MOTORSPORT: A crushing blow for the Gold Coast

Special report

October 19, 2009

On the optimistic view, the confirmation at the weekend that the A1 GP show won't make it to the Gold Coast for this week's four-day motor racing carnival should have been the end of the farce.

It's not. And it won't be.

For starters, the event remains the SuperGP even though there is no semblance of grand prix to it.

And the revamped V8 Supercar schedule -- with, instead of two 200km races, four 150km races; two on Saturday and two on Sunday -- is being billed as an "endurance" event.

Indeed, the hype merchants would have us believe, the second biggest V8 Supercar enduro in the country, after the Bathurst 1000.

What next? It'll be bigger than the Le Mans classic as the four races will be strung out over more than 24 hours. No matter that the V8s will race barely a fraction of the distance the sports cars cover in France - and with plenty of "breathers".

The announcements on Saturday of what the Queensland government press release politely called "the withdrawal" of the A1 GP content should not be a cause for celebration for anyone genuinely interested in motorsport, but there will be a few with smug grins about it -- and dancing on what is now, surely, its grave.

If not dead, A1 is certainly on its deathbed.

Its chairman Tony Teixeira is being fingered by all and sundry as the villain in all of this for maintaining until the premature end that all would be OK.
And Teixeira deserves all the flak he cops.

But the Queensland government, the SuperGP organisers and their advisers also need to have a good look at themselves on how this fiasco has been allowed to happen.

It's been no secret that A1 GP has had more than its share of financial woes. We've been alluding to them here for months and the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper has been tracking things for a good six weeks.

As much as we have been hopeful in these columns that A1 would survive and even prosper as an alternative -- to Formula One and IndyCar -- international open-wheeler series, it needed due diligence done on it. Yet only the most cursory scrutiny appears to have taken place until too late.

Gold Coast Motor Events Corporation chairman Terry Mackenroth and SuperGP CEO Greg Hooton are men in the firing line.

This event runs as a partnership between the Queensland government, contributing $11.6 million a year, and IMG -- International Management Group, billed as the world's premier sports, entertainment and media company, a diversified global business with two major business segments -- IMG Sports & Entertainment and IMG Media -- and employing 2300 people in 30 countries, and -- since 2004 -- owned by Forstmann Little & Co.

Hooton is an IMG man.

Apart from not having read the tea leaves at all well over recent months, Hooton is now feeling "disappointed, angry, upset and let down" by A1 GP, whose reputation he sees as having been "absolutely shattered".

Yet, just as Hooton's now "truly excited" about the revamped SuperGP, on September 22 he was "very excited" at Teixeira's announcement of a nine-round A1 calendar, assurance of the new long-term financial stability for the series as it approached its fifth season, and the announcement of a long-term deal to market its worldwide media rights with -- lo and behold -- IMG Sports Media.

Now if IMG internationally "got into bed" with A1 GP surely it could see what was transpiring -- cars impounded, debts unpaid, countries (teams and events) either pulling out or contemplating doing so -- and just as surely the feedback should have been filtering through the IMG network to Hooton.

The "post-mortem" on this Gold Coast fiasco needs to include close scrutiny of the suitability and competence of IMG to be -- or remain -- involved in such an activity, especially if the event on the streets of Surfers Paradise is to continue to enjoy such generous Queensland government -- i.e. taxpayer -- support.

On the matter of money, the Gold Coast organisers now have the task of trying to recoup $1.8 million already paid to A1/Teixeira.

The problem there is that there is a long line of creditors already in the queue, reportedly claiming 10 million euros -- and, it appears, including engine supplier Ferrari, which must be regretting allowing its marvelous brand name to get tangled in a mess that has become so ugly.

And another money matter for the "post-mortem" is how a naming rights sponsor, energy drink Nitro, had to be ditched months before the event because it didn't have the cash to meet its obligations.

In Nitro's place, Nikon was enticed back as sponsor after having not wanted to renew what had been its Indy deal.

Now Nikon finds itself saddled with the embarrassment of this farce and sponsoring what becomes another domestic motor racing event.

Forget any crud about the massive TV audience for V8 Supercars.

We may have some numbers soon on the Bathurst 1000 overseas, but don't expect to see any for a US audience because we are reliably informed that no V8 Supercar racing is any longer shown at any time of year, in any wee small hour, on American screens.

But don't give up hope as V8 Supercars Australia has appointed someone to handle such matters -- and that operative is none other than IMG.

It will probably find a taker for the V8 TV package in America, if only because it can easily, and cheaply, bundle it together with other sports it places there.

The V8 Supercars will fill the void in the Gold Coast racing program left by A1 and should go down well with the fans. V8SA has been angling for this for a long time and we keep hearing, or being told, that the fans go to Surfers' primarily for the Supercars anyway.

That doesn't quite tally with why there are so many hotel rooms available, and so cheaply, on the Gold Coast this week. Surely if the fans go only or mainly for the V8s everything should have been pretty normal on the accommodation front.

But even before the A1 GP cancellation hotels were reporting a 30-40% slump in bookings compared with the previous Indy weekends.

Now at least one of the major hotels, the Gold Coast International, is offering an "out" for people wanting it. Hooton has offered people holding SuperGP tickets they now don't want a refund, via Ticketek.

The cost of a weekend pass had already been slashed by $45 to $100. Queensland is celebrating its 150th birthday and SuperGP is meant to be part of it.
Instead it's being called a shemozzle and a laughing stock.

But let's look on the bright side and hope that in a week's time there is something to celebrate.