Greek mayor seeks Turkish help for F1

Yorgo Kırbaki ATHENS - Hürriyet

The Formula 1 track on the outskirts of Istanbul is currently idle. A Greek mayor now is in talks with a Turkish professional to help build a track in Pireaus. AA photo

Although suffering from a severe economic crisis, Greece is looking to host the Formula 1 races and has turned to Turkey for help in applying.

The financially unstable nation is currently conducting talks with Turkish Automotive Sports Federation President and Tahincioğlu board member Mümtaz Tahincioğlu.

The official city website for Piraeus’ Drapetsona municipality claims Mayor Lukas Canis is in constant talks with Tahincioğlu, who he considers the “brain” behind Istanbul’s Formula 1 track.

Tahincioğlu was recently in Athens to examine the track project and said the track could be something in between Monaco and Valencia’s track. The Turkish Automotive Sports Federation said they were interested in building the track, but the Greek government would need to address some bureaucratic obstacles first.

Support from ministry

Meanwhile, Greece’s Education-Religion-Culture and Sports vice Minister Kostantinos Cavaras said that for the first time the Greek government was supporting the Drapetsona municipality’s efforts to construct a Formula 1 track.

“We have to support all projects that market Greece. The option of having Drapetsona host the Formula 1 race would be very important for the development of Piraeus,” he said. However some local bloggers are against the project because many of the mayor’s personnel have been waiting a month to be paid their salaries, making financing a Formula 1 project seem unnecessary and silly.