It looks like New Jersey may be getting its Formula One race after all.
The Grand Prix of America seemed dead in the water after F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone said the organizers hadn’t raised enough money, but now it’s back on the calendar, provisionally that is.
The race will take place over the weekend of June 1, 2014, pending finalization of the circuit.
The New Jersey race “will take place on a temporary street circuit along the Hudson River in Weehawken and West New York, with the New York City skyline as its backdrop,” an F1 statement said.
The track will be made up entirely of public roads commandeered for racing. Organizers hope the circuit’s proximity to Manhattan will lend it prestige and attract a crowd. F1 cars have been having a lot of tire problems lately, though, and we wonder what sort of havoc public road tarmac will wreak on the temperamental F1 tires.
The Grand Prix of America’s organizers have struggled to put the race together; it’s already been cancelled twice. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
If all goes according to plan, the Grand Prix of America will be part of three consecutive weekends of racing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the week before and the Canadian Grand Prix the week after.
With the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas is still on for next year, the U.S. could potentially have two F1 races in 2014. That’s not bad for the land of NASCAR.
Other new additions to the F1 calendar include a Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, home of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and a race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Formerly known as the A1-Ring, it hosted an F1 event from 1997 to 2003.
Also on the provisional list are Grands Prix in Mexico and South Korea.
