Canadian GP ticket sales strong
The Montreal race was erased from last year's calendar because of a contractual dispute between the city and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The British sports entrepreneur eventually accepted a new five-year, $75-million deal after municipal, provincial and federal authorities in Canada pooled their resources with Tourism Montreal.
Canadian Grand Prix promoter François Dumontier says ticket sales for this year's event are going well.
"We had a very nice response from the fans when we announced the return of Formula One," he said in an interview with CBC News. "We are ahead of our sales compared to 2008. I think that the championship this year are pretty exciting."
This year's early spring weather has allowed organizers to get a head start on the race, Dumontier added.
"That helps a lot because we can start putting up the grandstands [earlier]," he said. "We tore down everything after the NASCAR race [last year] so that, of course, is very [helpful]. We already have some grandstands already up around the track."
There will be 300,000 seats available for the June 11-13 race, and Dumontier said he's expecting it to be sold out.
A gala will kick off the event, with money raised going to the Ste. Justine and Sacré-Coeur Hospital foundations. CBC.ca