AUGUST 20, 2001

Shanghai looking for F1 race in 2003

THE Chinese are still dreaming of hosting a Grand Prix, despite the failure of Zhuhai to impress the Formula 1 authorities. It was agreed that Zhuhai did not have the infrastructure necessary to host a race.

The idea of a race in a park in Shanghai has been kicking around for some years but it is probably the most likely scenario as there is no shortage of experience available to help the Chinese building a track. The organization which would be the most likely to help the Chinese would be the GrandÊPrixÊCorporation in Melbourne which could use the money raised from consultancy work to help reduce the controversial costs that are met by the local government. It would not be the first time such schemes have been tried as the Melbourne organization helped out on an earlier plan for a Grand Prix in Moscow while the Adelaide GP corporation was involved in the development of Sepang.

The Chinese authorities hope that a race can be organized as early as 2003 but this is extremely unlikely despite the fact that F1 would like to break into the Chinese market. The problem is that there are currently not enough gaps on the F1 calendar to cope with all the countries which would like a Grand Prix.