A new racing series backed by the "open checkbook" of Dubai's royal family is being launched as a potential rival to Formula One.
Called A1 Grand Prix, the new open-wheel series is set to begin a year from now with a 12 to 14 race calendar. The circuit is likely to kick off in Dubai or with a street race in New York.
The series will take place in the autumn and winter when F1 is idle, probably with 25 to 30 teams running the same engines, chassis and tires. Each team will represent a country, with the driver required to be of the same nationality.
"The royal family has the majority stake, and the money to get the thing going is unlimited," executive director Tony Teixeira said on Thursday in announcing the first six teams from Britain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, China and Portugal.
"The royal family has an open checkbook to make this succeed."
The majority owner is Sheik Maktoum bin Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, a nephew of Dubai's crown prince. Dubai is one of seven federations making up the United Arab Emirates, located on the southeastern tip of the oil-rich Arabian peninsula.
Sheik Maktoum says A1 Grand Prix will be "complementary" to F1 and is designed to limit costs, spread auto racing away from its traditional European and North American roots, and unearth new talent.
"What we've done is found a piece of the pie that no one has touched before, which is the winter months," Sheik Maktoum said.
"We're actually benefiting Formula One more than hindering it by opening up new markets, and developing emerging markets interested in motor sports."
Each team will have one driver and two cars, each of which will have identical Lola chassis, powered by 550 horsepower V-8 engines by Zytek, with tires supplied by Cooper.
Teams will be allowed to alter their setup, but the engines and gearboxes will be identical.
"At the Olympics when you have people throwing the javelin, all the javelins are the same weight," Sheik Maktoum said. "And the thrower is the one that makes the difference."
Teixeira, a Portuguese-born South African businessman, said the first race would be on Sept. 18 or Oct. 5, either in Dubai or in a street race in New York. He said the race schedule would be announced in November.
The initial 12 to 14 events will include a mix of street and circuit races. The likely venues are Dubai, Bahrain, China, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico. The US is likely to get two races -- one on each coast -- with Portugal and Lebanon also in the mix.
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix has been dropped from the provisional calendar of Formula One races for next year, owners of the Silverstone circuit said Thursday.
Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, who has been a fierce critic of the Silverstone track, had given the British Racing Drivers' Club until Thursday evening to meet his financial demands.
The two sides were reported to be around ?3 million (US$5.4 million) apart on the cost of rights to stage the race.
"We've gone as far as we can in making cutbacks in other areas to be able to afford the Grand Prix because we feel it is very important for the country as a whole," BRDC president Jackie Stewart told BBC Radio.
RSS