JANUARY 20, 2007

The Greeks wade in

Greece's plans to host a Grand Prix took a big leap forward on Saturday when Greek President Karolos Papoulias signed a decree which will allow investors to seek funding from the Greek development ministry. The government appears to believe that a Grand Prix will help to boost the country's tourist revenues, an important source of earnings for the country. There is no doubt that Turkey's entry into the F1 world is also an important point in this.

The local automobile club has been working on a plan to build a track at Orchomenos, 75 miles northwest of Athens on land that was allocated to the idea as long ago as 1992 but the authorities were not willing to help with the funding beyond agreeing to upgrade the road network around the town.