The president of the New Jersey Grand Prix resigns

If the 2013 calendar has not yet been published, New Jersey has a 10-year contract starting next year that provides for the event to be held following the Montreal one.

Ten months before the race, Tom Cotter, who has been leading the Grand Prix of America (not to be confused with the Circuit of the Americas in Austin) since last January, decided to return to his native North Carolina to continue teaching, writing, and managing his various businesses, according to his statement released to the New York Times.

A heavyweight in American motorsports is leaving the scene. Indeed, between 1985 and 1989, he served as the director of public relations for the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the historical heart of NASCAR. Over the next twelve years, he developed The Cotter Group, a communications agency specializing in motorsports. He succeeded in securing contracts with categories (NASCAR), involved car manufacturers (Ford and Dodge), and major sponsors (McDonald’s, FedEx, or UPS…).

This will not reassure Bernie Ecclestone, who increased the pressure last June by stating that he did not think the circuit would be ready in time to hold a race as early as next year. Since then, the organizers have been working to silence these criticisms by increasing communication operations with Red Bull, with demonstrations by Sebastian Vettel after Montreal, then David Coulthard last week.

The German driver had then wanted to be optimistic: The circuit is far from ready but, as I said, it would be great. I think we can do a lot in a year. It’s been exactly a year since I came to New York. They’re building the Freedom Tower in Manhattan and it’s almost finished. If they can do that in a year, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem to lay some tarmac and set up a few fences.

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr