171 replies to this topic

[AustinF1]

Las Vegas GP?

 

http://www.independe...ip-9803084.html

[ToniF1]

With Bernie just running for the money i am surprised that we still dont have Las Vegas GP. Perfect match.

Edited by ToniF1, 17 October 2014 - 22:03.

[uffen]

Spare me.

[BRG]

But with the New Jersey GP, this would mean three US GPs each year.  Who ever heard of such a thing? 

[jonpollak]

My Father used to say "Las Vegas serves a very important purpose. Everyone you'd never want to meet is there"

[jonpollak]

PS... All I learned from that article is that in America, IndyCar is more popular than F1.

[Amphicar]

But with the New Jersey GP, this would mean three US GPs each year.  Who ever heard of such a thing? 

Well me for one - in 1982 there were three Grands Prix in the USA: the US Grand Prix West at Long Beach, the Detroit Grand Prix and the Caesar's Palace Grand Prix in Vegas.

[maverick69]

Hopefully they really do it using the strip - and don't put some traffic cones in a car-park like last time.

[TomNokoe]

Monaco, step aside...

[Fastcake]

A street circuit in Las Vegas, that's just what everyone would like to see. It sure keeps F1 in the news though.

 

 

File this one in the never going to happen draw.

[PeterGrahamQuill]

A street circuit in Las Vegas, that's just what everyone would like to see. It sure keeps F1 in the news though.

 

 

File this one in the never going to happen draw.

Sounds like Baku

[bourbon]

The city of big ideas.  They stop more projects than they start. 

If Jersey couldn't do it, I don't hold out much hope for Vegas.

Meanwhile, if they build it, I will go - to Carson City and drive in every day

[teejay]

Cant even imagine where they would run it, and how they would for a week without major traffc issues. 

 

Dollars from gambling > dollars from F1 so they don't matter.

[Atreiu]

I'll take it serious 5 minutes before FP1. Until then, meh.

[Marc Sproule]

Hopefully they really do it using the strip - and don't put some traffic cones in a car-park like last time.

 

careful now. i went to all the races they had there.

 

'twas a truly wonderful setting. the place was alive with esscitement every where you turned.

 

the circuit was perfect and everyone cried and cried when it was announced that the circus wouldn't be coming back.

 

to this day i still grieve for that venue.

 

disclaimer:

 

if you have gotten this far and haven't figured out that all the words after the first two sentences above are  b.s., then you are more confused than any poor soul who thinks there might be a return of racing to vegas.

[loki]

It's not anywhere close to being a reality.  There won't be any public money and what money they do get from the LVCVA by law can't go to the sanction fee.  It won't be in the heart of the Strip because there aren't any other streets now they could use for a circuit and the resorts won't let the Strip close for any length of time.  An hour or so for the NASCAR parade is one thing, this is another. With land on or adjacent to the Strip going for US$15-20 mil an acre no one is going to build a garage/hospitality complex in that part of town.  It's possible for it to happen downtown using part of what was the Champ Car circuit but much has changed on some of the streets and would require some mods.  However, the resorts on Fremont didn't have a positive experience during Champ Car, in particular the Golden Nugget.

 

As Hellmund says, Vegas hosts many events a year. Most weeks of the year many per week.   Many that are several times larger and more popular than F1 in the US.  F1 would be welcome, I think it would do well but it's going to be on the terms of the city, county and state and not necessarily driven by what Ecclestone wants.

 

On edit:  This from Motorsport One...  http://www.motorspor...e-in-las-vegas/

 

Says that investors are close to a deal to hold it on the north part of the Strip.  To still be in the city it would need to be north of Sahara.  Most of the Strip is in unincorporated Clark County, specifically Paradise township.  In the city north of Sahara there are enough side streets to make a street race and not block the core of the Strip of impact any of the properties under the Fremont canopy.  They haven't yet pitched it formally to the city as that requires discussion during a full council meeting.  Perhaps they are waiting until they ink a tentative deal with F1.  The property values there aren't anywhere near what they are on the Strip proper but the area is pretty seedy.

