18/11/2009
FEATURE BY CHRIS BALFE
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On a purely personal level it's been a crap year and I cannot wait to see the end of it. Birthdays are cancelled, as is Christmas, all I want to do is consign 2009 to history as soon as possible. Assuming, of course, that 2010 is any better.
On top of everything else that has happened, in June we lost one of our cats (Sooty) after it was discovered she had a tumour. While it was operable - it would have meant her losing a leg - her age (12), together with the fact that there was no guarantee that this would completely cure her, meant that a decision had to be made.
Sooty was the result of Lucky, a cat my wife found in Linlithgow back in 1996. Abandoned because she was pregnant, a few months after bringing her home, Lucky presented us with three kittens, and while we intended to give them to good homes (honest!), we didn't instead we kept all three.
While we were still getting over the loss of Sooty, Lucky developed a strange rasping sound in her throat which appeared to make breathing difficult. A visit to the vet revealed that she too had developed a tumour. This one was not operable and it was made quite clear that it was only a matter of time.
The vet was quite graphic in his description of how things would develop and told me that as soon as I noticed any sign of deterioration I would have to take her back in order that he might end her pain. That very night it was quite clear she was uncomfortable, her breathing was painful to listen to, it was obvious that her time was at an end. Consequently, just over four weeks after we lost Sooty, there was another empty food bowl in the Balfe kitchen.
Making the decision that a pet should be put to sleep is the hardest thing that any animal lover has to make. While you don't want to prolong its pain you do want to explore every avenue in order to see if there is the slightest chance of saving it. There is also the fact that you have to put the animal's best interests before your own because no matter how much you love it, it is unfair to make it endure further discomfort, further pain just because you selfishly want to keep it a few days or weeks longer.
Making such a decision is an act of love, and I have to admit that I have every sympathy with those who would rather see a relative pass away with some degree of dignity rather than having to endure weeks, maybe months, of suffering.
And so, with this in mind, I turn my attention to A1GP, and if ever there was a perfect example that one should be demanding that someone do the kindest thing and put a sick friend out of its misery, this is surely it.
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While I in no way wish to stick the boot in, I feel that someone has to make the brave decision either to begin serious treatment or to pull the plug. For the series, its fans and those who have invested in it, cannot be allowed to suffer any longer.
Long-time readers will be aware that I have championed the series from the very start, and I make no apology for that fact. Yes, there was a lot wrong with it but also there was a lot right. If nothing else, it got a group of guys from my local pub into motorsport in a way that F1 never could.
It didn't have the star names, the cars looked strange, it was not widely available on terrestrial TV, the marketing was non-existent and the constant changes in terms of teams and venues often made it a laughing stock. However, not too deep beneath the surface there was a gem of a series.
The hurt of losing Sooty and Lucky has now subsided and I can enjoy the pictures and movies we have of them, I cherish the memories. However, in the case of A1GP, while there are some good memories my overwhelming feeling is that of being let down, of being deceived, lied to.
In late September the series announced a long-term deal with the highly renowned IMG Sports Media as well as its season five calendar. This came just three weeks after series organizers announced a test day at Queensland Raceway in anticipation of the prestigious season opener at Surfers Paradise on October 25.
I'll spare you the quotes, the bold expressions of delight that despite the criticism A1GP was back for another year and aiming to silence the critics. Indeed, on September 25 - one month before the Surfers Paradise event, series organizers announced that financial restructuring had been put in place to "secure A1GP's long term future".
What the various press releases omitted to tell us however, was that the entire A1GP operation as seen at Brands Hatch on May 3, was still under lock and key at Dunsfold - where much of Top Gear is shot - courtesy of locations logistics company Delivered on Time Ltd, and would not be released until A1GP paid its outstanding bill. And rest assured, DoT is not the only company owed money by A1GP - not by a long chalk.
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Ignoring the financial issues, and trust me it isn't easy, after a while it meant that logistically Surfers Paradise was never going to happen because the cars - which still needed to be modified to meet the new FIA regulations - couldn't be shipped in time, assuming the bills were paid, which they weren't.
Eventually, on Saturday October 17, five days before the field should have been firing up for the first practice session, and four days after announcing the entry list - with the cars still under lock and key in Surrey - A1GP announced that it had been "forced" to withdraw from the season opener.
In the days that followed the proposed events in China and Malaysia were also cancelled, however, this time there were no press releases, indeed, even the official A1GP website appeared to have given up on the series.
