Korean GP under threat

[WiTcH]

It was about time and quite obvious. The grandstands were empty on Sunday and the place is in the middle of nowhere! There are many poor people at those regions,who would rather have this money for other purposes rather than an F1 race.

Quote:The future of the Korean Grand Prix, which only debuted in 2010, is in doubt after organisers warned they could not continue to sustain substantial losses on an event which so far has failed to enthuse the local community.

It is believed that the 2011 grand prix resulted in a deficit of around US$56 million, almost exactly the amount of the hosting fee paid to Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder. The overall cost of the event was around US$80 million.

Speaking to Autosport, Park Won Hwa, the race promoter, warned that the event could be scrapped unless Ecclestone renegotiated the fee, which is due to rise annually by 10%.

"We are trying hard, but we need the co-operation of Ecclestone," he said. "We certainly want to continue with this event because it is a big event, even though we have losses. We want to give this region momentum by holding this event to help boost its economy and to boost the image, and to change our farming background in this region.

"He knows perfectly well our current situation, and I hope he is more co-operative."

The organisers are under increasing political pressure from those who argue the money would be better spent in helping the local economy. The Yeongam circuit is situated in a largely agricultural region of low income communities.

"Some people in this region are against the race because of a big financial loss," Hwa explained. "Those citizens, who have a background as farmers and are normally poor, want to have the funds distributed for other purposes rather than be used for this so far unpopular event."

[Tension_36th]

That old piece of shit should be killed as brutally as possible. The fart wont care in-fact will be looking forward for the race to be dropped so he can go elsewhere and add another track and take more promoters fees from those new tracks. The promoters fees once paid is never refunded back.

The story on the Bahraini promoters being offered a refund on their race promotion fees after being cancelled for this year, are just buckets of bolts. Blatant lies.

The world lost Steve jobs to cancer. The world would be a better place if its was this money grabbing geezer instead who died. We could celebrate for once and couldn't care less.

[icegirljenni]

Tension, do not use the word 'kill' anymore. I am sure everyone's life is valuable. We should have some respect for those who have lost their life. Yes he might be a bit ridiculous but please don't curse anyone about 'kill' or 'dying'

This isn't a good week or month. Thanks

[Chrissie]

^^Agree jenni.

Back on topic...well, it's hardly surprising is it? That place was deserted on Sunday....I think it was probably a little over-ambitious building a circuit around a presently non-existent city, that from what I've read isn't going to be built anytime soon. Why couldn't they just have built one closer to Seoul? It made more sense, certainly in the short term at least Now they've got an expensive piece of tarmac stuck out in the middle of nowhere that may not get used again