Formula 1 welcoming new NYC-area race proposals, report says

By Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger
December 24, 2013 at 1:51 PM

WEEHAWKEN ?Organizers of a twice-postponed Hudson County Formula 1 race are in breach of contract with the international racing circuit?s owner, and other would-be sponsors are now welcome to pitch plans for a New York City-area race, according to a published report.

Bernie Ecclestone, the British racing mogul who heads London-based Formula 1 Management, told Auto Week that the group hoping to stage the Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial had never made a single payment on either of two contracts signed since 2011.

?What is amazing with New Jersey is that the people signed a contract,? Ecclestone is quoted as saying in a story posted on autoweek.com. ?You have got to assume they knew what they had signed. They should have never made the commitment. We could sue them. They are in breach.?

"They should have never made the commitment. We could sue them."

The race has been proposed for a 3.2-mile street course on public and private roads in Weehawken and West New York, including the Port Imperial mixed use development along the Hudson River waterfront, opposite midtown Manhattan.

But the sponsor, Port Imperial Racing Associates, a group headed by former YES Network boss Leo Hindery Jr., has had trouble raising an estimated $100 million to stage the race. Earlier this month, the race was left off the official 2014 F1 calender, after likewise being excluded from the 2013 season, when the race was originally intended to debut.

Ecclestone's spokeswoman, Enrica Merenghi, did not respond to a request for comment on the Auto Week story.

A spokesman for Port Imperial Racing Associates, Justin Lapatine, said the group had nothing to say on the issue.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013 ... ponsors.html#incart_river

Ecclestone: 'No doubt' Port Imperial F1 race will take place in 2015 despite latest postponement

By Jonathan Lin/The Jersey Journal
on December 04, 2013 at 5:02 PM

Hudson County politicians are hopeful the much-hyped and much-anticipated Formula 1 race scheduled for the Weehawken and West New York waterfront will eventually happen.

Local officials who have been planning and coordinating since the race - the Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial - was first announced in October 2011 were dealt another setback when the race was taken off the 2014 F1 calendar this morning.

"I believe they're going to do it. It will happen," West New York Mayor Felix Roque said. "Sometimes it's better to wait to have it well-organized and be a big success. I would rather have something well-organized than something half-assed."

The race was originally scheduled for June 2013 and then postponed to June 2014 amid reports that the local sponsor -- a group headed by former YES Network executive Leo Hindery Jr. -- was having trouble coming up with the cash, more than $100 million, to make the race possible.
"If it happens, it'd be good for this area," said Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner. "If it doesn't, Weehawken has been fine for 150 years without it."

The race was slated to run on a 3.2-mile temporary street circuit along the Hudson River on the streets of Weehawken and West New York, with the New York City skyline as the backdrop.

Hindery's group and F1 President and CEO Bernie Ecclestone remain optimistic F1 cars will be flying around the course in 2015.

"There is great demand for a race in New Jersey and I have no doubt we'll be racing at Port Imperial in 2015," Ecclestone said in a statement. "New races can take many years to get started, but there is significant momentum and we are close to realizing a New York City F1 race."

At a ceremony today during which a West New York elementary school was renamed after him, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez said he hoped barriers to the race being held in New Jersey would be overcome.

"I hope that it can eventually happen," he said. "I hope that whatever challenges it's facing can be overcome and that it can eventually happen."

Turner cautioned repeated delays would drive down public enthusiasm for the race.
"Every time it's postponed you lose momentum. It's hard to get revved up again," he said. "I think the most disappointing thing is the uncertainty."

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... cond_po.html#incart_river

It's on the provisional calender, so nothing is 100% certain at this point yet. Fingers are still crossed!

Formula 1 race in Hudson County still on tap for 2014 -- it's on calendar for June 1

By The Jersey Journal
September 27, 2013 at 12:36 PM

Get ready, racing fans: Formula 1's premiere race in Hudson County is still on the schedule for June 2014.

The 3.2-mile race through Weehawken and West New York, announced with much fanfare in October 2011, has had an "on again/off again"?? quality in recent months. In August, Bernie Ecclestone, president and CEO of Formula 1 racing, said the race is "not in the cards."

But Grand Prix of America today released the 2014 Formula 1 calendar, and the Weehawken/West New York race is still in the works. Earlier this month, a 2014 race calender that did not include the New Jersey race was being circulated among F1 teams and broadcasters.

"We look forward to bringing world-class Formula One racing to New Jersey," race promoter Leo Hindery, Jr. said in a statement.

Grand Prix expects more than 100,000 people to attend the three-day event, which will feature cars racing along the Hudson County waterfront.

