Just joking…

…sort of.

On a related note, I read some reports earlier this season about Pook possibly backing a new plan in California to buld a new circuit near LA to host F1 and other series. He was reported to be at the Italian GP discussing the concept with people- dose anyone have the info on this scheme?

Dan- I do agree that Long Beach is the best option west of the Mississippi for a GP. While Seattle is a great place, it would take a special promoter to sell the race and make it work. In terms of getting out west, I am currently in grad school and working on starting to build a career, so any trip out there would probably not happen until 2010 at the earliest. But if I am in town, I will give you a yell. The same applies if you are ever at Yankee Stadium- I saw the Mariners play there last season in fact.

Of course if you were being critical you would not say he didn’t believe him you would say he didn’t read him right which is a big mistake for a supposedly great deal maker to make with a known quantity. You could understand it if the Chinese or someone he hadn’t dealt with before had been misread but for Bernie to misread Chris Pook who he had been dealing with for years smacks of arrogance and incompetence.

@ Gman: If you are ever in town, let me know I can usually get some good seats and could always use a drinking companion at the Pyramid Ale House across the street. Even if you are a Yankee fan…

- Those of you who support Long Beach have, in my view, the best option for a street race in America. The local population is used to the event and will not create the potential mess of problems that could be encountered with a new street venture. It’s also got good weather and is close to LA and the rest of the west coast.

- While it is on the complete opposite side of the country from me, I would love to see F1 in Seattle. The city is perhaps the best sports town in America that no one puts on the lists for those things, and it could be a smash hit if worked properly. Dan, I must note that seeing my beloved Yankees play at Safeco Fied- one of America’s top sports venues in my opinion- is something I must do in the next decade or so. Sorry your team is in such disarray at the moment however…..

- Ollie, I only have GT4, and the Seattle course in the game has the old Kingdome next to the current baseball stadium in Seattle. The Kingdome- perhaps the loudest stadium in NFL history- was demolished several years ago to make way for the current Quest Field NFL stadium, and therefore while it creates a cool retro moment on the game, it dose differ from the real-life layout of the area.

Looking at Vegas, it’s little more than a novel concept. Bernie loves it because it has glitz and glamour, but how good would the racing be? The GP would need to be held in the day (no way Bernie puts on a night race in the early morning hours in Europe) and I think you’d end up with an enhanced version of the parking lot venue from years past, with the same popularity as that or Phoenix had. All in all, it would be Valencia in the desert- great promotion, but what else?

Personally, I lean toward Steven Roy’s position of disliking street tracks, but if one were to be staged in America it would need to be planned and promoted in the proper fashion. Otherwise, we’d end up with another Phoenix situation (where bird conventions bring out a bigger crowd than the GP) and another black mark for F1 in America.

I would love to see a F1 race in the streets in Seattle.

Mapped and ready to rumble…

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A download link to the Google Earth KMZ file is here.

A follow-up post to this is due in the next few days, featuring more Google Earth goodness. So keep the suggestions coming in…

LINK: http://quikmaps.com/show/86098

but shutting the city down for that amount of time is a non-starter

True. Monaco is pretty much built around the motor sport events that are held there, and Valencia is held on the docks, so not too much trouble there. Singapore looks to be fairly non-city-centrish, but probably close enough to cause plenty of disruption. But it can be done, just that it’ll be darn expensive.

Right past my front door would be great!

Live on a good corner then!? Actually, Jeremy Clarkson is always moaning about Fiestas on his front lawn because of the sharp corner he lives on. Maybe Formula One should visit his neck of the woods.

both Melbourne and Montreal are street circuits run on public roads.

Indeed. In fact, the photo at the top is of Albert Park. Although to be fair, the roads used on Ile Notre-Dame are hardly driven on anymore. It’s mostly joggers and roller-skaters!

*contrary to what a lot of people seem to beleive, both Melbourne and Montreal are street circuits run on public roads.

The tracks that fans and drivers love have always been the longest tracks on the calendar. The Nurburgring and the original 8 mile Spa were revered. The current ‘neutered’ version of Spa, the Oesterreichring and Suzuka took over the mantle afterwards. Despite all the glamour of Monaco and the intimacy of street tracks what we really need is longer, open, faster tracks.

If we have to have yet another street race Long Beach was far better than most and Pau is vastly superior to Monaco. The idea of a race in the centre of Paris is just stupid. You could layout a great track but shutting the city down for that amount of time is a non-starter as it is for any capital city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Beach_Grand_Prix

perhaps Brighton would be a better choice

When I included the line about London, Brighton popped into my head as well. Cars running along the promenade and all.

P.S. It is spelt Manhattan.

Google caught me out. I typed “manhatten wiki” into Google and it sent me to Manhattan’s wiki entry. Thanks for the prod, I’ll update the post in a moment.

I think Santiago, Chile would be a nice place as well, though going against my waterfront theme, it does have nice views of the mountains, plus the shiny towers of Las Condes.

Las Vegas certainly has wide enough streets and lots of space to build stands for the fans to watch the action, though personally I think it would be kind of dull. The strip is cool to drive down the first time, but but the 90th lap, I think it would start to get dull.

P.S. It is spelt Manhattan.