A1 Bankrupt!

[climb]

very unlikely: this series has proved unsuccessful since the gitgo. Someone at Lola will feel relieved for having lost this customer in time

[Spudy]

you only have to look at who A1GP is run by to see where its failed. If the top man is dodgy then its clear the whole thing would collapse eventually. I don't think there is a problem with the concept its just been bled dry by a corporation who doesn't know how to run a series sensibly. For a series to race in some very far away places is not cheap so the finances were always going to be tight, its seems just a little too tight.

[duke_toaster]

Presumably Lola have the IP on the cars, in which case I guess they'll find a series to race in.

[blaffer]

Champ Car died in 2008. A1GP dies in 2009.
Ecclestone must be laughing his a ss off.

[Kebab]

In the immortal words of Warren Buffet: "It is only when the tide goes out that you see who is swimming naked"

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

If it's of any interest, A1GP's website is down ...

Oh great, and I'd only just made a mental note to download all the race result .pdfs before the website disappears, which was to be expected given the current situation...

I've only got the 2005/6 and 2006/7 season results archived (I am sad enough to collect these things for reference). If anyone can help with the result pdf booklets for the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons, it would be much appreciated.

[MagnetON]

Search for them on Google, they may have archived copies of the relevant pages. Or try www.archive.org

[cos]

Originally Posted by Francis Albert

are the debts to the teams included in the £85m?

I would imagine so. Although according to the administrator's documents A1 Operations itself owed a few grand to A1 South Africa and Status Grand Prix (who ran the Irish entry (and possibly one of the other ones... was it Canada?)). Those were the only debts to the teams that I could see.

[cos]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

Oh great, and I'd only just made a mental note to download all the race result .pdfs before the website disappears, which was to be expected given the current situation...

I've only got the 2005/6 and 2006/7 season results archived (I am sad enough to collect these things for reference). If anyone can help with the result pdf booklets for the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons, it would be much appreciated.

I think the A1 results online were all hosted by FORIX, so they would still be available there if you're a FORIX member (or an Autosport subscriber).

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by MagnetON

Search for them on Google, they may have archived copies of the relevant pages. Or try www.archive.org

Didn't try the Wayback Machine before as I assumed it wouldn't give access to the pdf files (it doesn't)... BUT it did give me the direct URL for the results, which is still working (on a separate domain within FORIX I see) -

www.forix.com/a1gp/cp.php

So thanks a lot MagnetON

Edit: Thanks cos, was writing that when you replied. I should have recalled the results were on FORIX. Thankfully you don't need to be a subscriber (for now).

[Kiwi3]

Website is back up again - although it might as well not be, still no indication if Zhuhai will happen or not (I presume not).

[climb]

Originally Posted by Spudy

you only have to look at who A1GP is run by to see where its failed. If the top man is dodgy then its clear the whole thing would collapse eventually. I don't think there is a problem with the concept its just been bled dry by a corporation who doesn't know how to run a series sensibly. For a series to race in some very far away places is not cheap so the finances were always going to be tight, its seems just a little too tight.

Introducing a national competition in the most trans-over-national sports in the world has always sounded innatural to me.

[JagtechOhio]

Hi Climb,

That's an interesting point you raised, and I'm always curious to know how people around the world view this subject.

Here in the U.S., there's a lot of discussion that flagging IndyCar popularity is based in part on the lack of American drivers. I disagree with that: my favorites in any series are chosen on their performance (and character) after seeing what they've got to show.

That said, when Americans competed in A1GP only a diehard racing fan here got a hint of the news.

So what's it like everywhere else? Was the A1GP national loyalty idea a marketing concept that didn't really matter to people?

Either way, I don't think it has much to do with their failure. Quite a pity if the series can't recover, though.

Andrew Bernstein

[Burnsie]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

...when Americans competed in A1GP only a diehard racing fan here got a hint of the news. So what's it like everywhere else?

I was very disappointed with the coverage that our national television broadcaster (RTÉ) dedicated to A1GP when Adam Carroll won the championship this year. On the news it seemed like an afterthought, one of those "and finally" type headlines, and I don't recall seeing any highlights programme - perhaps they didn't have the rights to broadcast the footage, I don't know. BBC Northern Ireland weren't much better either.

Like you pointed out in your post, unless you're a petrol-head you wouldn't really be conscious of a worldwide series such as A1GP compared with the likes of F1 and WRC. It's a shame because more often than not, people who describe motorsport as boring are only being exposed to Formula One Grands Prix which, let's face it, can be as dull as dishwater sometimes.

[JagtechOhio]

Great input Burnsie, Thanks.

If there was much attention to the nation's hero aspect, or the popularity of the sereies in general, your home would have gotten the best of it...just like your champ did!

Andy

[Racing irl]

Originally Posted by Burnsie

I was very disappointed with the coverage that our national television broadcaster (RTÉ) dedicated to A1GP when Adam Carroll won the championship this year. On the news it seemed like an afterthought, one of those "and finally" type headlines, and I don't recall seeing any highlights programme - perhaps they didn't have the rights to broadcast the footage, I don't know. BBC Northern Ireland weren't much better either.

Like you pointed out in your post, unless you're a petrol-head you wouldn't really be conscious of a worldwide series such as A1GP compared with the likes of F1 and WRC. It's a shame because more often than not, people who describe motorsport as boring are only being exposed to Formula One Grands Prix which, let's face it, can be as dull as dishwater sometimes.

Thats not necessarily true, i was actually suprised by the level of coverage RTE actually gave A1 Ireland. On the weekend sports progs on radio 1 John Kenny interviewed the team most race weekends, there was also interviews on Sportsbag on 2fm, Drivetime aswell. And after winning the title Adam was on the Tuberty Tonight prog which is definetly the biggest coverage in A1 got here. Just a pity that last year seemed a breakthrough year here, that the series is looking so doubtful!

