Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone will miss the season-opening race in Melbourne as he will head to New York to talk to officials about staging a race on Staten Island, local media reported yesterday.
Ecclestone would meet New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) chairman Ron Walker, denying the trip was a snub to the Melbourne race at Albert Park on Sunday.
“It doesn’t mean to say Bernie’s lost interest [in Melbourne],” Walker told local media. “It’s about business in New York. Mayor Bloomberg is pretty keen to get a race at Staten Island.”
Soaring costs to taxpayers have sparked heated debate about the future of the race in Melbourne and prominent local politicians have urged authorities to ditch it once the city’s hosting contract expires in 2015.
Ecclestone last week told local reporters Formula One management would “hate” to lose the Australian race, but said he could not force Melbourne to keep it if it were too expensive for the city.
Ecclestone has previously talked about New York hosting a Formula One race, but the next US Grand Prix will be held in Austin, Texas, in 2012, the first since Indianapolis in 2007, which was won by Briton Lewis Hamilton.
Walker has said Melbourne, which posted an A$49.2 million (US$49.8 million) loss holding the race last year, could lose it after 2015 because of the exorbitant hosting fee paid to Formula One management.
The high cost of setting up and dismantling the street circuit at Albert Park has also been cited as a drain on taxpayers and Walker said the AGPC would talk to the government about building a permanent circuit at Avalon, about 50km southwest of Melbourne.
A local trucking company that owns land at Avalon, located on the northern fringe of the port city of Geelong, has previously floated building a track there.
Walker said an extension of the Melbourne Grand Prix’s current lease would justify the expense of a permanent track.
“Yes, if the government decided to invest in a train line, as we would need public transport there,” Walker told autosport.com. “It would take about three years to build and the decision would have to be made next year.”
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