JUNE 5, 2000
Egypt comes to Monte Carlo
There are two sites under consideration for a race: one near the Pyramids and the other close to Cairo airport. Both sites have the necessary infrastructure to support a race thanks to the tourist industry, but this has suffered badly in recent years because of violent attacks on tourists by Islamic fundamentalists aiming to disrupt the Egyptian economy in order to destabilize the country.
Mahmoud says that this will not be a problem for the race but that there may be difficulties with the preferred site (at the Pyramids) because of environmental issues. Mahmoud has been in talks with circuit designer Hermann Tilke about the layout for a track and he hopes that the project will go ahead within three years.