Gerry talks F1 Merger

[The Snout]

Some more food for thought.

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FORMULA FOR A MERGER
CART owners seek partnership with F-1

By DEAN MCNULTY, TORONTO SUN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The most powerful owner in CART's Champ Car World Series went on the record yesterday touting a plan to join forces with Formula One.

Gerry Forsythe, the multi-millionaire Chicago industrialist who co-owns Players/Forsythe Racing, told The Toronto Sun there are too many benefits not to pursue such a plan.

Forsythe is also the largest single shareholder of CART, controlling 24.9% of the stock in the open-wheel racing series.

"I think a partnership between F-1 and CART would be totally beneficial for CART," Forsythe said.

And if that means taking CART private by involving other investors to gain outright control of the series, that's fine with him.

"I think that taking CART private would be a good thing," Forsythe said. "With the right partnership it would be much better for CART than the way it's structured now."

In October of 2002 when Forsythe upped his stake in CART, The Sun reported that a proposal was in the works that would have F-1 boss Bernie Ecclestone become a majority shareholder in CART.

Forsythe still believes such a deal is possible and mutually beneficial.

"There are a lot of synergies that could be put to work for both series," he said. "I put together 19 pages of what I thought would be the benefits for F-1 and CART (in October) in a partnership."

Forsythe said he is determined to follow up on the idea.

"At some point I would like to see that happen," he said.

He isn't the only CART team owner who is pushing to have a partnership with F-1.

Craig Pollock, co-owner of of PK Racing and a minority shareholder in F-1's British American Racing, told The Sun there could be only positive results from an F-1/CART merger.

"I think it's a good thing," Pollock said. "For CART there are some hugely positive things in a future that would see them as one entity (with F-1)."

Pollock, who doubles as agent for Canada's Jacques Villeneuve in F-1, said CART would have the best of both worlds in any kind of partnership.

"We can take the positive things from Formula One and build them into CART," he said. "And I think that's what we're going to do."

It's no accident that Forsythe and Pollock are on the same page about bringing together the two series. Pollock convinced Forsythe to invest in the fledgling BAR team in 1997.

"It was an investment I made with Craig to purchase a minority interest in BAR," Forsythe said. "Up until now that's all it was."

But with a foot in both camps, Forsythe and Pollock are well positioned to be key players in any merger.

CART boss Chris Pook is on record as saying he sees a huge upside to some sort of arrangement between the two series, but he stops short of talk about merger.