Montreal under threat? Send in the clowns…
Officials of the axed Canadian GP are looking for a new race promoter, following their crunch meeting in London with Bernie Ecclestone.
Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay said after the showdown that it is “still possible” the event could feature on the 2009 calendar, while Quebec economic minister, Raymond Bachand, admitted that the sticking point is cash:
“We must find a promoter from the private sector who will take the event into their hands,” he told reporters at Montreal airport.
Rumours suggest that the promoter could be Guy Laliberte, the founder of the Cirque du Soleil. Laliberte is known to be a big F1 fan - he regularly attended the Canadian GP - and he has a wallet deep enough to bail out the event (Cirque du Soleil is worth more than $1billion, and Laliberte has a 95% stake in the company). Not only that, Laliberte is friends with Bernie Ecclestone.
But a Cirque spokeswoman denies her boss has offered to unleash his chequebook.
“The only role that Guy is playing has been as a consultant, that’s all,” said Rene-Claude Menard in a telephone interview.
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1 Canada really, REALLY wants its Grand Prix back | Gridcrasher - Motor Sports // Nov 14, 2008 at 8:45 am
[…] race, and he hasn’t been paid yet. Canadian officials had hoped to raise the cash privately - Guy Laliberte, the founder of the Cirque du Soleil, was touted as a possible backer - but now Tremblay and co. are so desperate to get the GP back on the 2009 calendar that they are […]