OCTOBER 21, 2004

Mexico announces race in October 2006

Joaquin Hendricks, the governor of the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico has announced that it will be hosting a Grand Prix from October 2006. The news will be officially announced on Monday. The construction will begin immediately with a budget of $80m on a 300-acre site near Cancun. Mexico has not had a Grand Prix since 1992.

The project has the support of the Quintana Roo state and from the Secretary of Tourism Rodolfo Elizondo Torres.

Mexican motorsports in undergoing a renaissance at the moment with six Mexicans having raced in CART this year and the events in Mexico attracting big crowds.

Mexican companies are happy to get involved in CART because they can take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and cheap labour costs to compete against US firms in the American market. Nearly 90% of Mexican exports go to the US market and so Mexican drivers have been able to find money to race in the USA.