Tavo Hellmund wants to bring an American driver to F1
If the Austin circuit has experienced some financial setbacks (which has led to a halt in construction for the past two months), the organizers are determined to increase the popularity of F1 in the United States. This will be realized through a program that will allow three American drivers to meet key figures in the sport during the Austin event.
If the exact conditions of the «Ultimate Pit Pass» program are still to be defined, the main outline is that candidates must be between 14 and 20 years old as of January 1, 2012. They can race in all categories of motorsport, from karting to single-seaters and sedans like Nascar and its promotion series.
The uniqueness of this program is that it was negotiated directly between Tavo Hellmund and Bernie Ecclestone’s FOM, which is very rarely the case. For the F1’s main money manager to be directly involved in this program shows how important it is for him to succeed in making Formula One finally popular across the Atlantic: Bernie is a great supporter for America to develop a pool of talents for Formula One. This opportunity is in line with his and my objectives to establish an active presence with national talents.
Indeed, the American promoter wishes to act as a facilitator between young talents and established teams, which is often not possible for drivers without support: Most young drivers only dream of seeing firsthand what the best teams and drivers in the world do during a Grand Prix weekend. Until now, these kinds of opportunities have been offered only to young drivers who have either already succeeded in climbing the motorsport ladder or are part of a team’s driver development program.
Now it remains to complete the circuit on time so that the first United States Grand Prix in Austin is a success and gives local drivers the desire to join F1, while the NASCAR and IndyCar fields are much larger and more accessible for American drivers.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
