JUNE 7, 2001
Inside F1 acquires GrandPrix.com
"At a time when many of the websites relating to Formula 1 are struggling to survive we are delighted to be expanding," says Mark Karp of Inside F1 Inc. "We have always aimed to be THE website for Formula 1 racing fans around the world and we believe that the purchase of GrandPrix.com is a great step forward for the business. When people think of Formula 1 racing they think of two phrases: "Formula 1" and "Grand Prix". We now own the Internet rights to one of them.
"We look forward to working with the F1 teams and authorities to give the sport a much stronger presence on the Internet."
The Inside F1 organization was created in 1994 to build up interest in Formula 1 in the United States of America. The company's award-winning newsletter became the industry standard in the late 1990s and it was decided to launch a website at the start of 2000. InsideF1.com was launched at the United States Grand Prix in September last year and its audience has been growing rapidly ever since.
The Inside F1 newsletter was replaced by a weekly newsletter concentrating on the business side of the multi-billion-dollar racing industry. This was launched in January 2001 and is now being read by the major decision-makers throughout the racing industry.
The GrandPrix.com website features some of the best known names in Formula 1 journalism, including Alan Henry, Joe Saward, David Tremayne and Peter Wright. Its up-to-the-minute news service and news analysis is read by most of the Grand Prix circus and by fans all over the world, thanks to its well-established reputation for breaking news.
GrandPrix.com also features the unrivalled Grand Prix Encyclopedia, a database covering every aspect of Formula 1 with a report on each race, a full biography of each driver and a complete history of every team.
It also features the largest photographic archive online with images from father-and-son team Bernard and Paul-Henri Cahier, who have covered F1 since the early 1950s, and from the Klementaski Collection.
Inside F1, which has offices in New York, France and Britain, is also behind the Inside F1 Young Driver Program which is designed to help a young American driver to get to Formula 1. The 2001 Award winner 19-year-old Patrick Long, who is currently a frontrunner in the British Formula Ford Zetec Championship.