"It's nice to know that the race seems to be moving forward, but we are taking it one day at a time," said Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner. "The June 1 date seems to be a target date. We are not sure that the date is set in stone."

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... or_2014.html#incart_river

Bernie who? WNY mayor says Grand Prix of America still on for 2014

By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal
August 26, 2013 at 6:46 PM

In spite of reports that the Formula 1 race scheduled for the Hudson County waterfront next year is off, work is continuing in West New York in preparation for international event.

"As far as we are concerned, the race is still on," said West New York Mayor Felix Roque. "(Construction crews) are working diligently on Boulevard East, getting curbs and sidewalks done. ... They are out there today."

On Friday CNN quoted Bernie Ecclestone, president and CEO of Formula 1 racing, as saying the 3.2-mile race through West New York and Weehawken is "not in the cards for next year. They haven't got any money."

It was reported in June that Port Imperial Racing Associates, a group headed by former YES Network executive Leo Hindery that is sponsoring the race, retained the investment bank UBS to try and raise $100 million to finance the race.

"We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the story, but we don't discuss media reports or financial matters," said a spokesman for the Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial. "We will have a statement after the FIA announces the 2014 calendar. Until then, we're continuing to prepare for the 2014 Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial."

The race was originally schedule for this past June, but was postponed on October, with financial issues cited as the reason.

Roque said the race is on until he gets official word that the race is off.

"The race will be a big boom to the local and state and economy," Roque said. "This will put us on the map worldwide."

Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner was surprised at the latest on-again, off-again rumors.

"No one from F1 down to Mr. Hindery has said the race was off," Turner said. "The way they negotiate details seems to be in the public."
Turner added that local officials should receive more news on Sept. 24, the date the 2014 F 1 schedule is due to be released.

"We'll see then if we are on the schedule," he said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... or_2014.html#incart_river

Just being the devil's advocate and would like to see the F1 racing live. The other motoring races in NJ is more like an event then a race, my dad took us a few times as kids and we spent a long week-end there.

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There aren't any local races, unless you count the Pocono NASCAR and Indy car races, or the GT classes in south Jersey and northwest CT. as local. The issue isn't static from other sanctioning bodies (they wouldn't do it) but the payoff to Bernie and the F1 bean counters. They take no risk whatsoever, it would be the ownership group that assumes all of it.

I'd like to see the F1 cars, however with all the nascar competitions (sprint car - nationwide series etc) indy car races and even the sports car series, I'd be suprised if even more hurdles were in place for the F1 races; to protect the mentioned home grown franchises of motor sport racing.

With a difficult economy, motoring fans might only be able to buy / afford a ticket to one motoring event in NJ and the home grown events would be aware of it and should / would do everything to protect that potential income.

And-it's off again!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/sport/m ... ica-ecclestone/index.html

There is not, and won't be, any direct taxpayer funds towards the NJGP, besides the normal added police crowd and traffic control-which we support for every public sporting event without complaint. If some roads get repaved I'm sure they're past due anyway.

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The F1 management aren't silly - They want government sponsorship and direct input because governments can't go bankrupt as easily as private enterprize - Every F1 event around the world has a guarantee and direct financial involvment from the government. Many F1 events are money pits that governments prop-up via local and State taxes - Its all prestige with little return from the tax dollar - Don't believe all the hype of tourist dollars and money coming into a city - The only benefit is to private business at the tax payers expense if we hold the event here ...... it would be cheaper to simply give money directly to hotels, restaurants and the logistic companies that set-up the event!
The only benefit would be to NY .... we are going to foot the bill (NJ / JC) but the patrons will not be hanging out in NJ now are they?

Quote:


You don't know that Leo Hindery, creator of the YES network, financial advisor to President Obama, and noted private equity investor is the driving force behind the NJGP?

And since no public funds are being used for the event how could money be better spent on transport infrastructure?

Lets face it, NJ doesn't have any spare money when our bureaucrats are overpaid and inept. The money would be better spent on transport infrustructure then a race.
It would be interesting to know if the promoter was able to scam investors (t.v and sponsors) when he wasn't financial from the gecko and didn't make instalment payments?

I'm not sure why Lauda (known as 'the Rat') would mention NJ being tossed off the calendar to expedite his country getting its own GP-especially when the 2014 GP of India HAS officially been canceled. But Bernie's recent indictment on bribery charges has muddied the waters for all.

Looks like the race is off again


Lauda says New Jersey has been dropped from 2014 calendar
29/07/2013
Few proposed races have had as troubled a history as the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey. It was originally due to take place this year but the brakes were put on that plan when Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt revealed that Formula One's boss Bernie Ecclestone had torn up the contract after the organisers missed payment deadlines. A new agreement was signed in May this year and just when it looked like the race was on track for 2014 it came to light that in fact there is the small matter of the organisers needing to find ?66m ($100m) before it gets the green light. They have already run out of time according to Niki Lauda, one of Ecclestone's closest confidantes.

