JULY 12, 2004

A race track in New York

Preliminary talks are now taking place for the construction of a major new racing facility on New York's Staten Island. A number of different location have been discussed but the International Speedway Corporation says it is concentrating its efforts on a 440-acre site at a vacant industrial site on Staten Island's waterfront near the Goethal's Bridge, which links the island with New Jersey. The site has a good network of freeways which link to Manhattan and Brooklyn, by way of the nearby Verrazano Narrows Bridge across New York Harbour. The plan is to build a 2.5-mile race track, which would be similar in size to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and could therefore have an infield road course.

Formula 1 is keen to hold a race in New York but all attempts so far have run into trouble.