DECEMBER 10, 2001
Tobacco companies and the Internet
The organization said that this would pose a serious threat to effective tobacco control. With motorsport having an enormous potential for "virtual" activities, tobacco advertising in the sport could end up being entirely electronic although early experiments with "virtual advertising" on race tracks have not been successful. However there is a future for "virtual racing". David Richards, who owns the commercial rights to the FIA World Rally Championship, said recently that he is planning to use such technology make rallying more popular.
Richard's team are working on software which will enable TV viewers to "drive" rally stages themselves, using data from the cars to construct a virtual reality. Achieving this in Formula 1 would be much more difficult because of the fact that more cars are involved but it is not impossible that there will one day be virtual events - and it is not clear how the legislators are going to stop tobacco advertising in virtual reality.