Monticello looking to go big time?

[Dave_G]

Anyone else see this yet?
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83748

American publication Autoweek has published a letter from Ari Strauss, the president of the Monticello Motor Club, who talks about meeting F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and having hosted F1 track architect Hermann Tilke at the venue.

In the letter, Strauss says: "A few months ago, [MMC chairman] Bill McMichael and I met with Bernie Ecclestone, President/CEO of Formula One Management (FOM), and discussed the terms for an exclusive 10-year United States Grand Prix to be hosted at MMC.

I won't expect anything to come close to happening with this, but it would be kind of cool.

[Dave_G]

Here's another brief article on it: http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns22280.html

[breakaway500]

They're gonna need a LOT more parking...bathrooms...and runoff. I just can't imagine 20 open wheel F1 cars diving into the hammerhead....

The Wal-Mart parking lot will never handle all those campers...

[subsonic]

Another

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-new ... elcome-f1/

[naschmitz]

Who's got that much money to finish the buildings, re-do the track to F1 standards, and fix up the town and roads? Bernie ain't going to stay at Super8 nor is that one Helipad inside the track going to be able to handle all the bigwigs jetting in from NYC.

[Stynger]

Bernie can have my room at the Lodge.

[962porsche]

there could be and would be no way just for the town of monticello to handle an event tnat size . not the roads not the lodging not the places to eat . zip!!!! as for the track what they spent to build it to date is not a 1/4 of what it would cost to bring it up to F1 standards .

[rnoonan]

From the descriptions you guys have given, it seems highly doubtful that Monticello could ever host an F1 race, let alone by 2012. This story, however, does make the track (and the club) internationally known.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 697770.stm

It's interesting that on the very day this story broke, I received the May 24 issue of Autoweek and found a full-page color ad on page 9 for one Monticello Motor Club.

-= Rick =-

[jeffw]

Looks like texas won:

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-new ... rand-prix/

[naschmitz]

So why would F1 leak the Monticello letter knowing they were going to make an announcement five days later?

[CalypsoBean]

monticello probably leaked it knowing they had lost the bid, in an effort to gain publicity for the track.