Why Not Formula 1 Racing In Boston?

The problem with getting F1 is it is insanely expensive to host. I believe Shanghai and Abu Dhabi spent at least $500 million to build a F1-specific track. And the fee just to host each year to a greedy Bernie and his his crew is somewhere in $20 million range. And Bernie doesn't tend to sign long-term deals.
 
Check this out: an energetic Mayor and a helping hand from the Governor, and voila, the frigging New Jersey Grand Prix.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/15440153.stm

My favorite part:

"It has been claimed that the race will take place on a four-lane motorway that runs alongside the Hudson River in Weehawken, West New York. "It will provide a very challenging course," West New York attorney Joe DeMarco said. "They compare it to Spa in Belgium but it will have the feel of Monaco."

Guess I'll skip the trip to the Casino de Monte-Carlo in favor of a few scratch tickets from Vinnie in Hohokus.
 
I had a chance to see F1 live in Montreal, Nurburg and Budapest (Hungaroring). The last two have tracks outside and far from public so unless we talk about a race inside the city, this could be done.

If this would be in the city, the only solution would be around Boston Common:

Start on Tremont near Park Street.
Right to Stuart Street and take right to Charles St
Pass Boylston St
Left to Beacon St
Left to Arlington St
Right to Newbury St all way to Mass Ave
Right on Mass Ave
Right on Beacon St
Left on Storrow Drive
From Storrow Right to Charles Station and through Cambridge Street to finish line at Park Street.

USA has now two F1 cities next year and Montreal few hours away in June. But this will never happen. Also, our city is dead at 2am. Although it's nothing compared to Dubai.
 
do you mean 'Left on Beacon St' and then 'Right on Storrow Drive' (at Charlesgate) ?

Also, our city is dead at 2am.

Wait, aren't these races held during the day?
 
do you mean 'Left on Beacon St' and then 'Right on Storrow Drive' (at Charlesgate) ?



Wait, aren't these races held during the day?


No, right on beacon st or comm ave. Then Storrow where they can do some higher speeds, go through the mini tunnel and get off at where Charles Station/Street are and keep going straight on Cambridge st.

Most races are during the day, start at 10 usually but the four day event calls for some partying in the city. Montreal stays busy like Italy in the summer during night.
 
Why wouldn't we just do something that mostly involved driving on Storrow and Memorial?
 
Explain to me again the appeal of temporally crippling part our city so that a bunch of lunatics can wag their d... er, drive really fast in circle?
 
To compete with New York? To bring in a big bump in tourist revenue? To get Boston more noticed, which cascades into better utilization of our convention centers?

Take your pick.
 
Responding to a much earlier post:

I love the idea of F1 racing. More a possibility, though, would be a downtown bike race or even a speed skating race.

Didn't someone propose the bike race for a couple summers ago, only to be shot down by His Honor?

For the last three Septembers, there has been a bike race called the Mayor's Cup on streets surrounding City Hall Plaza, in the afternoon after Hub On Wheels.
 
To compete with New York? To bring in a big bump in tourist revenue? To get Boston more noticed, which cascades into better utilization of our convention centers?

Take your pick.

Henry,

Nexr summer Boston and the USNS Constitution will host a naval review ultiple countries, and vist by the Tall Ships in honor of the role of the Constitution and the Bicentennial of the War of 1812

June 30 - July 5

You can't do much better than this -- Worl-class spectacle + summer Boston
 

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