Bernie Ecclestone again doubts the New Jersey Grand Prix

Last April, Bernie Ecclestone expressed doubts, for the first time since the announcement of the Grand Prix of America, in October 2011, regarding the realization of the event, planned to be held on the banks of the Hudson River, in New Jersey, in June 2013. Today, despite the quick response from the promoters in the media, Bernie Ecclestone still does not seem reassured: “I don’t know if the race will happen, but I hope everything is moving in the right direction. They need to internally resolve some issues they have encountered regarding financing, but if they are ready for 2013, then the race will take place,” the F1’s financial chief indicated to our English colleagues at Pitpass.com. “We are waiting for an agreement to be reached on different points of the contract, but they are behind schedule,” the Briton added.

Once again, the response from the organizers was swift, through one of their spokespersons: « We do not wish to comment on our contractual relationship with Formula One and its details. We continue to work towards having the race take place in June 2013, and the construction process is on schedule. We have an excellent management team, supported by the state of New Jersey and the city of New York; therefore, we are optimistic about the course of the race and believe it will be a great event. »

However, according to a sports marketing expert interviewed by Pitpass.com, skepticism is indeed warranted: « I haven’t heard anything more about the race in New York, which I think is a good indication. If things were going well, I would expect to read a lot about it in the American specialized press. » Once again, it seems that money is at the heart of the issue according to the website, as the details of the event’s financing have yet to be disclosed: « New Jersey is in a rather unique situation, and we’re not talking about the characteristics of its circuit or its location with New York in the background. Most of the new races that have joined the calendar in recent years have revealed their sources of financing at the time of the announcement or shortly after, but the promoters of the New Jersey race have remained and remain silent on this subject. All this indicates that the race will not be financed with public money; however, no names or details regarding the investors have been communicated. »

However, despite a potential postponement of the Grand Prix d’Amérique and the legal tangle involving the organizers of the United States Grand Prix (Austin) with Tavo Hellmund, there doesn’t seem to be anything to dampen Bernie Ecclestone’s conquering spirit. The Briton, indeed, does not rule out the idea of having even more races in Uncle Sam’s country, should the teams agree for the calendar to be expanded to more than 20 races per season: “We could do in America what we do in Europe with three or four races in the same month. NASCAR probably wouldn’t be happy. If we organize it carefully, we could probably have two or three more races.”