 

Here is the Google maps view of the area in question...  https://www.google.c...884,2757m/data=

Edited by loki, 18 October 2014 - 02:33.

[prommer]

As a local, let me please note that the Motorsport One article doesn't say that the new race will be held on the north part of the Strip; just that that was where the Champ Car race was, which technically isn't correct as Downtown is a couple of miles north of the actual north part of the Strip.

 

Having said that, the actual North part of the Strip IS in fact a good possibility for a race because the whole area is pretty much under construction at the moment and a lot of it is a Sochi-esque blank slate.  I'm talking about north of Circus Circus and south of the Stratosphere.  The latest new casino (SLS) has opened in that area and a major casino owned by the Genting group is coming next, so the area is on the up. Plus, tying up crosstown traffic wouldn't be a problem because there's a flyover of the strip (Desert Inn road) that you could funnel people onto so the city doesn't come to a halt.

 

Having said that and that, I agree with most everyone here that I'll believe it when I see it.  Like Bourbon said, there are more ideas than completed buildings around here.  Also up on the north Strip is a hotel that's the tallest skyscraper in the city.  Unfinished, and uninhabited.

[Disgrace]

Count me in, but only if Johnny Depp reprises his role as Hunter S. Thompson to conduct the post-race podium interviews.

[loki]

As a local, let me please note that the Motorsport One article doesn't say that the new race will be held on the north part of the Strip; just that that was where the Champ Car race was, which technically isn't correct as Downtown is a couple of miles north of the actual north part of the Strip.

 

Having said that, the actual North part of the Strip IS in fact a good possibility for a race because the whole area is pretty much under construction at the moment and a lot of it is a Sochi-esque blank slate.  I'm talking about north of Circus Circus and south of the Stratosphere.  The latest new casino (SLS) has opened in that area and a major casino owned by the Genting group is coming next, so the area is on the up. Plus, tying up crosstown traffic wouldn't be a problem because there's a flyover of the strip (Desert Inn road) that you could funnel people onto so the city doesn't come to a halt.

 

Having said that and that, I agree with most everyone here that I'll believe it when I see it.  Like Bourbon said, there are more ideas than completed buildings around here.  Also up on the north Strip is a hotel that's the tallest skyscraper in the city.  Unfinished, and uninhabited.

The projects on the Strip that cratered during the crash have largely been resurrected and a few new projects under construction.  Fountainbleu is one of the few on the Strip that still sits vacant and that's largely because Carl Icaan got it for a song, made his money back by liquidating the furnishings and equipment and is waiting to flip the building.   Across from SLS on the Circus Circus side they are working on the new Rock in Rio concert site for the event next spring.  It's a purpose built concert grounds.  Then there is the new arena behind New York New York, the Linq, shopping space going in at Bally's and TI, Resorts World is starting,   To say the Strip is still full of stalled projects is wide of the mark.  I've been on the Strip though the boom and bust and while it's not like it was in boom time, it's also far from where it was 5-6 years ago.  Tony Hsieh's money has cleaned up some of downtown but for the most part outside of the resort corridor the Vegas valley is still in the crapper.  

 

It's not going to happen between Sahara and Russell.  

[jonpollak]

prommer and Loki meet and greet....

Edited by jonpollak, 18 October 2014 - 04:53.

[prommer]

Nah, I'm retreating back into my little hole now.  Which is where I'll be if and when this Las Vegas Grand Prix ever happens.

 

Me and open wheel races in Las Vegas... gulp... don't mix.

[emmanuelrubi]

Las Vegas:

Fake Paris, fake Italy, fake boobs, real depresion.

Some fake racing should fit perfect in that city.

Edited by emmanuelrubi, 18 October 2014 - 06:29.

[Jackmancer]

they already have the venue poster

 

Edited by Jackmancer, 18 October 2014 - 06:17.

[Gilles4Ever]

Fixed it for you, the film and the idea of another Las Vegas GP 

 

[NocturnalTendencies]

Vegas is so overrated, hopefully this doesn't happen.

