Racing Battle Lines Drawn in Asia
There is an interesting battle soon the be waged on the Asian Continent over who will reign supreme in promoting motor racing.
Bernie Ecclestone has thrown down the gauntlet by signing Singapore as a venue for the 2008 F1 season. With China, Malaysia and Indonesia having been on the schedule (and dreams of India), the addition of Singapore firmly demonstrates the importance F1 power brokers view East and South-East Asia.
(What of Europe? Ask CCWS co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven, he seems bent on EU expansion to fill the void many feel F1 is leaving behind)
In a practical sense no one can compete with F1, the battle lines are being drawn a bit further down the food chain.
The FIA (read Bernie Ecclestone and & Mad Max Mosley) announced the formulation of the Speedcar Series for the Asian marketplace in 2008. While NASCAR’s Brian France was still dreaming of Asia the new Tin Top Series has pulled the rug out from under his marketing scheme for Asian expansion.
The FIA’s Most Excellent Asian Adventure has been expanded once again.
The European GP2 Series is acknowledged by many as the finest and most competitive open wheel series in the world. It has produced most of the past and current F1 stars as well as some that have moved into the sports car arena.
The GP2 Series has announced the launch of the GP2 Asia Series, which will see the championship expand beyond its European foundation into a global series.
As planned, GP2 Asia will contest it’s championship over a season stretching from January through April starting in 2008. Surprisingly (not) events will be coupled with the Speedcar Series to form a race weekend known as Grand Racing.
For a longer explanation of the new series you can read the entire press release containing “Bernie quotes” at my other, and mostly unvisited home Asian Motor Sports.
For my purposes here I’ll speak to Bernie’s very large marketing footprint leaving it’s mark on Asia and more specifically the already in place toes that may get squashed by a size XXXX boot.
A1GP, while billed as the “World Cup of Motorsport,” and holding events on 4 of the globes 7 continents Asia is an important part of their schedule with events in Australian, China, Malaysia and Indonisia.
Having just completed it’s second season it has had, as expected for a new series, it’s growing pains that include concerns over its ongoing financial viability ( a reported 212 million loss for the initial season) and the resignation of its founder and Chairman Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum.
A1GP has also had problems competing with the far more prestigious European GP2 series for young driver talent. That will only become a bigger threat with a GP2 EU derivative in it own backyard and also butting heads to a certain extent over a similar calender from January to late spring.
AND THEN there is Asian Formula Three. They have had similar difficulties attracting a full field of teams and drivers.
AF3’s most recent 2006 season crowned James Winslow as series champion but as the year ended in November it was announced AF3 Corporation decided to delay the start of the 2007 season until November 2007, with an eye on luring various European drivers who would otherwise choose to sit out the winter season.
Someone once said, “I love it when a plan comes together,” however, AF3 Corporation isn’t and never was part of the A-Team and their CEO never has been named Hannibal.
At the time the change made sense, it shifted the schedule to the coolest (temperature-wise) part of the Asian calender year and gave a greater chance to snap up higher profile drivers out of Europe.
Now, with Bernie’s Boys moving into the area, not so much.
Out of the two Asia-centric series’ I give A1GP the better chance at competing with Bernie, but only slightly, Asian F3 due to a much smaller financial base may be on the shakiest ground even if that ground is in its own backyard.
The real battle will begin just after the first of the year when all three series’ will butt scheduling heads.
I don’t think you’ll find many believers that Bernie doesn’t have the hardest head of the bunch.
Is it possible that Asian GP2 could start importing hotshoes with talent & no budget. Could we be seeing a return to the glory days of Japanese F3000. JV, Frentzen, Salo, Irvine, the late Jeff Krosnoff etc? Man I hope so.
What will make this series genuine will be the support of the Asian F1 rounds. I’m really looking forward to it. False hope, but I wonder if the Australian GP could be included.
Separate subject, but do you feel CCWS is slipping under the waves into oblivion, it seems to be almost anonymous? Whilst with all the May whohar over the 500, the IRL seems on the rise. Still can’t get my head around an oval bases series, & the token IRL road races do nothing to excite me. Tony George may he burn in hell.
It would be great to see something like F3000 as long as Asian GP2 doesn’t adopt F3000’s “lesser-results deduction rule” that screwed Eddie Irvine out of the 1993 championship and gave it to home town boy Kazuyoshi Hoshino.
And with Bernie and Mad Mad behind the scenes one can never be too sure of the absurdities that might arise!
Until the Champ Cars can get a signature event, they will never be able to compete with the IRL because the IRL has Indy. Yes, it’s star is diminshed, but it’s THE Memorial Day holiday event, even eclipsing NASCAR for once. CART, as they were called then, tried the US 500 at Michigan, but it was a disaster from the start, with a wreck before the green, and from that day to this, they’ve raced a bunch of interesting venues — better than the cookie-cutter tracks of IRL — but ones that nobody outside of the occasional racing junkie has heard of. People need a reason to START watching their races and so far, CCWS has failed to provide one.