[Burnsie]

Originally Posted by Racing irl

...On the weekend sports progs on radio 1 John Kenny interviewed the team most race weekends, there was also interviews on Sportsbag on 2fm, Drivetime aswell...

I don't usually listen to the radio unless I'm driving, so thanks for pointing that out. It's good to know that A1 wasn't completely ignored.

Originally Posted by Racing irl

...after winning the title Adam was on the Tuberty Tonight prog which is definetly the biggest coverage in A1 got here...

You're right, I forgot about Tubridy Tonight. And while it might have been a popular show to appear on, it was still only one interview Why couldn't a programme like RPM have dedicated an entire show to Team Ireland's season?

[JagtechOhio]

Thanks to Racing irl for your comment as well.

In the U.S., there is a vast amount of IndyCar coverage if you are a serious fan and know where to find it.

To the casual sports fan, it's under the radar: with only an occasional mention, major sports outlets seem to pretty much consider most things ICS as not newsworthy.

Maybe the difference between the experiences of both of you gentleman follows this pattern.

A niche market will never grow much when the lines are drawn this way.

Andy Bernstein

[climb]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Hi Climb,

That's an interesting point you raised, and I'm always curious to know how people around the world view this subject.

Here in the U.S., there's a lot of discussion that flagging IndyCar popularity is based in part on the lack of American drivers. I disagree with that: my favorites in any series are chosen on their performance (and character) after seeing what they've got to show.

That said, when Americans competed in A1GP only a diehard racing fan here got a hint of the news.

So what's it like everywhere else? Was the A1GP national loyalty idea a marketing concept that didn't really matter to people?

Either way, I don't think it has much to do with their failure. Quite a pity if the series can't recover, though.

Andrew Bernstein

The problem is, you just don't expect to see a nation represented in motorsport: just look at Toyota F1: Japanese team with German-italian lineup, english techicians, etc.


A different matter is a driver's nationality; of course american drivers attract american fans, and similarly british drivers with british fans, but Lewis Hamilton doesn't wear a national uniform, as well as Kyle Busch or Fisichella

So even if they raced in foreign teams, nothing would change.

[Roninho]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Hi Climb,

That's an interesting point you raised, and I'm always curious to know how people around the world view this subject.

Here in the U.S., there's a lot of discussion that flagging IndyCar popularity is based in part on the lack of American drivers. I disagree with that: my favorites in any series are chosen on their performance (and character) after seeing what they've got to show.

That said, when Americans competed in A1GP only a diehard racing fan here got a hint of the news.

So what's it like everywhere else? Was the A1GP national loyalty idea a marketing concept that didn't really matter to people?

Either way, I don't think it has much to do with their failure. Quite a pity if the series can't recover, though.

Andrew Bernstein

With the costs associated in racing you need major media-exposure to land sponsorship. The major flaw that i see in the business plans of A1GP and Superleague is that they think/thought that their 'gimmick' (racing nation vs nation, club vs club) is so interesting that the big media would cover it, and that was simply not the case. Without the tv-networks believing in a1gp it was doomed.

[rychard]

In South Africa we had it all. Qualifying was live, and so was the Sprint race and feature race. Last season the Sprint race was recorded and shown just before the feature race.

There hasn't been a mention of the series on TV and normally there would have been quite a bit before the first race.

No TV deal is another hint that the series will not happen ......

[RichardRenes]

Originally Posted by Roninho

With the costs associated in racing you need major media-exposure to land sponsorship. The major flaw that i see in the business plans of A1GP and Superleague is that they think/thought that their 'gimmick' (racing nation vs nation, club vs club) is so interesting that the big media would cover it, and that was simply not the case. Without the tv-networks believing in a1gp it was doomed.

I think it was more a case of the big ones not willing to pay big money yet, and A1GP chosing some minor partners who were willing to pay money for the series, but which had a limited exposure.

In that respect, Superleague Formula is doing things a bit better. They start small, and nearly all the tv networks that air them have a lot of theoretical exposure. Also better is their marketing and merchandise strategy, as they allready will be having their own computergame soon

[Roninho]

Originally Posted by RichardRenes

In that respect, Superleague Formula is doing things a bit better. They start small, and nearly all the tv networks that air them have a lot of theoretical exposure.

Well that depends on what you think is a lot of exposure.
It is indeed accessible for the die-hard motorsport fans. But imo a lot of exposure means so many viewers watch the race so that it makes sense for a company to pay and sponsor a car in superleague. Live on eurosport2 will never get you even close to that level.

Superleague has said themself that they had the investors to pay for the first years losses. To be honest i just don't see how they are going to make the step and and become a profitable serie. Maybe they should partner up with a manufacturer to get a marketing budget. Sort of a world series by renault but then with superleague.

Also better is their marketing and merchandise strategy, as they allready will be having their own computergame soon

A great computergame could be a massive marketing tool, i got hooked on Cart/Indycar in the mid 90's due to Papyrus Indycar racing 2. Great game.

[Andrew Kitson]

Originally Posted by Roninho

A great computergame could be a massive marketing tool, i got hooked on Cart/Indycar in the mid 90's due to Papyrus Indycar racing 2. Great game.

In my opinion the loss of A1-GP is no great loss. It is to the staff and employees and creditors, I feel sorry for them. But it's just one more formula in the middle that we don't need. I feel the same about Superleague.
Anyway...talking of Papyrus Indycar, I did the artwork painting for the original...see here. Had almost forgotten about it until your post. Thanks!
http://www.andrewkitson.com/pages/andrettipc.htm

[Peno]

It gets worse, although this is just a formality.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80017