Jones To Compete in GP Masters

[twinwebbers]

Just noticed that Alan Jones has signed to do the inaugural gp masters race in South Africa in November. ( www.gpmasters.com )

Must be a while since he was in a single seater not a tin top...

Looks like a great series.

[Bimmerhead]

Must be widening the tub for him to fit these days!!!

[Raglanparade]

Originally Posted by Bimmerhead

Must be widening the tub for him to fit these days!!!

Thats why they have announced this soo early. They actually have to build the car around him, as there was no way he was going to fit in and out of the cockpit opening.

Im guessing Jones's car wont be needing any ballast then ?

[retro]

,.........and Jones owns the A1 GP license for Aus ....... so there will be 2 series of GP cars in the off season.........and who has the TV rights.......anyone??

[Raglanparade]

I dont think anyone has the TV rights.. probably at best we will see a snippet on RPM on a sunday or something.. Channel 7 is probably the only station who could, and i dont think they want to be burned by motorsport again.

[pete55]

Edited due to not being awake.

[peckstar]

pete maybe you should follow the link

but to help you decide to compete you must have completed in F1 for two complete seasons

[retro]

Originally Posted by retro

,.........and Jones owns the A1 GP license for Aus ....... so there will be 2 series of GP cars in the off season.........and who has the TV rights.......anyone??

Foxtel has the rights to the A1 GP..

.......and there is some noise around about Foxtel and v8 supercars tv rights.

It might disappoint the free to air viewers. :-(

There is a story about Foxtel starting a new Fox Sports channel next year with v8 supercars as its cornerstone telecast. It will run like the old Foxsports 2 ....only on weekends????

edit...might make this a new topic

[mixxer]

Retro where did you hear that Foxtel has the rights to A1, as of the EC test there was no TV deal signed, according to Peter Mckay Ch7 has shown interest as they had people at the test day.

[retro]

Originally Posted by mixxer

Retro where did you hear that Foxtel has the rights to A1, as of the EC test there was no TV deal signed, according to Peter Mckay Ch7 has shown interest as they had people at the test day.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page
/0,5744,12774583%255E7582,00.html

Fox gets its torque on the cheap
Simon Canning
April 07, 2005
FOX Sports has punted on a sheik's dream of a new global grand prix series, buying the subscription television rights to A1 Grand Prix – but Australian franchise owner Alan Jones may struggle to find sponsors willing to hand over millions to support his local team.

The global car racing series announced its Australian entry amid pomp and ceremony last week as its founder Sheik Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, a billionaire member of Dubai's royal family, handed over the keys to former world Formula One champion Jones's new race car in front of hundreds of guests.

While those attending the launch were entranced with the mystique of the sheik, there are plenty of questions surrounding the $100 million rival to the F1 crown.

Sheik Maktoum has poured his fortune into the series in which countries, not corporations, will compete for a motor racing world cup.

Hours before the launch, executives from A1 Grand Prix were meeting with Australian broadcasters, hoping to cut a deal for the series to go to air. Channels 10, Nine and Seven, Fox Sports and even the ABC were treated to presentations, which some observers have described as lacking in detail.

Yesterday Fox Sports revealed it had bought pay-TV rights to the first season, understood to have been at a reduced price. Chief executive David Malone said the emerging series would plug a hole in motor racing coverage over summer months.

Meanwhile, sponsorship experts suggest Jones may face an uphill battle convincing local companies to hand over millions to support the team, which must contest an Australian driver and sport only local sponsors.

At the launch Sheik Maktoum was effusive about the potential audience of A1, saying that the competing teams represented 80 per cent of the world's population. But in Australia, Network Ten's broadcast of the Melbourne Grand Prix last month attracted just 1.5million viewers.

Edward Geldard, general manager of the Sponsorship Unit in Melbourne, says that while the package may look attractive, the lack of venue, free-to-air broadcaster and big-name driver means sponsors will be unlikely to pour much into the team.

"Even the well-established V8 Supercar teams don't find it easy to get large sponsors," Geldard says. "They are looking for tangible results and until they address the issue of media coverage they are going to find it close to impossible to draw sponsors."

V8 Supercar team owner Mark Larkham, who tried to take his racing career overseas in the 1990s, said he hoped the venture succeeded, but finding local sponsors to go offshore with racing teams was nearly impossible.

"I tried to do it with the help of Austrade and others, but it was just very, very difficult," Larkham said. "However, the sport has moved on and I think there is much greater awareness of the corporate opportunities."

But even when blessed with regular TV coverage, as F1 and V8 Supercars are, sponsors struggle to get mainstream recognition.

The latest Sweeney Sports research of motor racing sponsorship awareness showed Holden leading the way with 18 per cent of people naming it as a motorsport sponsor. Ford tracked 16 per cent and Shell was the only other company to see awareness of double figures at 14 per cent.

Even famous brands such as Ferrari, Fosters and Goodyear fail to boast awareness of more than 5 per cent despite having poured millions of dollars into motorsport.

[mixxer]

Cheers Retro, so they have bought the pay TV rights, does that mean there will be no free to air coverage ?

[retro]

Originally Posted by mixxer

Cheers Retro, so they have bought the pay TV rights, does that mean there will be no free to air coverage ?

*Apparently*

[Seton Fanatic]

I thought AJ announced his participation months ago in MN; I must have been blind or something. As for the Foxtel channel, I hope they get a 24-hour motorsport channel; after all, they can have 24-hour aerial ping-pong.

[retro]

Originally Posted by Seton Fanatic

I thought AJ announced his participation months ago in MN; I must have been blind or something. As for the Foxtel channel, I hope they get a 24-hour motorsport channel; after all, they can have 24-hour aerial ping-pong.

SF ...in the other thread about v8 supercars there is some noise that Foxtel will start a 3rd FoxSports channel next year. They are doing the numbers now.
It will probably be like the *old* FoxSports 2 and only operate Fri through Mon.

May not be all motorsport unfortunately.