It is a shambolic state of affairs and plays directly into the hands of those who doubted the series from the outset. And while it was originally thought that some of the criticism was unwarranted and way off the mark, looking at some of what has gone on over the summer one could be forgiven for thinking that maybe some of the wilder accusations weren't as outrageous as originally thought.
I remember being shown the original Business Model way back by Sheikh Maktoum and Tony Teixeira, it was obvious that such a system, whereby franchises (the teams) would raise multi-million dollar budgets and pay A1GP centrally by way of fees, was never going to work.
Furthermore, instead of A1GP Holdings being a profit centre generating major revenues to cover its own overheads and support the teams, it was in fact a huge cost centre. Other than being vastly overstaffed with lots of bright, pretty young things doing nothing, other than being bright, pretty and young, there was the extravagance of things like podium parties and business-class travel for executives - 15 of whom I am told were allegedly on £100,000+ salaries. Indeed, I understand that two people involved in the series were earning over $1m.
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Despite the fact that A1GP was still failing to convince the majority of the fans, some of those involved already thought they'd cracked it. Convinced they had a series that could rival F1 they were already living the Bernie Ecclestone lifestyle. God alone knows what Bernie would make of it.
Fact is, A1GP was generating cost instead of revenue; and consequently blew its shareholders funds.
Another example of how the series wantonly blew money was the much trumpeted Ferrari deal, which, make no mistake, could not have been more badly negotiated.
Having failed to win over a significant majority of motorsport fans - not easy when coverage is on pay-per-view - ahead of season 4, A1GP spent a huge amount of money with Ferrari on designing a new car when in fact the ultra reliable - and just as fast - Lola-Zytek package could have been upgraded for less than £30k a car and still looked good. I understand that in 2008, the Ferrari deal cost around £10m, at a time when A1GP simply did not need to spend that sort of money.
The asset management company RAB Capital plc is now majority shareholder in A1GP, with figures of up to $300m (£180m) having been mentioned. Yet we hear that a variety of individuals associated with the series and franchise holders have also invested in A1GP, all of whom have been left without any return and silence from those at the top.
Despite the sums of money floating around and the clear extravagance in some quarters, I hear of A1GP staff who were running unpaid up to 4 months for all of last year. While staff of Lyndhurst - the company set up to own and run most of the teams when it became clear they were unsustainable under the original Business Model - were unpaid for many months. Indeed, I hear some Lyndhurst supported teams and personnel have had no money for up to a year.
Season 4 only finished because privately owned franchises - such as New Zealand, Malaysia, Ireland and Monaco - paid the championship bills for things such as fuel, freight - Team New Zealand paid for the freight to the New Zealand race - tyres and so on. It was the teams that made A1GP succeed and it's so very sad to think their belief, their investment, their loyalty has ended this way.
As for Surfers Paradise, everyone in Europe knew A1GP was failing, however, by the time the penny - make that $1.8m AUS - dropped it was too late.
A series that promised so much appears to be in the final throes and it will take a miracle to revive it. That said, we hear there remain one or two people involved who still hold out hope.
At this time it is too easy for me to remember the bad things; the failures, the extravagance, the waste, the lack of honesty and the general feeling that those at the top simply didn't care, certainly not for the series.
However, along the way there was some great racing with fast, reliable cars. Fans that attended events loved it - as the boys down The Marlborough will attest - and the camaraderie between the teams was obvious.
The cars were so equally matched - unlike some series - that the drivers loved it, and it usually provided great TV, even though its lack of availability on terrestrial TV - along with poor marketing - remains a personal gripe.
Furthermore, while F1 continues to woo the Abu Dhabis of this world, A1GP provided a decent alternative for those countries, such as Holland and New Zealand that cannot hope to come up with the sort of money Bernie Ecclestone is demanding but love their motorsport.
Finally, as we look ahead to over four months before the 2010 Formula One World Championship kicks off, it was a winter series. Furthermore, unlike GP2 Asia - which is restricted to eight races in just two countries, both within the UAE - it travelled the globe. Also, whereas GP2 Asia doesn't currently feature a single driver from that continent, or indeed from outside Europe or the Americas, A1GP genuinely gave new nations and its drivers a first step on the international racing ladder.
My overriding feeling is that those running A1GP have let us down, but that in the right hands the series might still be salvageable.
Or am I being selfish and thinking of myself... is it simply time to lay A1GP to rest and end its pain?
To check out previous features from Chris, click here