Delay won't discourage F1 organizers

The Clark County Commission's decision Tuesday to delay for another 60 days the awarding of a development contract for a proposed golf course on the south end of the Strip has not dashed the hopes of a group seeking to bring a Formula One race to Las Vegas.

Tommy Baker, president of the locally based United States Grand Prix, said he remained optimistic that his group, which includes Sig Rogich and golf course developer O.B. Sports, said the delay merely is another obstacle in his three-year quest to bring the international racing series to Las Vegas.

Baker said, however, that he has not informed F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone about the latest delay. Ecclestone said during a visit to Las Vegas earlier this year that Baker's and Rogich's group needed to get approval for their project "as soon as possible" if Las Vegas was to be awarded a season-ending F1 race in the year 2000.

"We're aware of what the delay is about and we don't mind the 60-day (delay)," Baker said. "I'm not going to say that Bernie Ecclestone is going to be thrilled ... but we understand some of the underlying elements why the 60-day (delay) should be allowed to pass and we support (the commission's) viewpoint. We're still optimistic."

But Baker also is aware that time is running out for Las Vegas to be awarded the coveted race. Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George and civic groups from San Francisco and Atlanta also are lobbying Ecclestone for the lone U.S. Formula One race.

"We know that Ecclestone is, for lack of a better term, under siege from Indianapolis and from San Francisco ... besides the fact there are five other countries that would like to have a race," Baker said. "It doesn't help that we can't get back to him but we understand and we respect what has to be done here to get this race."

Baker's group is one of three that have submitted bids to develop the 155-acre parcel. All three proposals call for the construction of an 18-hole golf course and an additional recreational component, but Baker's is the only one that includes an F1 race course.

The County Commission originally was set to award the bid on May 5, but gave the three applicants up to 90 days to address significant issues raised by staff. Tuesday's delay means the development contract may not be awarded until early September.

Montreal Grand Prix president Normand Legault, who will work with Baker's group -- at Ecclestone's request -- to put on the Las Vegas F1 race if it is selected to develop the property, attended Tuesday's County Commission meeting and is expected to report to Ecclestone on the delay.

Legault returned to Montreal Tuesday night and did not make himself available to the media, but Baker said he was confident that Legault would make a favorable report to Ecclestone about the merits of staging an F1 race in Las Vegas.

"Normand had a good visit and I think he's going away with a substantiated underscoring of the amenity package that is here which, in the end, will allow him to say to Bernie, 'Let's continue to fight the fight and give them the time to make this work,'" Baker said.

"(Legault) definitively sees the marriage elements between Las Vegas and Formula One being so exciting that he wants to further spirit, as best he can, Bernie to hang in there because the corporate hosting opportunities and the corporate showcasing opportunities are so immense that we really want to see if we can make this happen for Formula One."

Formula One races reach an estimated worldwide television audience of 500 million and can have as much as a $300 million economic impact on a city hosting the series. The F1 World Championship series raced in Las Vegas in 1980 and 1981 on a temporary road course behind Caesars Palace but has not had a presence in the United States since the series ran on the streets of Phoenix in 1991.

archive