17/01/2005
NEWS STORY
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On Thursday, it was revealed that the first round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix championship will take place at Brands Hatch in September (18).
The announcement was made by A1 GP founder and CEO, Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, to a delighted audience at Autosport International.
Sharing the stage with the Sheikh, were former F1 driver, Jonathan Palmer, who purchased Brands Hatch and several other British tracks last year, together with motorsport legend, John Surtees, who will run the British team.
Without doubt, the A1 GP car has been the star of the show, and having seen and heard the car, race fans are already looking ahead to September with great anticipation, even Red Bull drivers David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi took time out to visit the A1 GP stand, both remarking that they were highly impressed with the car, though the Scot was unaware that the car is a brand new design and not an ex F3000 chassis.
Less than a year ago, A1 was still a dream, the brainchild of a wealthy member of the Dubai royal family. Now, at a time when we are all counting off the days to Melbourne, A1 GP has 13 teams (countries) on board, and its first race scheduled for a track that has witnessed some of the finest racing in motorsport history.
Sheikh Maktoum's knowledge of the sport, belies his youth. When he speaks of A1 and knowing what the fans want from their racing cars, he talks from experience, words like "passion", "pride" and "excitement" come from the heart, not cue-cards.
Although he was only six (almost seven), when Pedro Rodriguez was lapping the Kent track in atrocious conditions in the fearsome Porsche 917, giving one of the greatest performances of race-craft in 'modern' racing history, Sheikh Maktoum is fully aware of the history and the significance of the track, which last hosted a Formula One GP in 1986.
Sadly, there are still some cynics, doubtful that A1 will succeed, most notably a publisher who despite taking advertising revenue, insists that the series will never succeed. Pitpass on the other hand, which has never taken a penny in advertising from A1 GP, has championed the series from day one.
Others however, higher up the food-chain, are not so sure. We hear rumours that as the series gathers strength, and makes further inroads into the imagination of race fans disenfranchised with Formula One, a certain diminutive gentleman is watching the growth of A1 will growing concern.
When the series was first announced, there was scepticism, with some cynics claiming that A1 was merely the 'play thing' of a wealthy young Arab, a life-size Scalextric.
However, in recent months, as more countries (franchisees) come on board, we can see that many of these consortiums are led by super-wealthy, hard-nosed businessmen. Are we to believe that these men have all been mesmerised by a rich young man and his pipedream?
The answer is no. These men, and the many more waiting in the wings, eager to buy into A1, are fully aware that the series will succeed, because Sheikh Maktoum has done his research, and how.
Shortly after the announcement last Thursday, I was present while the Sheik was being interviewed by a fellow journalist. The young man suggested that A1 was an "initiative that we have seen several times before", most notably with (still-born but refusing to go away) Premier1, the series which promised to mix single-seater motor racing and football. Ugh!
The Sheikh quite rightly corrected the young cub, "you have never seen this initiative before," he said, "A1 is a brand new concept."
And so it is. And its concept - the idea of nation against nation - is gradually catching on, as is the Sheikh's eagerness to 'get his hands dirty', to get involved, and more importantly listen to the fans.
Make no mistake, this is a lesson that Formula One - as an example - has failed to learn, race fans are not the enemy, they are not anorak/T-Shirt wearing morons that should be pushed further and further away - they are customers, and ultimately, be it through ticket sales, TV subscriptions, merchandise, or simply buying the sponsors' products, they pay the bills.
Despite the hyperbole, from Max Mosley, Bernie and various team bosses and drivers, who tell us that the fans should be consulted, F1 continues to set its own agenda, totally uninterested in the views of those that sit in the grandstands or watch on their TVs. Although you cannot please all the people all the time, there are a lot of fans out there who could be of great benefit to the sport, if only it would listen.
Compare this with A1 GP.
Recently Pitpass ran a Talking Point, asking readers for their views. This wasn't a PR stunt - following the purchase of AtlasF1 by Haymarket (Autosport), Pitpass is now the leading independent F1 website - we genuinely wanted to know what fans though of A1 GP, good or bad.
Shortly afterwards, we were contacted by Sheikh Maktoum, who wanted the addresses of everyone who had posted a comment, good, bad or indifferent. Each of these readers was then couriered an A1 GP DVD, a cap and a T-Shirt, compliments of the Sheikh, who was simply delighted that they'd given their opinion, and thereby given him further information when fine-tuning the series. Without wishing to fan the flames, we can't see F1 bosses doing that.
Speaking at Autosport International, Sheikh Maktoum said that the A1 GP race at Brands Hatch is "the past meeting the future".
However, it goes far beyond that, it's not just about Brands Hatch. The past meeting the future also symbolizes the emergence of A1 Grand Prix as it learns the lesson of the ageing dinosaur that is Formula One.
And we all know what happened to dinosaurs.
To find out more about A1 Grand Prix, visit the official website
Chris Balfe
Editor
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