SUBSCRIBE Be a subscriber
and get 4 issues for $12
0-60mag.com Newsletter


0-60 News

15 Comments     September 24, 2009

new-york-grand-prix_1

NYC F1 Circuit?

Bernie Ecclestone wants Formula One in the Big Apple, 0-60 draws up the plans.

Bernie Ecclestone has been tossing around the idea of an F1 circuit in the U.S., more specifically NYC. Ecclestone has stated that NYC is the only acceptable alternative to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which got the kibosh from F1 in 2007. Ecclestone admitted that he is less interested in bringing back Indy, instead he is ready to pursue NYC. Today Racer.com reported that he has confirmed the fact that he is still pursuing Manhattan as a venue. “Obviously Manhattan, Ecclestone said. I will tell when it happens if I can do it or not. We were told we couldn’t do a race in Singapore.” Back in April F1-Live reported that Ecclestone was also toying with the idea and he had this to say about racing in the States, “Apart from Indianapolis (…) there is nowhere in America we could go to and hold our head up and say ‘this is comparable to other circuits we are building around the world’.”

Now, we got word back in June ‘08 that Formula One was talking about possibly bringing the Indy GP back to the states. That flame fizzled out but it got us thinking at 0-60. We put all the legwork behind designing an F1 course in the heart of Manhattan in our Winter 2008 issue. Do we have ESP? Cause it turns out we beat Bernie to the punch and had a course layout months before. Here is a PDF of the article below, so you internet savvy bastards don’t have to scan us.

Bernie. We’re calling you out. Can you design a better course?

(Source: Racer)

Send to a Friend:





SEND TO A FRIEND    POST A COMMENT

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pm and is filed under ** Highlight **, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

15 Responses to “NYC F1 Circuit?”

09.24.09 at 2:49 pm

Chris H says:
As cool as this would be, does anyone really think the libs and greenies in NYC are going to have their precious Central Park desecrated by these dino-fuel burning monsters? :rolleyes: A race around the proposed with curcuit with South Park’s “The Entity,” now that’s much more likely.

09.24.09 at 8:48 pm

Jack Chinelii says:
Yes.

09.25.09 at 11:19 am

Justin says:
Why not do a race at Road America, thats supposed to be a good track.

09.25.09 at 11:21 am

Justin says:
It would also be amazing to see the F1 cars flying down the cork screw at Laguna Seca

09.25.09 at 4:17 pm

Jossue Rivera says:
YES!!!!! BRING IT HERE!!!!! THERE ISN’T ANY RACING HERE FOR MILES!!!!!!

09.25.09 at 4:42 pm

Mike Bloomberg says:
never gonna happen!!!! period.

09.25.09 at 4:47 pm

mbs says:
laguna seca would be fantastic.

09.25.09 at 5:01 pm

r2d2 says:
They could use the FDR and the West Side Highway….ample space, and wouldnt be nearly as much of a traffic issue.

09.25.09 at 5:01 pm

vrmchris says:
hello to all. justin, i agree with you that road america would be the perfect track for f1. however, bernie and the f1 crowd would not agree. why? lack of “first class” amenities is the primary reason why that would not happen. secondary reason is that bernie asks for too much money to stage a f1 race. tertiary reason is that it is too far from major media market. the closest is chicago. now there are many racing enthusiasts here in the upper midwest. they will put up with the lack of “first class” amenities. the f1 crowd will not.

09.25.09 at 6:02 pm

Balazs says:
In addition to the above points, we have a bigger problem - road infrastruture. NYC and surrounding area, in my humble opinion, has 3rd world quality roads, seriously - the amount of potholes and uneven surfaces are simply amazing, and the highways are sometimes even worse. If a regular car has trouble going through these streets normally, how do they expect an F1 car that is centimeters close to the ground manage these surfaces. It’s a nice unrealizable dream.

09.26.09 at 7:08 am

Keith Collantine says:
It’s a nice idea but I can’t see it happening. Besides, America has loads of great racing tracks.

09.26.09 at 7:36 am

Matt M says:
As interesting as a street circuit in NYC sounds, I’d rather see F1 cars on a full out road course. Let’s be honest street circuits don’t lend themselves to great racing usually a parade formation with little or no passing. The most exciting thing about most street circuits is qualifying.

09.26.09 at 2:34 pm

Sam says:
There is no chance they would allow this to happen… but how awesome would it be. Who knows, maybe they’ll do the race in the middle of January. ;)

09.28.09 at 8:40 am

P1 says:
I live in NYC and I drive in NYC, other than the street surface being total crap, this could be a good circuit! Also the Park would make a track, I jog around it all the time, those streets would be a blast to race on!

09.29.09 at 11:12 am

airboss16 says:
If you refer to the first issue of AUtomobile Quarterly back in 1961- there was an article proposing a Formula one race in Manhattan. It was probably more feasible then-however saying that- if the Bloomberg’s and the Trump’s, etc., of the world get the idea that this would be a money maker for the city- then just maybe….. In the meantime- Central Park is really the BEST venue. Back in the mid 60’s -when NYPD had the “Blue Flu” - we had impromtu time trials through the park road course.

Comments

leading-lambo-lady

11.4.09 - 12:56pm

Ladies. Love. Lambos.

We here at 0-60 have conducted a study and the results are astonishing. Women will dress scantily and pose for pictures with a Lamborghini.

blockvsloeb

04.21.09 - 3:52pm

Block Vs. Loeb

Epic showdown, or not so much?

day00_lg5_1086

04.17.09 - 2:22pm

Subaru Gallery From the Olympus Rally Testing

Preview of what to look forward to at the Olympus Rally in Washington this weekend.

_mg_7995117

04.8.09 - 6:19pm

New York Auto Show

The auto show hits New York City and we’re there to cover it.

ken_block-035640_2

04.6.09 - 11:37am

Ken Block Gymkhana: the Remix

KB launches new Gymkhana site with an alternate edit of the Gymkhana Practice clip oozing with bonus footage.