Speaking to Austrian television station ORF, Lauda recently said that "the New York Grand Prix in New Jersey that was supposed to take place this year, has not taken place because of a lack of money in America.? He added that "as far as I know it has already been taken off the calendar again."

Lauda was being asked about the situation following the news that the Austrian Grand Prix will return to F1's calendar next year. He claims that there is a direct connection between its reinstatement and the demise of New Jersey. "As a result of the good relationship with Mateschitz [Ecclestone] has included this race on the calendar," said Lauda.

Lauda's comments are far from the only recent signs that next year's proposed race in New Jersey has bitten the dust. Last month the World Motor Sport Council announced that in order to preserve the historic date of the Le Mans 24 Hours, no F1 race will take place on the June 14/15 weekend. This ruled out New Jersey having a back-to-back race with Canada as it reportedly hoped to do.

Construction work is going on in New Jersey but it has been pointed out that a great deal of it was due to take place regardless of whether the F1 race goes ahead. The real problem isn't that the organisers lack funding to finish the engineering work but that the plan does not involve any government funding. As Pitpass has explained at length, there are very few precedents of street races being run without state support. Indeed, council funding was even granted to the lowly Formula 3000 Superprix, which was held from 1986 to 1990 on the streets of Birmingham.

Lauda's comments will come as a blow to many teams in F1 which were hoping to get greater exposure to the US market through the race. One commentator recently even went as far as to say that he thinks "there will be three Formula 1 Grands Prix in the United States by 2016. The United States GP in Austin, the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey and the Long Beach Grand Prix in California... There is much negativity about the prospects of New Jersey and Long Beach... I would not listen to the naysayers."

That said, the same individual claimed in 2011 that "there are clearly moves afoot to get Flavio Briatore into Ferrari" and that Toro Rosso had been sold as the Abu Dhabi investment fund "Aabar has acquired a minority shareholding in the team (around 40 percent) and has an option to increase that to gain control (probably around 60 percent)." Then came the news that Red Bull's next development "will be as the title sponsor of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin." Last year we had the gem that "Lewis Hamilton does not know much about racing history and so cannot learn from the mistakes of others." Nuff said.


pitpass.com

Local Formula 1 organizer says he has new contract, NJ race on schedule for June 2014

By Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger
June 07, 2013 at 8:18 PM

WEEHAWKEN ? The local organizer of the proposed Formula 1 Grand Prix of America on the Hudson River waterfront says he has a new, 15-year contract with London-based F1, and that preparations are proceeding as planned for the inaugural race in June of 2014.

Leo Hindery, the former YES Network executive and retired racer who first announced the race in October 2011, told The Star-Ledger that he has signed a new contract with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, who had dissolved their original agreement last fall after Hindery?s group could not meet its obligations under the prior deal.

Despite problems that forced him to postpone the race after originally slating its debut for this month, Hindery said in a telephone interview this week that all permits had been secured and work was proceeding on the race?s 3.2-mile street circuit straddling the Weehawken-West New York border.

?We're going to go racing sometime in June 2014, when Bernie Ecclestone and NBC Sports tell me to,? Hindery said.

Hindery declined to specify the terms of the new agreement with F1, and a spokeswoman for Ecclestone did not respond to requests for comment.

The new contract is the latest development in the off-again, on-again planning for a race that has been welcomed by F1 fans, members of the open-wheel racing community, and local and state elected officials. Those officials included Gov. Chris Christie, who joined Hindery in his initial announcement of the race in 2011, when both men touted the fact that, unlike the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, the race would not receive state subsidies.

Uncertainty over the race?s future continued to mount earlier this year, with revelations that key members of Hindery?s management team had departed. Most recently, the race?s outlook was clouded by the realization that the weekend originally scheduled by F1 for the Grand Prix of America -- corresponding to Father?s Day in the U.S. -- would present a broadcasting conflict with the final round of golf?s U.S. Open on NBC Sports, which last year outbid Fox for exclusive F1 North American broadcasting rights.

Hindery acknowledged the past difficulties and uncertainties, but said were all being addressed.

?Bernie was 100 percent correct in that we hadn?t satisfied his demands and we didn?t have a binding contract in place, and he had every right to question our ability to get it done,? Hindery said. ?And as we told Gov. Christie, we were going to do it without any money from the state or the towns, and that made it very difficult. And it took us longer.?

In addition to having a new contract, Hindery said this week that his race has all the necessary local permits, and has 31 contractors at work on the course and other race preparations.

