson.
One who hopes the race is saved is Bill Brown, vice-president of the local hotels association. He said Grand Prix visitors spend more than $20 million per year on accommodation.
"They were the four or five best days we had over the last 25 years," he said. "It is by far the biggest event we had and I don't see how it can be replaced."
The globalization of Formula One in recent years looks to have left the Canadian Grand Prix behind. The Abu Dhabi track reportedly cost US$400 million to build. Lavish new tracks have sprung up in Bahrain, China and Singapore, with new events slated to go on line in 2010 in India and 2011 in Moscow.
Some peg the cost for rights to promote a race at about $50 million.
Wilson would not mention dollar figures, but it is believed the Canadian Grand Prix, which has been on the F1 calendar since 1967, was paying about $20 million.
All other F1 races are run by some form of government body, he added. The last that wasn't was the U.S. Grand Prix, which was dropped by Indianapolis Speedway owner Tony George last year.
http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/formula_o ... ormula_oneRacing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
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