The 2009 F1 calendar was released by the FIA and Montreal was not listed as a host city. It seems that Uncle Bernie, Max “Cosplay” Mosley and Co have decided to renege on their commitment and scrapped the Canadian Grand Prix even though we were assured to have it until 2011.
Shanghai, Bahrain, Sepang, Turkey, Singapore and Valencia can be considered some of the reasons why Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve will disappear from the roster. All these circuits have been built within the last 10 years, exceptions are Valencia and Singapore. They represent the new breed, designed by German architect Hermann Tilke. Arguably the most sophisticated and technologically advanced tracks built so far, they offer fast straight lines, graceful curves, original settings, breathtaking architecture, up to date pit/medical/safety utilities but most important…bigger patron amenities.
One only has to see the amount of Bling paraded during a race weekend to understand what it takes to lube such venues; money, lots of it. Are you a famous/notorious/alcoholic model, musician, actor, trust fund baby, manager/guru/wannabe? Do you sport high cheekbones, jelly tits, rubber lips or has any other part of your anatomy been knifed, pulled, tucked, nipped or Botoxed? Then, enjoy the races, of which you know next to nothing about other than brightly colored and noisy cars going ‘round in circles, really fast.
Just you try to compare a place like Bahrain to Montreal! How the hell can we compete with that kind of cash? Simple, we can’t. What do we have to offer? Céline or Le Cirque du Soleil? Nah, but they’re probably the next acts to be bought by the Cartel, though! If only the World’s economy was fueled with Snow Dollars, baby, wed’ve made a killing last winter. Alas, Black Gold controls our collective Destiny.
Most (real) F1 fans are working stiffs. We’ll never own a jet, our Ferrari F430 has a scale ratio of 1:48 and we will never cavort with TinselTown. The Canadian GP gave us a chance to see the drivers and maybe a celeb or two. That dubious possibility was always a statistical probability if you A:) dished out a little more coin for paddock seats or B:) the company you work for has a VIP Loge and you’re a “sales rep with clients”! The whole site lent itself to that fandom because it was very Canadian; open, friendly, didn’t take itself too seriously but it packed a wallop. This is not enough anymore.
Uncle Bernie used his negotiating veto and forced Normand Legault to cough-up more cash. That proverbial straw broke the camel’s back. Ebenezer Ecclestone here is calling the whole thing an unfortunate, contractual commercial difference. Translating that marketing slang using Burg42fish we get: Bullshit. This is simply a dictator abusing his power to get more money and more glamorous venues. This is probably what he said: “Either re-vamp and modernize the whole site or we give it to the UAE”. Since Mr. Legault could not fork out the amount required, he had to throw in the towel. Nice moves Bernie, greed looks good on you.
We should have been able to avoid this situation. We don’t use our money adequately because we don’t have any. For the past 50 years, every level of the Canadian Government (Fed, Prov, Municipal) denied us the opportunity to be a Great Nation. Thanks to a narrow mindset, lack of vision, abhorrence for all types of Forward Thinking, this humble country has resources that other countries go to war over and we still can't seem to figure out what to do with them. We have the knowledge, the materials and yet, they easily squash us on the World Stage because we've never gotten out of this rut. As we head for the polls in 6 days, we may want to think hard before we cast our ballots. Canada can't sit still any longer, we have more to lose than a Grand Prix.
I’ve been a fan of F1 racing since childhood. I watched and cheered for Gilles Villeneuve as he won the first GP in’78 and I cried when he was killed in Zolder. That kind of passion is shared by many Montrealers but now, it's been snuffed out. I guess we'll see what the future holds. In the mean time, the only thing we can do is reminisce and thank the Racing Gods for what was given to us.
Salut Gilles.
Shanghai, Bahrain, Sepang, Turkey, Singapore and Valencia can be considered some of the reasons why Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve will disappear from the roster. All these circuits have been built within the last 10 years, exceptions are Valencia and Singapore. They represent the new breed, designed by German architect Hermann Tilke. Arguably the most sophisticated and technologically advanced tracks built so far, they offer fast straight lines, graceful curves, original settings, breathtaking architecture, up to date pit/medical/safety utilities but most important…bigger patron amenities.
One only has to see the amount of Bling paraded during a race weekend to understand what it takes to lube such venues; money, lots of it. Are you a famous/notorious/alcoholic model, musician, actor, trust fund baby, manager/guru/wannabe? Do you sport high cheekbones, jelly tits, rubber lips or has any other part of your anatomy been knifed, pulled, tucked, nipped or Botoxed? Then, enjoy the races, of which you know next to nothing about other than brightly colored and noisy cars going ‘round in circles, really fast.
Just you try to compare a place like Bahrain to Montreal! How the hell can we compete with that kind of cash? Simple, we can’t. What do we have to offer? Céline or Le Cirque du Soleil? Nah, but they’re probably the next acts to be bought by the Cartel, though! If only the World’s economy was fueled with Snow Dollars, baby, wed’ve made a killing last winter. Alas, Black Gold controls our collective Destiny.
Most (real) F1 fans are working stiffs. We’ll never own a jet, our Ferrari F430 has a scale ratio of 1:48 and we will never cavort with TinselTown. The Canadian GP gave us a chance to see the drivers and maybe a celeb or two. That dubious possibility was always a statistical probability if you A:) dished out a little more coin for paddock seats or B:) the company you work for has a VIP Loge and you’re a “sales rep with clients”! The whole site lent itself to that fandom because it was very Canadian; open, friendly, didn’t take itself too seriously but it packed a wallop. This is not enough anymore.
Uncle Bernie used his negotiating veto and forced Normand Legault to cough-up more cash. That proverbial straw broke the camel’s back. Ebenezer Ecclestone here is calling the whole thing an unfortunate, contractual commercial difference. Translating that marketing slang using Burg42fish we get: Bullshit. This is simply a dictator abusing his power to get more money and more glamorous venues. This is probably what he said: “Either re-vamp and modernize the whole site or we give it to the UAE”. Since Mr. Legault could not fork out the amount required, he had to throw in the towel. Nice moves Bernie, greed looks good on you.
We should have been able to avoid this situation. We don’t use our money adequately because we don’t have any. For the past 50 years, every level of the Canadian Government (Fed, Prov, Municipal) denied us the opportunity to be a Great Nation. Thanks to a narrow mindset, lack of vision, abhorrence for all types of Forward Thinking, this humble country has resources that other countries go to war over and we still can't seem to figure out what to do with them. We have the knowledge, the materials and yet, they easily squash us on the World Stage because we've never gotten out of this rut. As we head for the polls in 6 days, we may want to think hard before we cast our ballots. Canada can't sit still any longer, we have more to lose than a Grand Prix.
I’ve been a fan of F1 racing since childhood. I watched and cheered for Gilles Villeneuve as he won the first GP in’78 and I cried when he was killed in Zolder. That kind of passion is shared by many Montrealers but now, it's been snuffed out. I guess we'll see what the future holds. In the mean time, the only thing we can do is reminisce and thank the Racing Gods for what was given to us.
Salut Gilles.
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