APRIL 20, 2007

Bernie surveys his empire

Bernie Ecclestone was a visitor at Istanbul Park circuit today in the lead-up to this weekend's Turkish MotoGP race.

Ecclestone usually makes it to one MotoGP race a year, but almost always attends on a qualifying or race day. The visit looked more like a business trip, with Ecclestone inspecting the facility. It has been rumoured for several weeks that Ecclestone has acquired the rights to run the track and may even have bought the entire circuit, although the details of the deal are not entirely clear at the moment. This deal came about after he paid the FIA fine for the promoter after the podium incident at last year's Turkish Grand Prix.