Deal to lock in
Grand Prix race for 10 years in Montreal is imminent, mayor says.
The Canadian Grand Prix will be held in Montreal for another decade under an agreement to be reached soon with the Formula One race organizers, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said.
“Sleep tight, it will be there next year,” Coderre said in an interview today at Bloomberg News headquarters in New York. “We are in the weeks to sign. We just need to make sure that everything” is in place, he said.
Formula One Management’s agreement with Octane Racing Group, the event promoter, expires after this year’s June 8 race at the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit. Octane chief executive officer François Dumontier said in a speech in Montreal on April 9 that a new accord is “urgently” needed and that the race’s future isn’t assured.
Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s CEO, said he’s optimistic a new deal will be reached to keep the race in Montreal, its home since 1978.
“We’re in the process of getting things sorted out and I’m sure we’ll do that,” Ecclestone said Monday in a phone
Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled in 2009 due to a dispute but returned in 2010.
interview from London. “We’ll be happy to be back there.”
The agreement being discussed would last 10 years, Coderre said. Formula One drivers “love Montreal,” the mayor said. “It’s a good place. The population is there.”
Normand Prieur, a spokesman for Octane, didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail message and an email Monday seeking comment.
The city, the province of Quebec and the federal government are being asked to fund improvements to the racetrack that could cost as much as $40 million, La Presse newspaper reported April 10.
Ecclestone declined to comment on the size of the investment required, citing confidentiality agreements.
The Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled in 2009 due to a dispute between the organizers and the sport’s officials.
A new pact was eventually reached and the race returned to Canada’s secondbiggest city in 2010.
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix generated spending of about $90 million, including $75 million from tourists, according to estimates by Tourisme Montréal, the municipal tourism agency.
More than 300,000 people attended the race and qualifying sessions over three days, boosting hotel occupancy rates to 95 per cent that weekend, the agency said.