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Jan 17, 2018 Forbes
Vietnam appears to be on track to get a slot on the Formula One calendar with sources suggesting there could be an announcement about a street race in the south-east Asian country in the coming weeks.
This emerged from a busy day of meetings in London yesterday beginning in the afternoon with a gathering of the Formula One Promoters Association in the Sofitel London St James hotel. In 2012 this author broke the news about the creation of the association which represents F1’s 21 race organizers. Their meeting yesterday was followed by a dinner appointment with Liberty Media Corporation which owns F1 and is listed on the Nasdaq with the ticker FWONK.
“Vietnam street race is what they are going to announce,” said one source. It is believed that the race is planned for the streets of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi but it has not yet been officially announced so it could still fail to get to the finish line. It is no secret that a plan for a race in the country is in the works.
F1 is most famous for the Monaco Grand Prix but it could soon be joined by another street race in Vietnam (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
In October last year racing publication Autosport reported that not only was Vietnam on F1’s list of potential venues but it was in “on-going” talks with officials there. It followed a report six months earlier by this author for Britain’s Independent newspaper which revealed that F1’s former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone gave the red light to a Vietnam Grand Prix before Chase Carey replaced him in the driving seat at the start of last year when Liberty acquired the business.
Ecclestone said that he declined the chance to meet the president of Vietnam and sign a race in the country which is still most famous for its two-decade war. Even though Vietnam would have paid an estimated $391.2 million over the ten years of its contract Ecclestone said it would have been a step too far for F1.
“I was approached about having a race in Vietnam. I was offered the opportunity to meet the president about doing a deal for a Grand Prix. I could have done the deal and signed it in August. Everything was arranged for this to happen.”
A track was due to be built near to Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 but hit the buffers and one reason for this was Vietnam’s strict rules which prevented locals from betting on sports events despite being famous for their love of gambling. Late last year this law was relaxed for anyone with a monthly income of more than $440 and Vietnam’s first race track opened in 2016 to take advantage of it.
Its standards are far below F1 specification, known as Grade 1 Homologation, but a track which would meet them was reportedly under consideration in 2016. It is understood that a foreign group was seeking investment to build it in Hanoi and carried out a feasibility study. Contrary to Ecclestone’s reputation of being driven by money he said he put the brakes on the plan as Vietnam has little connection to auto racing.
“It hasn’t got any racing history at all,” he said. “So I didn’t want to put another race in the same sort of area where we already have very good promoters. And I was criticised for putting the races in Baku and in Russia because they hadn’t got that much racing history.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/...pected-to-race-onto-f1-calendar/#7d9d5d111558
Vietnam appears to be on track to get a slot on the Formula One calendar with sources suggesting there could be an announcement about a street race in the south-east Asian country in the coming weeks.
This emerged from a busy day of meetings in London yesterday beginning in the afternoon with a gathering of the Formula One Promoters Association in the Sofitel London St James hotel. In 2012 this author broke the news about the creation of the association which represents F1’s 21 race organizers. Their meeting yesterday was followed by a dinner appointment with Liberty Media Corporation which owns F1 and is listed on the Nasdaq with the ticker FWONK.
“Vietnam street race is what they are going to announce,” said one source. It is believed that the race is planned for the streets of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi but it has not yet been officially announced so it could still fail to get to the finish line. It is no secret that a plan for a race in the country is in the works.
F1 is most famous for the Monaco Grand Prix but it could soon be joined by another street race in Vietnam (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
In October last year racing publication Autosport reported that not only was Vietnam on F1’s list of potential venues but it was in “on-going” talks with officials there. It followed a report six months earlier by this author for Britain’s Independent newspaper which revealed that F1’s former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone gave the red light to a Vietnam Grand Prix before Chase Carey replaced him in the driving seat at the start of last year when Liberty acquired the business.
Ecclestone said that he declined the chance to meet the president of Vietnam and sign a race in the country which is still most famous for its two-decade war. Even though Vietnam would have paid an estimated $391.2 million over the ten years of its contract Ecclestone said it would have been a step too far for F1.
“I was approached about having a race in Vietnam. I was offered the opportunity to meet the president about doing a deal for a Grand Prix. I could have done the deal and signed it in August. Everything was arranged for this to happen.”
A track was due to be built near to Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 but hit the buffers and one reason for this was Vietnam’s strict rules which prevented locals from betting on sports events despite being famous for their love of gambling. Late last year this law was relaxed for anyone with a monthly income of more than $440 and Vietnam’s first race track opened in 2016 to take advantage of it.
Its standards are far below F1 specification, known as Grade 1 Homologation, but a track which would meet them was reportedly under consideration in 2016. It is understood that a foreign group was seeking investment to build it in Hanoi and carried out a feasibility study. Contrary to Ecclestone’s reputation of being driven by money he said he put the brakes on the plan as Vietnam has little connection to auto racing.
“It hasn’t got any racing history at all,” he said. “So I didn’t want to put another race in the same sort of area where we already have very good promoters. And I was criticised for putting the races in Baku and in Russia because they hadn’t got that much racing history.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/...pected-to-race-onto-f1-calendar/#7d9d5d111558
