Austin ready to pay hosting fees for F1 in 2012
While the United States Grand Prix seemed highly threatened for 2012, the event's organizers are reportedly finally ready to pay the entry fees owed to Bernie Ecclestone to host an F1 Grand Prix in 2012 as initially planned.
To host Formula 1, a Grand Prix promoter must pay entry fees to the FOM, led by Bernie Ecclestone. It is the payment of these fees that endangered the organization of a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin as early as 2012. But while the race could be canceled on December 7 during the World Motor Sport Council meeting, things might finally be settled without postponement.
The race organizers have declared themselves ready to pay what they owe Bernie Ecclestone, provided they sign a contract with reasonable terms, which was not the case with the last contract sent by the Briton recently. This approach could rekindle the holding of the Grand Prix as early as 2012, provided that the FOM agrees with the conditions proposed by the Americans.
“We have been ready to send our rights payment to Mr. Ecclestone for some time now. He has not yet received it because the new contract presented to us two weeks ago contained unrealistic and unfeasible demands. We signed and returned a contract similar to what we expected to receive,” said Bobby Epstein, one of the financial partners, in a statement issued by the Circuit of the Americas.
Epstein also reiterated that everything could be done for the race to take place as planned next year – it was supposed to be held on November 18, 2012 – even though a postponement to 2013 had recently been considered.
The race should be a reality, but if we want to hold the race date in 2012, we need to receive a signature in the coming days. We believe that the teams, fans, sponsors, and the local economy share our enthusiasm and hope that their voices will be heard, » added Epstein.
Update: Bernie Ecclestone told journalists following this statement that he doubted a Grand Prix would be held in Austin in 2012, but he did not rule out a return in 2013. The FOM chief also stated that the FOM remained the sole decision-maker in granting a Grand Prix or not.
The truth is they are not respecting the terms and conditions of our contract. And since we are drafting the contract, we will assign them the event or not. They are not assigning us anything on their side. They have been creating problems for 4 months now, there are two partners in disagreement and two different groups disagreeing with each other, and in the end, neither of them has the money, Ecclestone stated.
