APRIL 20, 2007

Turkish GP guaranteed until 2021

The Turkish Grand Prix is guaranteed until 2021 under a new deal announced at the Istanbul Park Circuit. A new company formed by F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has taken over the operation of the Istanbul Park circuit for all events, including F1 and the MotoGP. Ecclestone will pay an annual lease fee and will have a profit-sharing scheme with Fiyas, the government-backed Turkish company that owns the circuit.

"F1 needs to be in this part of the world," Ecclestone said. "Actually our contract here for F1 is one of the worst that we have and my board of directors have often wondered why we did this deal. But it is like going to China, Everyone thought I was stark raving mad to take F1 to China but we needed to be there and that is also the case for Turkey."

Ecclestone said that he expected to have "no problem finding the right person to present the winner™s trophy" in 2007 as he deflected a question about the controversy over the political implications of last year's podium ceremony.