OWRS will go wherever the $$$ is

[Dov]

From Speedtv....... http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/11016/

I wouldn’t book my tickets for the first Manchester Champ Car Grand Prix just yet. Nor would I rush down to the local Argentine embasssy in an effort to beat the rush on visas for the first Buenos Aires Champ Car Grand Prix. On the other hand, if I had a yen to attend a Champ Car race in a new and exotic locale, I’d make sure my passport was valid at least through the end of 2005.

For, although there are no assurances Champ Cars will ever take to the streets of Manchester or Buenos Aires, rest assured the Champ Car calendars for next year and beyond will contain a strong international flavor if Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, Kevin Kalkhoven, president Dick Eidswick and chairman and senior vp David Clare have anything to say about it. And, given their respective roles in Champ Car, it’s a safe bet to say they will have a lot to say about future CCWS calendars.

It’s a no brainer, really. Although the CCWS’ recent forays to England and Germany have been pretty dismal failures on the profit and loss sheets, in a dozen years of operation the Surfers Paradise event has not only emerged as a keystone event on the schedule, it serves as a model for all future overseas Champ Car events. To wit, a substantial promoters fee, coupled with team travel allowances and an energetic promotional campaign. If those expenses are subsidized by the government (which, in this case, they are) then so be it. After all, governments from Malaysia to Mexico and Bahrain, have seen the wisdom of helping to underwrite high-profile international motorsports events; not unlike their counterparts who shell out a king’s ransom every four years for the prestige and collateral benefits associated with staging the Olympics or the World Cup. Just ask Bernie Ecclestone, a man who knows a thing or two about running a profitable motorsports series.

Although no one at Champ Car is talking turkey (and being a privately held company, they are no longer required to do so), the new event in Seoul slated for October is surely based on the Surfers Paradise financial/promotional model. Likewise, you can be sure a major reason the stillborn race in Durban, South Africa failed to come to fruition is because the would-be organizers were unable to create the critical mass necessary to generate governmental support.

This is not to say that the Champ Car World Series won’t continue to be North American-based, or that the financially profitable events in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be thrown under the Champ Car business unit to make room for a race on the Ivory Coast or Tierra del Fuego.

But it is to say the new owners of Champ Car are out to make a buck, and they will entertain any and all proposals that fit their financial models and their marketing objectives, be they in North America or elsewhere. I’m confident of that fact. Just to be sure, though, I called David Clare today to confirm my suspicions. Unfortunately, he was not available. It seems he was out of the country….

[cartpix]

Well, it makes sence. OWRS isn't a charity. They are in business, to make money. Most businesses are. Those that don't make money, aren't around, very long.

Jeff

[Amar7605]

You're right - look at where I am in California. Businesses are leaving and moving to other states because they just can't make a profit here. Same goes for OWRS. If they can't make it here in the US (and it is a shame that race car fans only have tunnel vision for NASCAR rustbuckets) then they have to find other venues to make money at. I am not saying that there aren't any US cities that OWRS can be successful in, but with the way that American race fans are going today and the forseeable future, you can't blame OWRS for looking elsewhere.

[stoned pony]

That being the case, Amar, one would think OWRS and NASCAR could work out some kind of sweetheart deal to get both champ series races on the same bill at some meetings. Or doen't it work like that in the States?

[macdaddy]

The IRL already has a similar "sweetheart deal" with NASCAR.
Not sure about OWRS, but the former CART was not exactly on the best of terms with the ISC, who owns most of the major Amercian tracks.

[codename_47]

You know....you could replace "OWRS" in the title, and try and edit out the name in the article, and paste in ANY other series, and it'd be true...

What series WOULDN'T go where the $$$ is??

[Liz]

Not only any racing series but any serious business of any kind. Hence the current yowling and howling about "outsourcing American Jobs" from certain quarters.

The upside is, of course, that moving to areas where you can make money doesn't mean that the people in the area you have left can't get your product anymore. And once you're a roaring success in other venues, they just might ask you to come back under much more advantageous terms to you -- because you're now not coming to them on bended knee.

I'm a business person and this works for me.

[Adam43]

I agree OWR$ need to re-build at the moment. If they can get better deals then the have to.

[racinthestreets]

LA$ VEGA$ Has Money. It is almost two weeks, which is about the time frame that PG gave after Long Beach for an announcement regarding a race in LA$ VEGA$. I sincerely hope that the race is on for this year.

IMO where ever they find the money to stage a profitable race weekend send the show

[zerO]

Hey Dov,
didn't David Clare leave OWRS for GARRA (or something akin), or it isn't in effect yet ???... just an idea, not that I do not agree with that commentary...

zerO