http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.a...44176&PO=44176



The Canadian Grand Prix has been axed from the 2009 Formula 1 calendar, while the Turkish round has been moved to create a month-long summer break.
The FIA issued a revised calendar for next season following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday, with the Montreal race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve omitted from its provisional June 7 slot.
The as yet unexplained decision to drop Canada means there will be no race held there for the first time since 1987 and no North American round at all.
The position in the first week of June has instead been filled by Turkey, with its round moved from a previously scheduled August slot to create a four-week break between the Hungarian and European GPs.
Originally a provisional calendar for next season, issued back in June, did not feature a mid-August recess as has been the case in recent years, prompting concerns from teams about the demands on their workforces. The reshuffle also sees Belgium's grand prix at Spa moved forwards a week to go back-to-back with the European round in Valencia, with there now a fortnight’s gap between Spa and Monza. Otherwise the calendar remains unchanged, with the now 18-race campaign opening with the traditional curtain-raiser in Australia on March 29 and ending on the new Abu Dhabi street circuit in mid-November.

 

That is just too bad. I have always wanted to go, but I guess it won't happen next year unless the Montreal organization do something to lobby for a race for next year.

 

F-ck FIA. They can move all their races to the desert and nobody would give a crap. It pains me to say this as a racing fan but I've lost interest in F1 a long time ago.

 

So there isn't anything in North America this year.

 

The way it is going there won't be any race left in Europe soon. Bernie would rather cash the big fat cheques from middle-eastern despots and emerging Asian economies desperate to prove themselves to the world. The guy is basically a pimp and only care about the $$, himself and nobody else.

People need to stop romanticizing the whole F1 circus. Yes it is a technical tour-de-force, but what isn't when you have an unlimited budget for R&D? As a causal spectator the only thing I care about is the racing itself, and quite frankly they've failed to deliver on this front for quite some time now. These new FIA mickey-mouse tracks totally suck ***. They're like giant go-cart tracks in the middle of a desert. Fun to drive no doubt, but boring as hell to watch.

I guess IRL have just bought itself a Montreal date on the calendar. The organizers need to spend all the huge sponsors/government money earmarked for F1 somehow and they're going to make IRL an offer they can't refuse. It's a shame that the 2008 IRL cars are like little farm team spec racers.

 

welp.. my two cents is that they most likely cancelled it because of the additional cost of shipping all the equipment and teams over for the race. You can pretty much justify it if there are acouple of races over here.. but since the US one is in limbo as well. Meh

The other thing is that F1 doesn't really care for the English viewship as much anymore. A lot of folks in the UK aren't bothering to watch anymore due to growing frustrations with FIA rulings and the general BS that happens year after year that for some reason always seen to favor Ferrari.

The 2005 Montreal Grand Prix was one of the most watched sporting events ever.. but... hell... why bother keeping the race? No one will miss it. Funny thing is that the group that co-ordinates the Montreal race found out that it was dropped through the media rather then the FIA actually telling them up front. Yup... I'd definately want to setup a race for those folks.

 

http://sports.myway.com/news/10082008/v7839.html

Oct 8, 7:28 PM (ET)

MONTREAL (AP) -The company that runs the Canadian Grand Prix is no longer interested in doing so and suggested that only the government can save the event, a spokesman for promoter Normand Legault said.

Saying it is no longer economically viable for the private F1 Grand Prix du Canada to run the Formula One race, spokesman Paul Wilson confirmed Wednesday that the event will not be held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2009. Wilson said all other events on the 18-race schedule are run by some form of government body.

Federal officials are looking at bringing back the event that generates an estimated $100 million per year in revenues and economic spinoffs, he added.

He said Michael Fortier, the Conservative Minister for the Montreal region, has spoken to F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone at the urging of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"I know that Michael wants to start moving things and wants to have meetings and as I said to him today, if he needs our help to speak to people and build a business plan of what it could be like, we'll be there for sure, Wilson said.

"It's for them to call the shots. If they say we think it's a good idea for the city, for the province, for the country, let's go for it."

FIA, the world governing body for motor sports, announced Tuesday that the Montreal race had been dropped from the 2009 calendar. Ecclestone later said it was due to a contractual problem. Wilson said a few proposals were made to keep the race alive at costs affordable to the promoters, but they were turned down.