DD starting to pick back up, good posts these last few days. MiMOJO for MOMO. Junyaaaaaa! The Tycoon!
AL
Bernie gets a bite of the Big Apple
By Adam Hay-Nicholls on October 26, 2011 9:13 PM
Monaco has always been known as the 'jewel in the crown' of Formula One, but following an official announcement on Tuesday, there will be a new 'halo' race on the New Jersey Palisades beside the Hudson River. From 2013, we will race on a temporary street track in the shadow of New York's skyscrapers.
Directly over the water from Manhattan's midtown theatre district sits the sleepy boroughs of West New York and Weehawken, across which the track will stretch. As Richard F Turner, the mayor of Weehawken, put it as we gazed across the water, "We have a nice backyard."
This is the view from Port Imperial's pit area and start/finish straight
The street circuit, which uses already existing public roads due for relaying, will be set on the side of a steep hill echoing Spa-Francorchamps. The 3.2 mile course features 15 largely slow-speed turns but the straights promise top speeds of 200mph. Its design is being overseeing by Tilke.
The track map which was unveiled on Tuesday
"This is the second miracle on the Hudson," added mayor of West New York, Felix Roque, a nice bit of hyperbole referring to the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the river in January 2009. Formula One's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone first dreamed of a grand prix in or near New York City 30-years-ago, and after a few false starts he has now inked a deal led by 63-year-old media tycoon and gentleman racer Leo Hindery, who claims he identified the circuit's location and layout after surfing Google Maps!
New Jersey will become the second race on the F1 calendar, with Austin joining the ranks next year. Jersey will be twinned with the Canadian Grand Prix in June 2013. The history of F1 in the America has been, for the most part, underwhelming. In previous decades there were two US races - one on the east coast and one on the west. The sport has been searching for a new home for since 2007, the last time it raced at Indianapolis. Like buses, two come along at once. New Jersey's ten-year deal offers important stability.
I was in New York this week as it happens, and so took the opportunity to talk to the guys involved and check out the site for myself.
The sun-drenched announcement ceremony took place at Weehawken's Port Imperial where work on the foundations of the pit complex is already underway. Hindery confirmed to me that the decision to announce plans after the ground breaking was strategic, and says the deal was done "weeks ago". Ecclestone was absent from the press conference, en route to this weekend's inaugural Indian Grand Prix. With the deal done weeks ago, it surprises me they didn't select an announcement date on which he could be available. Also, I was in New York on Tuesday afternoon, and I'm now in Delhi on Wednesday night.
Work has already commenced on the pit area, seen here
The is where the pitlane and starting grid will be
New Jersey governor Chris Christie boasted of the economic benefits to his state, and was keen to stress that no public money is being spent on the race. One concern of local residents is congestion, which Christie dismissed: "If, by congestion, you mean will the place be teeming with life and culture, then yes". Another subject of concern is safety, in light of IndyCar's fatal accident less than two weeks ago in Las Vegas. But Formula One is acknowledged as the safest motor sport in the world, and hasn't suffered a driver fatality since Ayrton Senna in 1994.
Hindery claims this will be the "greenest race ever, due to everyone using public transport". Manhattan's 35th Street Pier 79 is just an eight minute ferry ride from the pitlane.
Weehawken's Port Imperial ferry pier, and the land behind it which is being developed
New Jersey's officials are hoping that the glamour of F1 is going to rub off on their state, its blue collar image at odds with F1's luxury leanings, and that an influx of over 100,000 spectators will boost the kitty. However, I put it to Hindery that the main benefactor is New York City, for the majority of team personnel and race goers will stay across the water. "I think you underestimate how great it is over here," he told me. "Have you ever had a night out in Hoboken?" Er, yes I have...
Nevertheless, the TV cameras will be trained on Manhattan, and I can confirm F1 personnel are excitedly plotting their shopping trips already. It's going to be difficult for New Jersey to compete for attention, and though the race is being held on their land it will be a New York Grand Prix in all but name.
And that's exactly what Bernie Ecclestone wants.
