SEPTEMBER 30, 2002

Niet for Moscow, Da for St Petersburg

Igor Yermilin, the vice-president of the Russian Motor Racing Federation, has confirmed that the planned Grand Prix of Moscow is, in effect, out of the question for the next few years.

Speaking to the Reuters newsagency Yermilin blamed the Moscow city council's tourism committee for the failure and said that the most likely Formula 1 project in Russia now is in St Petersburg where land had been set aside by the authorities for the construction of a racing facility and talks are well-advanced with the F1 authorities.

Construction work on the project could begin early next year and the track could be ready within two or three years. The major problem will be finding a slot on the F1 calendar as there is already the need for two races to be dropped to make way for Bahrain and China. It is anticipated that Austria and San Marino are likely to be the two victims and if a Russian race does materialize, Budapest is unlikely to survive.