New Jersey race in 2013 in doubt?
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| Oh shit, I signed too many contracts for 2013! |
This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today……unless of course Bernie Ecclestone committed to too many races and he now has to pay NJ $millions to delay their race a year.
Organizers of the New York street race have hit back at Bernie Ecclestone's claim the inaugural 2013 date might be delayed a year.
The F1 chief executive had announced a race on the streets of New Jersey for 2013, and recent photos showed that work on the main pit building is well underway.
But Ecclestone told the BBC this week: "Maybe the New York race will be 2013. It's a (question of) when. 2013 or 2014."
Some sensed that the surprise news might be a diversionary tactic by Ecclestone, who is under intense pressure to cancel this weekend's highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.
Indeed, a spokesman for the 2013 New York street race has reacted to the 81-year-old's news with surprise.
"There's nothing to it," the spokesman, Stephen Sigmund, is quoted by NJBiz. "The race is on, as scheduled, for 2013."
The race site is predominantly in the Port Imperial development, owned by Roseland Property Co.
That company's managing partner Carl Goldberg said: "As the primary land owner for the race site, we continue to plan and prepare for a June 2013 race."
04/17/12 Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has cast doubt on New Jersey hosting a grand prix in June 2013 despite a 10-year agreement announced last year.
"Maybe the New York race will be 2013," he told the BBC on Tuesday. "It's a when – 2013 or 2014."
The east-coast race is likely to be coupled with Canada on successive weekends and would give the United States two rounds of the championship, with Austin in Texas due to make a debut on the calendar this November if its new circuit is ready in time.
New Jersey's street-circuit race is due to be held on the banks of the Hudson river with New York's Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. The United States, a key market for Formula One manufacturers such as Ferrari and Mercedes as well as team sponsors, has not had a grand prix since Indianapolis in 2007. Austin had looked unlikely to go ahead until an agreement over hosting fees was reached between Ecclestone and local organizers in December.Yahoo Sports/Eurosport
Editor's Note: With Russia coming on Bernie needs some races to go away before he can fit NJ into the schedule. So he may have to delay until 2014.