Good Bye OZ GP

[OZ_HCR32]

Does anyone care? Interested to see how those outside Australia view the Australian GP

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...02161432.shtml

Now with it being 200mtrs from my door step i will miss it. But even if i had to drive interstate etc i would. However if there is no Aus GP?

So obvisouly the Australians on this forum will care...but if it was dropped from the calender woudl anyone OS care?

[JeremySmith]

Yes I will I think it is a great venue for F1, and always look forward to it every year...

[Jimmy Magnusson]

It's hard to care much about anything in Formula One these days. They went wrong when they moved it from Adelaide, which was A Better Venue.

[Sodemo]

F1 should be in Oz, it has a great motorsport heritage / history.

Compared to some of the soulless tracks in F1, Melbourne is actually a nice track, certainly not as sterile as some of today's hideous tracks, although I do agree that Adelaide was a better track.

[gachjoel]

A typical ecclecake move.
looks at the pound signs and thats it.
will be a shame to lose the season opener.

what gets me is how one man has so much power over motorsport

[touringlegend]

Bernie - "It's bloody bad for us."

I feel for you Bernie!

It's also worrying that F1 seems to be caving into the pressures of manufacturers and sponsors in that they'll have every bleedin event a night race to suit European audiences.

Yes we enthusiasts aren't the majority of F1 viewers, but it's sometimes nice setting the alarm for whatever a.m. to get up and stick the TV on!

[Sodemo]

Well i'm confused...

I thought Bernie was turning his back on Europe as the money was in other parts of the world?

So why is he now pandering to the European viewers?

[touringlegend]

It is, but the audience is still largely European if I'm not mistaken.

[HugeF1]

Ecclestone is just band standing again. Nothing to worry about (even if it's a night race). Melbourne is one of the best rounds. It just didn't feel right when Bahrain started 06. If it IS a night race, the Aussies will surely put on a fantastic show.

[Teretonga]

Bernie's personal nightmare must be someone who comes along with a plausible alternative world series....

The moment that a real working alternative is available to promoters all the grandstanding will stop...

[Bononi]

Hear, hear... that's the usual BS that Bernie throws to put pressure with the locals power that be. He does it every time someone wants to change the way he makes money... cries and say he doesn't make money and better without that... the same BS speech as always.

[Stefvh]

Bernie is ****ing me off witjh these night races. Fr us Europeans, one thing special with Oz is that we have to wake up in the middle of the night, that's, for me, part of the show.

And, as i watch on tv, it won't make a big difference if the race is run in the dark, with all the spotlights.

[Pro Racer]

well, i am Aussie so of coarse i want it but Bernie is a Fwit all it is to put pressure on us to do a night race, but if it means keeping the GP i can't see why we can't just do a night race.

i would be a fan of a move back to Adelaide though but it dosn't matter id it was night or day.

[1200Datto27]

Trouble is, that with the current tree hugging, leftist ****** of a premier that we have here, he is looking for any excuse to drop the race, and this may just be what he's looking for, as it provides a way out that he can say wasn't his fault.

[OZ_HCR32]

I think the Adelaide circuit lent itself to better racing. Albert Park is a little too tight.

So happy for Melbourne to lose it, but surely another state can pick it up. I would hate to lose the Australian GP.

I think the night race will be interesting, but i think one night race in Singapore will be enough. I can just imagine a night race in the rain....we wont even get a green light on the race. Can you imagine comign all the way to Australia and the teams dont get to race

[Peter Ford]

It would cost melbourne even more money to stage an night race,will bernie help will the costs?no bloody way.the adealide government wont want the GP back as we already got the adelaide 500(a V8 supercar round) on the old f1 track plus next year we will be using the full track(only using half of the track now).

[Marbot]

I don't see how these 'night races' fit in with the 'green' image.

Anyway,I always look forward to getting up early for the Australian GP!

[Sodemo]

The Oz GP is one of the easiest ones to watch as often I go out on the Saturday evening, then just crash back in at 2am just in time to watch the build up.

Often it hasn't worked and ive either been too drunk or too knackered to watch or remember it.

Me and some uni friends used to have an Oz GP party every year, basically it involved playing The Chain at full volume and running up and down corridoors with our team flags waking up the entire block, fortunately now, im much more mature... well sortof.

[SkaifeHRT]

If that's your attitude Bernie, take your GP and stick it where the sun don't shine.

[Oldtony]

Yep, seconded Skaifey. Lets hope the Brumby Kicks and bucks, and makes the rest of the world familiar with Bernie's greed.
Maybe a few phone calls to Tony George at Indy, the BRDC, the Autodromo di Monza, the ACO etc and start talking about a possible alternate series.

[MPA]

There will always be an Australian Grand Prix. Perhaps we'll stage it with F3 cars, but the race will live on as it has since 1928.

The event has moved from state to state and no one can claims it's their event. At one stage it was a support race for a touring car race in suburban Melbourne.

I feel for Bernie. How can one live on 40 million a weekend? It does seem strange, he claims it's costing too much money to stage the F1 event in Oz. I thought the promoter paid the fly away travel expenses for the teams etc along the the hefty 40 Million he wants for the racing rights. Perhaps the teams are annoyed because they cant shmooze up to their sponsors in the big bright and shiny transporters they use for "Home" events in Europe? But perhaps not, Bernie wants another fly away event in lieu of Oz.

Although I'm a motorsport and F1 supporter the expense to the tax payers including myself is starting to out weight the benefits to the city. 40 million could buy a lot of improvements to our permanent circuits for the good of the sport.

It could also keep a few hospitals open, such as the Phillip Island hospital that caters for lots of broken drivers and the local community.

Shame to see the F1's leave but I'll still get trackside and wave flags for whatever category they chose to replace it with.

We live in interesting times.

[MPA]

Interesting thought Old Tony. Indy cars racing in the Australian Grand Prix? It took CAMS a long time to sanction the Gold Coast Indy event. I wonder if AUSCAR will have to step in and sanction the new look, yankie AGP.

But seriously, would the Aust public accept a bunch of foreigners with hard to pronounce names like Sebastien Bourdais racing for the silverware.

[NewsStalker]

You mean the Toro Rosso driver?

or Kimi Räikkönen or Felipe Massa or Kazuki Nakajima or Nelsinho Piquet or Heikki Kovalainen etc etc etc

Yep there are plenty of 'non-foreigners' there.

[Oldtony]

Wasn't really meaning suggesting IRL cars, although it is certainly a thought.
What I meant was tat if Bernie and the teams can sign a Concorde, which is basicaly either a union or a cartel. maybe it is time for the circuit promoters to get together and put Bernie out of business.
Even the demonstrated possibility of that may cause a major rethink by some of the parties.
Interesting to see who does own the "naming rights" of the Australian GP? CAMS may, but recent developments in the Rally field would indicate they might have trouble organising a chook raffle.
Maybe from 2010 we could be historicly correct and organise the AGP for Austin 7 Specials at Phillip Island????

[NewsStalker]

Ther term Grand Prix has already been decided upon in Oz courts - no one 'owns' it (The Australian Grand Prix Corporation tried to sue A1 GP 2 years ago claiming sole use of the terms Grand Prix - and lost - the term was determined to be 'too generic' for anyone to claim sole use of). Similarly the broad term 'Australian Grand Prix' cannot be trademarked or reserved for use by any one business etc - this is why you now have the CAMS Australian Championship and the AASA Australian Rally Championship - the 'generic' terms are qualified.

Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix however, is a different matter all together.