French Grand Prix axed

[rghai6]

Source :
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080512.009 ... -prix-axed

Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone has once again shown his ruthlessness which shows no room for loyalty as he announces that 2008 will be Magny-Cours last F1 race.

The F1 supremo has been indecisive over the French Grand Prix venue, he originally announced back in May 2007 that the facilities in Magny-Cours were deemed not good enough for the F1 race to be staged there. He later had a change of heart and gave the circuit one last stay of execution which allows this year's race to be staged at the venue, but the organisers will now be well aware that it will be their last.

The door has still be left open for the French Grand Prix to return with French Prime Minister telling Ecclestone that France could have a grand prix in Paris or just outside but 2009 would be too soon, therefore 2010 would be a more likely year for it to return.

The omens look good for this return with Ecclestone saying “I would really love a French Grand Prix in the streets of Paris”, and we are sure he isn't the only one.

[Ciro Pabón]

Well, yes, I've heard something about it. Perhaps he could use the Gran Turismo 4 and 5 tracks...



I've also read somewhere that is part of a larger strategy, to have races in England and Paris in alternating years. Gosh, Ecclestone seems determined to take Jackie Stewart and Silverstone out of the calendar.

Finally, the french TV audience is going down. They should get a good french driver in a top team, if you ask me.

[WhiteBlue]

this has been in the pipeline for a long time. bois de Boulogne or Disney should be the most probable sites. dropping France for a year could be the prelude to sharing with the Brit GP, I agree.

[Metar]

I loved Magny Cours, but it's like NASCAR's Darlington: Too remote. Combine that with Ecclestone's greed, and it's a deadly combination.

And seriously - a race inside Paris? It's already clogged as it is with tight roads - it'll rank up there with Monaco in the tightness-rankings, and will be impossible to overtake on.

[roost89]

I loved Magny Cours, but it's like NASCAR's Darlington: Too remote. Combine that with Ecclestone's greed, and it's a deadly combination.

And seriously - a race inside Paris? It's already clogged as it is with tight roads - it'll rank up there with Monaco in the tightness-rankings, and will be impossible to overtake on.

I agree with you there. Road-racing, although it's great the roads aren't wide enough for over-taking. Monaco is basicall a procession of F1 cars for an hour and a half.

Why can't they go to the Le Mans track? Seems reasonable to me.

[Ciro Pabón]

Le Mans... mmmmm. Did you know the rooster of Peugeout for this year Le Mans?

Stephane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy, Marc Gene, Nicolas Minassian, Jacques Villeneuve, Christian Klien, Franck Montagny, Alexander Wurz and Ricardo Zonta.

It seems an F1 grid to me.

[WhiteBlue]

it could be pugs year. they won everything so far.

[Ogami musashi]

Well that's not the end of the world, i think however a street circuit is very unlikely.

In france those kind of things never take place in 2 years time, we will surely discuss it for 5 years, then after we will start the works that will undoubtedly be delayed etc... plus Paris is full of historical monuments and green spaces so i'm not quite sure a GP would be possible.

Last time we heard about it, a former fire test range was supposed to be the place for a new track.


About street circuits and overtaking, singapore's advertise that their track is about 1,5 times the width of monaco and that many overtaking places will exist.

I don't know for valencia.

Well anyway i would like to see more proper closed circuit races. We have the potential, i think we already have good tracks like Spa, Istanbul, interlagos, suzuka, sepang (would be good if aerodynamics problems were not so big there).

Back in france, i think le mans track would be awesome.

[modbaraban]

Finally, the french TV audience is going down. They should get a good french driver in a top team, if you ask me.

[zac510]

I highly doubt F1 would race even on the Le Mans short track.

F1 could possibly race at Ricard if Bernie revoked its status as the test track.

[megz]

Well it was alluded to in an F1 Racing magazine that Paul Ricard had been considered for a TV only (no grandstands) Mediterranean grand prix.

[WhiteBlue]

The almost french GP was run at the Bois de Boulogne 1945

http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ftjs016.html

I see this as the only option if they really want to do in the city. Considering the Paris political forces it looks very unlikely.

But Disney would be much easier in terms of logistics and cost. Versailles is out of the running after the last election:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20124.html

Anything far away from Paris isn't viable as Magny Cours has shown. So Le Mans or Pierre Richard will never fly.

[zac510]

What does the Monthlery track look like these days?

I understand it's been out of racing shape for a long time though..

[vyselegend]

Pierre Richard will never fly.

Perhaps, but I bet if he would, it'd be with style!



Ahem, I guess your tongue slipped and you were talking about Paul Ricard.

What does the Monthlery track look like these days?

I understand it's been out of racing shape for a long time though..

I'm too lazy to make a proper research, but in the last ten years I only heard of it either as an amateur 2 wheeler track or as a track rented by car magazines for production cars testing purpose.

Ciro, please don't mention the two Paris layout from GT4! They were horrible! It would be a real pain to concretize such slow, narrow, inspiration-lacking tracks, just for the sake of having one or two famous monuments in the background...

Still, I have to admit the first time Bernie spoke of a GP inside Paris, I surprised myself dreaming of a layout in my area, and I even drawed one from a map, which would make the beasts roar from the Montparnasse tower down to the quays of the Seine, then flat out up the St Michel boulevard (with the Notre dame cathedral in the background for the perfect cliché ). And of course my own street would be the pit lane, the one parrallel to it being the start/finish straight.

Eh, what's wrong with daydreaming?... No, I'm not drooling.

Finally I think the Le Mans idea isn't so far fetched, a few years back it could make smile, but the place is retrieving some of it's lost credibility recently, as the 24 hours race popularity is in a growing back era, and with the track being heavyly reworked in the past few years (including grandstands, reception and general security / organisation upgrades).
The downside is that the Bugatti track is pure sh*t, so it would have to be the big one, which is temporary. Meaning that the GP would obligatory being held within same dates as the 24 hours race.
And I think the track particularities wouldn't please everyone. Because such a lenghty layout means the GP is run in something like 23 laps, so, wherever they are, viewers attending the GP would only see the cars past 'em 23 times, against some 78 times at Monaco, to take the other extreme exemple.
Also, there would be no room for different strategies. Everyone would pit the exact same lap, for fuel and tyres, because you 'd need enormous margin to make only one lap more...

[WhiteBlue]

Pierre Richard will never fly.

Perhaps, but I bet if he would, it'd be with style!



Ahem, I guess your tongue slipped and you were talking about Paul Ricard.

...

of course, you are right. The "Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe" isn't the same as a racing circuit. my favourite scene from that movie was the one where he was asked "make it to me like a stud". I'm translating from German.

I still think that France will not find enough paying spectators anywhere but in wider Paris.