He also said he had hired a new member of his race team, F1 veteran Martin Hunt, who had served as an official with Circuit of the Americas, which hosts the U.S. Grand Prix. Hindery said he would announce his new deal and Hunt?s hiring this weekend in Montreal, where the F1 Grand Prix du Canada will be run on Sunday.

The U.S. Grand Prix, which debuted in November as America?s first F1 race since 2007, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Mayors Felix Roque of West New York and Richard Turner of Weehawken. But Turner told The Star-Ledger last week that preparations for the race are moving ahead.

Regarding the precise date of the race, Hindery said F1 was keeping to its original plan to schedule it as the next event after the Canadian grand prix, a logistically efficient race-pairing for F1?s 11 teams and large international community.

NBC Sports said this week that it was encouraged by ongoing talks with Hindery and F1 on the scheduling issue.

"We have had positive discussions with both Formula One and Leo Hindery?s group regarding potential broadcast windows that will maximize media exposure for this race,? an NBC Sports spokesman said in a statement, ?if Formula One adds it to the schedule.?

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013 ... er_says.html#incart_river

Bring it on a year later it seems.

F1: New Jersey Race Postponed

The inaugural Grand Prix of America race in Northern New Jersey will be postponed one year until 2014, sources have confirmed to SPEED.com.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and event organizers will make the announcement on Friday, sources said.

The race, scheduled for June 16, 2013, will be pushed back a year in order for track organizers to finish the permitting process needed to complete the 3.2-mile road course along the Hudson River in Weehawken and West New York, N.J.

Bring it on, baby! I'll be there, inhaling the fumes and grooving on the sound of 18,000 rpms!

I'm not even a racing fan at all, but I'm pretty excited about it. Some people just want to be upset at everything, I guess. Will bring a good amount of tourism here, and the track is really interesting, with great views, which will shed a positive light on Hudson County. Really don't see any downsides to this at all, except yeah, some traffic for a bit. A traffic "disaster" is an exaggeration.

Quote:

Translation: "It's going to be a F-ing mess. This is going to be an economic and traffic disaster."

Quote:

Translation: "They compare it to the Demolition Derby in Islip but it will have the feel of Hudson County with world class potholes."

NJ F1 race in doubt

Of course is is business as usual for Bernie...
Next moth it'll be back on

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Yes, racing through a flat marshland would obviously have been more interesting than racing through a route that twists around and up and down the Palisades Cliffs.

Yeah, bad timing?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ ... un-thailand?newsfeed=true

Red Bull F1 takes over NJ

Couple of shots in LSP and more footage of the run through the Lincoln Tunnel.

Too bad we can't have that race in LSP. It would have been so awesome. This time Pesin screwed up.

Well, the story has made it to the BBC News:


Formula 1 will hold a Grand Prix in New Jersey in 2013, West New York mayor Felix Roque has claimed.

The United States will feature on the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 2007 with next year's race in Austin, Texas.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie could announce the deal at a press conference scheduled for Tuesday.

Roque said: "It's incredible. This is going to be an economic boom for this whole region."

Continue reading the main story
They compare it to Spa but it will have the feel of Monaco
West New York attorney Joe DeMarco
It has been claimed that the race will take place on a four-lane motorway that runs alongside the Hudson River in Weehawken, West New York.

"It will provide a very challenging course," West New York attorney Joe DeMarco said.

"They compare it to Spa in Belgium but it will have the feel of Monaco."

Lewis Hamilton won the last US Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007.

The event's eight-year run there came to an end when F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone failed to agree new terms with the circuit's owners.

Ecclestone's plans to take a race to the New York area were first revealed when he began talks with representatives of Monticello Motor Club (MMC) in New York in 2009.

Austin-based promoters Full Throttle Productions overcame competition from MMC to stage a race at a purpose-built track with a deal through to 2021.

But, two years on, a deal has now been reached with a consortium of investors and city and state governments for a race to take place in New Jersey.

Wow. Glad I didn't move to Weehawken afterall.

It's going to be tough to lay off my Hot Wheels Crew....sigh....

Anybody who believes this can happen is totally clueless.

Texas spent hundreds of millions on a purpose built race track with grandstands, amenities, etc.

And a couple of broke ass NJ towns think they are going to get a race for pennies?

These morons wouldn't recognize an F1 race on TV if they passed one while switching channels between Nascar and a monster truck rally.

Has any of these dopey politicians DRIVEN on these roads on anything stiffer than a blacked-out out Suburban or Escalade? You go near the speed limit and you are in danger of your wheels falling off with all of the ruts and potholes.

You think Ecclestone is going to sanction a race here?
Dream on.

BTW...I have a Bridge I'd like to sell you, right over in Brooklyn.