Racing heavyweights looking to revive the A1 Grand Prix


In keeping with a brand new report from Sky Information, plenty of heavyweight figures on the earth of motorsport need to revive the A1 Grand Prix (A1GP), a racing collection that existed from 2005 till 2009. Within the A1GP, typically termed the “World Cup of Motorsport,” drivers compete for nations, somewhat than for a racing crew.

Within the report from Sky Information, a crew together with Sir Keith Mills (the founding father of Origin Sports activities Group, a sports activities funding agency which has performed a key function in occasions such because the America’s Cup World Collection and the Invictus Video games) is behind the transfer. Origin was additionally behind the push for the 2012 Summer time Video games in London. One other member of the crew trying to revive the A1GP is Marcin Budkowski, a former crew principal at Alpine F1 crew in addition to a former director of the Federation Internationale de l’Vehicle (FIA), the world’s motorsport governing physique which oversees quite a few racing competitions, together with Components 1.

The group is trying to elevate $100 million to fund the collection, with an eye fixed in direction of launching subsequent 12 months. In keeping with Sky Information, the imaginative and prescient for the revamped A1GP is to run the collection from December till July in order to not fully battle with F1. Organizers are hoping to have groups from international locations together with Britain, China, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the USA, and to stage 12 races unfold throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, the Center East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

With the worldwide progress of F1, there may be an concept that motorsport can thrive in beforehand untapped markets, equivalent to Africa.

Sky Information reviews that collection would depend on open-cockpit autos with speeds pushing that of F1. Moreover, the organizers are looking for to design automobiles that will run on sustainable gasoline.

One other facet of the brand new imaginative and prescient is to have two drivers for every nation, an older established veteran together with a youthful, up-and-coming driver.

The earlier model of the A1GP folded in Could of 2009, because of the worldwide monetary disaster that rocked monetary techniques worldwide that spring.

The inaugural season of the A1GP got here again in the course of the 2005-2006 season, and Group France emerged as the primary champions of the collection. Group Germany gained the 2006-2007 season, with Group Switzerland rising victorious in the course of the 2007-2008 marketing campaign.

Group Eire gained the 2008-2009 season, which might find yourself being the ultimate full season of the A1GP.

AIGP introduced a nine-race schedule for the 2009-2010 season, with races scheduled in every of the 9 nations that had been slated to compete. The primary race of that marketing campaign was to happen in Australia on the finish of October. Nevertheless, on October 17 it was introduced that the race slated for Australia could be canceled, as tools for all of the groups had but to go away London and wouldn’t make it to the circuit in time.

Ultimately, not one of the scheduled races passed off, and the collection folded.