Breaking: A1GP cancels races, puts stuff in storage
November 5, 2009 by SJ Skid
Filed under Prime & Option
Hey, at least Formula 1 will be around in 2010. [Right?]
The future is not looking so hot for the A1GP series.
All credit to Autosport for getting this one up:
The Chinese and Malaysian rounds of A1GP have been cancelled because the series’ rescue package has not materialised in time.
The scrapping of the races at Zhuhai and Sepang follows the cancellation of the opening round at Sufers Paradise in Australia last month.
This week’s AUTOSPORT magazine reports that A1GP’s administrator is hoping to sell the entire fleet of cars to someone wanting to continue the series, although the cars will need to be modified to meet the FIA’s latest head-restraint and side-impact regulations.
Several key A1GP personnel have now left the company and the series’ equipment has been put into storage after the lease on its hangar at Silverstone expired last week.
There is a ton of information to digest in those few paragraphs. The cars are all for sale. But they need to be updated, so really it is like buying last year’s model. That’s not exactly enticing.
And the folks who probably know how to run things — OK, that might be arguably, too — are gone. So where is the experience and knowledge to go with all the equipment?
And a final thought: Does anyone care?
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Just stick a fork in A1GP. …its done. :( This is a real bummer, too. They had some great racing, even if they were all Ferrari cars.
Actually to look at it Perfect setup for FOTA to buy and start rival series. The venues are all sorted out. The team have already been working in factories for 2010 F1 cars. And Ferrari is involved ( I hope things have not changed after them not able to ramp up their production last year)in the project.
If FOTA really wants to show FIA that its their governance that has led to mass exodus from F1, they can do so by running a rival series using A1GP setup.
Does Ferrari has enough courage and backing for other teams to BernieMax FIA :-?
Ben Johnston should buy the rights to the series, then use the Mazda Atlantic Championship cars. He can market the series as his GreenPrixUSA concept in the same fashion that CART/Champ Car referred to itself as an American-based international championship. It would probably cost somewhere between GP2 and F2 for the team to run a full season. Recruit some international teams but use Newman Wachs Racing and John Edwards as headliners.
That Sheik Makhtoum has a pointy head on his shoulders. Start the thing up, cash out when it’s running well, leave the problems for someone else to solve. I haven’t had the opportunity to see any of the races on tv, but I consider it a shame and a loss for motor-sports fans when this sort of thing ends up in the tires, so to speak. Tough times.