Rome cools GP bid and eyes 2020 Olympics instead

Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno has announced the city is taking “a step back” with its plans for a formula one race on the streets of the EUR district.
Although formerly supportive of the plans, Bernie Ecclestone last week wrote to Alemanno warning that with Monza already on the calendar, F1 had no room for two Italian rounds per season.

That was interpreted as the start of negotiations to annually alternate Rome and Monza, but Alemanno has announced that Rome should now turn most of its focus towards bidding for the 2020 Olympics.

“The road has not been completely closed, but the interests of our city must be compatible with the national ones,” La Repubblica newspaper quotes him as saying.

Regarding F1, Rome will “take a step back”, Alemanno added, revealing that there “will be a press conference in the coming days”.

He called on the government to now make a “stronger commitment regarding the 2020 Olympics”, insisting that the event “as a target for Rome is not just ambitious but achievable”.

Alemanno suggested that talks about a cooperation between Rome and Monza regarding F1 did not bear fruit.

“We have always maintained contact with the mayor of Monza, with the ministers of the north and all those of the Lombardy region.

“I have to say that we never found a great dialogue, even when we stressed that if it was a choice between Monza and Rome then we would pull back,” he said.

0 comments

Other articlesgo to homepage

	Backer says no doubts about 2012 Austin GP(0) The key backer of the scheduled 2012 US grand prix insists he remains committed to the Circuit of the Americas project. Construction in Austin, Texas, has continued amid raging local media speculation, as lawsuits are pending and questions are constantly asked about the viability of the project commenced by the now offside promoter Tavo Hellmund.

	Student protests threaten 2012 Canada GP(0) Angry students could threaten next month’s Canadian grand prix. Protests in Montreal, regarding planned university tuition fee increases, have been turning increasingly ugly and even violent, involving the throwing of glass bottles and hundreds of arrests. According to the French language La Presse newspaper, at least one student association has specifically threatened to disrupt the

	F1′s sixth winner shapes up for Monaco(0) F1′s next winner could be at the wheel of a black and gold car. “I think Kimi (Raikkonen) will be the sixth different winner in the sixth race,” said Finnish commentator and former driver Mika Salo, to the MTV3 broadcaster. Although the results in 2012 have proved impossible to predict so far, many paddock pundits

	Spain, Spa, France, Canada and Russia – race rumours(0) Valencia will not be on next year’s F1 calendar, Bernie Ecclestone said on Saturday. He confirmed that, starting in 2013, an annually alternating deal between the Spanish port city and Barcelona will begin. Barcelona, the scene of this weekend’s Spanish grand prix, will host the race in 2013, before Valencia returns to the schedule in

	Montreal must improve track or lose F1 race(0) Montreal has been warned to spend around $15 million on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or risk losing the Canadian grand prix. La Presse reports that Bernie Ecclestone has said only a major redevelopment of the circuit will lead to talks about a new contract beyond 2014. The report said that, in light of the F1