The Senate chooses Flins amid controversy

Four senators voted on Friday evening for an amendment to quickly create a circuit in Yvelines. The goal is to organize a French Formula 1 Grand Prix again as early as 2011.

This Senate amendment is part of the major project policy launched by Nicolas Sarkozy in the economic recovery plan. It particularly allocates a substantial sum to the construction of selected projects, promoting a rapid start by bypassing certain laws and bureaucratic steps.

The French Grand Prix will not be on the F1 calendar in 2009 or 2010 following the withdrawal of the main promoter from the Disneyland Paris project. Several projects are proposed for 2011, including Magny-Cours 2 and the one supported by Jean-Pierre Beltoise, former F1 driver. Ultimately, the project in Flins-sur-Seine, promoting the ‘Vallée de l’Automobile’ in the Yvelines department, was favored.

The maintenance of a Formula 1 Grand Prix in France is a national issue. If the construction and management delegation of this facility are carried out quickly, it is possible that a Grand Prix could (be held) in France again starting in 2011, commented one of the first senators to sign the project to AFP.

The four UMP senators: Bruno Gilles and Sophie Joissins (Bouches-du-Rhône), Michel Bécot (Deux-Sèvres), Eric Doligé (Loiret) are supported by Patrick Devedjian, the Minister of Recovery. The latter is very favorable to this amendment, as is the Prime Minister, François Fillon.

This announcement logically provoked an outcry among the Greens and the PS, claiming that this circuit project is against the Grenelle Environment Forum supported by the State. The circuit would indeed be built on the largest aquifer in the Île-de-France region, which was promised for organic farming before the project was launched by Pierre Bédier, deputy president of the departmental council of Yvelines.

The main advantage of the project remains its easy accessibility. The circuit would be located 30 minutes from Paris with the A13 highway directly serving the area. However, it remains to convince the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

For more information, refer to our previous articles on the anti-F1 protest in Flins and the support committee for the F1 Grand Prix launched by the Yvelines department.