| Iceman |
28-06-2012 01:51 PM |
F1 London Street Race To Be Announced
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/...58_964x700.jpg
Quote:
Bernie Ecclestone will tonight unveil plans for a multi-million pound grand prix around the streets of London.
Proposals for the race, for which Formula One supremo Ecclestone is reported to have bid £35million, will be presented at a star-studded bash at the Royal Automobile Club, hosted by McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
The route will take in some of the capital’s most famous and iconic landmarks, including Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.
Need for speed: McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton present their view racing around the streets - passing iconic landmarks such as Big Ben - during the proposed London Grand Prix (below)
F1's OTHER STREET RACES
Monaco Grand Prix (Monte Carlo)
Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne)
Canadian Grand Prix (Montreal)
Singapore Grand Prix
European Grand Prix (Valencia)
Ecclestone believes the race would be even more impressive than the Monaco Grand Prix, currently the most famous and glamorous of motor racing’s street circuits.
The event could become the richest race in the road with around 120,000 fans filling the grandstands around the capital's most famous landmarks along a 3.2 mile route with a potential global TV audience of a billion.
Ecclestone said: ‘With the way things are, maybe we would front it and put the money up for it. If we got the okay and everything was fine, I think we could do that.
'Think what it would do for tourism. It would be fantastic — good for London, good for England — a lot better than the Olympics.’
Streets of London: A map of the track the drivers would race along in the capital
LONDON GRAND PRIX BY NUMBERS
120,000 - spectators on race day; 280,000 across the weekend
180 - mph fasted speed along straights of circuit
3.2 - miles the track would cover
59 - laps of the race
5 - days to set-up the track, grandstands
3 - days to dismantle the track, grandstands
35,000,000 - pounds race would cost
100,000,000 - pounds the race could generate
140 - decibels the noise of 20 F1 cars at the start of the grid, equivalent of the sound of a jet engine at 100ft.
In total, the race could generate a minimum of £100million, dwarfing the £35m it would cost to stage (Ecclestone would have to pay for costs of granstands, road closures and waiving a £25m licence fee) across the three days of the grand prix weekend.
'Maybe it would be two or three times that £100million,' said Nigel Currie, director of leading sports marketing agency Brand Rapport speaking to The Times.
'It could be a commercial bonanza for Formula One and London.
'A successful London Olympics will show that there is an appetite for big events and a bringing a grand prix to the people on their doorstep will be a massive attraction.'
The 81-year-old has long wanted London to host a grand prix, having seen the huge potential after a Formula One demonstration event on Regent Street in 2004 attracted thousands to watch Nigel Mansell and Jenson Button in action.
Last week a company called International Transport Solutions revealed plans for a London Grand Prix around the Olympic Park site but Ecclestone insisted he knew nothing about the proposal.
London Mayor Boris Johnson gave qualified support to the bold plans by Ecclestone.
Johnson said he was 'broadly positive' about the plan as long as air quality and noise issues were addressed.
Speaking as he launched a new cable car system across the River Thames in London today, the Mayor said: 'I am always interested in projects that attract jobs and bring growth.'
He said it was important to see if there was 'a really good economic case' for a London Grand Prix.
Mr Johnson went on: 'The question of air quality and noise impact will have to be looked at. I am broadly positive providing we can satisfy the air quality and noise issues.'
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Why the **** do we want another street race... okay so Valencia is good but look at Monaco, stick with building in the desert and people will come.
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