02/02/2006
NEWS STORY
No doubt you'll be aware of the expression; 'never teach your Granny how to suck eggs'.
Somehow, this comes to mind with the 'news' that the Swiss Parliament has decided not to end the ban on motor racing, introduced in 1955 following the tragedy at Le Mans, when more than 80 spectators were killed when Pierre Levegh's Mercedes-Benz was launched into the spectator enclosures after being 'launched' following a collision with the Austin-Healey of Lance Macklin.
Despite the motor racing ban, events such as hill-climbs, where drivers are not competing against one another on-track, are still allowed. That said, in 1982, the Swiss Grand Prix formed part of the official Formula One World Championship, though the race, won by Keke Rosberg, was held at Dijon in France.
Explaining the decision to retain the ban, the Swiss Parliament claims that such events increase pollution and generally impair the quality of Swiss life.
Swiss politicians also claim that a Formula One race would offer little economic benefit.
Harry Lime - aka Orson Wells - in the legendary movie The Third Man once famously claimed: "In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance.
"In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
Other than cuckoo clocks and chocolate, the Swiss also know a lot about business and money... and if the Swiss say that hosting a Grand Prix offers little economic benefit, potential, and even current hosts, should pay strict attention.