Spain wants a second grand prix
The case for a second grand prix in Spain is growing stronger. The prospective site would be the Valencia circuit, the race track on Spain's Mediterranean coast that most of the F1 teams use for testing. The city of Valencia has recently undergone considerable renovations for hosting the America's Cup sailing regatta, particularly around the port area that has transformed the city into a Spanish Monaco. Now, city officials wonder what will happen after the America's Cup is over. Their ideal solution, it would seem, would be to secure a grand prix, but while the popularity of F1 in Spain has skyrocketed with Fernando Alonso's back-to-back world titles, Spain already has a race in Barcelona, leaving Valencia to fight several uphill battles to get their own.
Germany and Italy have both lost their second grands prix for next year, so the idea of Spain getting a second seems counter-intuitive. Overall, the number of races in Europe has been going down, with talk of even France and Britain having to possibly alternate seasons.
There'd be a couple of ways of making it work, though, and they're more than semantics. One possibility would be to make the Valencia race a Mediterranean Grand Prix, drawing in with the possibility of alternating with a site in North Africa, a region which hasn't hosted F1 racing for many years. Another door opens with the achievements of the Catalonian separatist movement which has been gaining autonomy. Catalonia encompasses Barcelona where the current Spanish Grand Prix is held, which, if it were to become the Catalonian Grand Prix, could leave the door open for Valencia to assume the mantle. The Valencia track doesn't have a lot of spectator seating, leaving race organizers to either put up temporary grandstands or potentially make the race an exclusive VIP-only venue.
Unlike other locations bidding for a race, the Valencia circuit is already built and up to F1 standards. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says it's far from a fait accompli, but it could be closer than we'd think.
[Source: GrandPrix.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Saab analyst 9:14AM (11/15/2006)
Alonso had best package two years in a row. Now his fame will suffer with crappy Mclaren and plans for second GP in Spain will be buried.
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WolfgangNC 9:30AM (11/15/2006)
Nothing like politics and F1 or is it F1 and politics. An F1 race will legitimize a part of the country of Spain that wants to separate? NATO or the EU might want to get involve and see if we can get an international peace keeping force to hold down the violence of a possible Spainish civil war. Oh but wait...it will be a VIP race so the commoners won't have anything to rejoice over.
Got to love politics and F1.
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Mark MacLeod 10:18AM (11/15/2006)
F1 is trying to have fewer races in Europe, not more. This is partly due to their ban on tobacco advertising which forces teams to cover up all references to these sponsor's names during these races.
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Camicia 11:50AM (11/15/2006)
"The Valencia track doesn't have a lot of spectator seating..."
Well, it looks like this apparent lack of seating did not stop 125,000 people from attending the Motogp race a few weeks ago. The total for the weekend was over 220,000.
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Mike 12:14PM (11/15/2006)
Hey, Spain, don't invest in the Alonso hype. It's not a good idea.
He's coming back down to earth next season and national F1 popularity will eventually drop down to pre-Alonso-win levels.
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Daniel 1:39PM (11/16/2006)
Excuse me! but I am spanish and Valencia is not in a region that wants to separate by any means. A civil war???? what are you talking about? By the way Spain is a menber of Nato and the E.U since the 1980´s . There is a word for your comment :Ignorant!
Nothing like politics and F1 or is it F1 and politics. An F1 race will legitimize a part of the country of Spain that wants to separate? NATO or the EU might want to get involve and see if we can get an international peace keeping force to hold down the violence of a possible Spainish civil war. Oh but wait...it will be a VIP race so the commoners won't have anything to rejoice over.
Got to love politics and F1.
Posted at 9:27AM on Nov 15th 2006 by WolfgangNC
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rotel150 2:10PM (11/17/2006)
Really funny!
I don't want to talk about politics here but I'm a Catalan "separatist" and I really wonder where the idea of a fast independence of Catalonia came from...
it's quite unlikely that such a change is in the near future. I suppose the author got that information from ultra conservative Spanish media like el Mundo, ABC, la Razon, etc. it's not his fault. it's the usual here...
By the way, I think that is more likely that Catalonia has to fight a lot to keep the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona than that Ecclestone decides to give another GP to a relatively little interesting country like Spain.
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