[superden]

No. It was sh*t the last time.

[Gorma]

No. It was sh*t the last time.

It was held on a parking lot. What do you expect.

[superden]

It was held on a parking lot. What do you expect.

I expect the usual from Las Vegas. Cheap, crass, tasteless and over rated!

Edited by superden, 18 October 2014 - 11:08.

[Tombstone]

Count me in, but only if Johnny Depp reprises his role as Hunter S. Thompson to conduct the post-race podium interviews.

 

Nah, gotta be an Elvis impersonator.

 

Anyhoo, F1 might need 'Vegas, but 'Vegas doesn't need F1.

[Risil]

A Grand Prix in Las Vegas: what are the odds on that?

Edited by Risil, 18 October 2014 - 15:18.

[Bo77as]

How can you possibly make an interesting race down the LV strip?

[Bloggsworth]

Somebody must have asked Ecclestone "What could be worse than a Tilke track" A race in a car park is the answer, one which Ecclestone grabbed with both bank accounts (well, at least two...)

[Tombstone]

How can you possibly make an interesting race down the LV strip?

 

Keep the downtown traffic.

 

Every lap the driver has to go into a nominated casino and down a double JD (easy on the coke) and bet his weekly earnings on roulette

 

Every lap the driver has to get married to one of his previous girlfriends

 

Has to pay a small grey alien* $10M every lap.

 

*Or Bernie, pretty much the same anyway.

[AustinF1]

So it looks like maybe Steve Wynn and the billion owner of Cirque Du Soleil may be involved or at least backing the plan...I'm guessing that can't hurt prospects.

 

Ecclestone Unveils Las Vegas Grand Prix And Cirque Du Soleil May Hold The Keys

http://www.forbes.co...-hold-the-keys/

 

The part where Sylt just rips the crap out of Saward is funny as hell. We were just saying pretty similar things about him over in the Alonso Destination thread. /csb

Edited by AustinF1, 19 October 2014 - 00:16.

[Risil]

The part where Sylt just rips the crap out of Saward is funny as hell. We were just saying pretty similar things about him over in the Alonso Destination thread.

 

Huh, that's weird.

Sylt, 18/10/14

 

"The reality is that if Mr Ecclestone says there’s a race coming in Long Beach, he’s probably close to a deal somewhere else and this is a lever in a different negotiation. Ever the dealmaker, Mr Ecclestone never says anything about projected races without there being a reason to say it. When he says something like this, he’s like a great magician shouting ‘Abracadabra!’ And you should not look at where the flash-bang has gone off. In this case the real flash was not in Long Beach but 280 miles south-west in Vegas."

 

Saward, 18/10/14
 

 

"In my experience, if Bernie says there’s a race coming in Las Vegas, he’s probably close to a deal somewhere else and this is a lever in a different negotiation. Call me a cynic, but Bernie never says anything about projected races without there being a reason to say it… When he says something like this, he’s like a great magician shouting “Abracadabra!” And you should not look at where the flash-bang has gone off. You should look what he’s doing with his hands as he is probably picking a pocket or two…"

Edited by Risil, 19 October 2014 - 00:06.

[AustinF1]

Huh, that's weird.

Sylt, 18/10/14

 

 

Saward, 18/10/14
 

Looks to me like he was rewording Saward's point to make a point of his own. Seems maybe there's some history between these two that goes back further than just this spat.

[AustinF1]

Here's a great paddock shot of Laliberte and Dav...I seem to have...err... lost my train of thought...

 

[jonpollak]

Some shots from the run down the strip before that fateful day in 2011

 

 

 

Jp

[loki]

 

So it looks like maybe Steve Wynn and the billion owner of Cirque Du Soleil may be involved or at least backing the plan...I'm guessing that can't hurt prospects.

 

Ecclestone Unveils Las Vegas Grand Prix And Cirque Du Soleil May Hold The Keys

http://www.forbes.co...-hold-the-keys/

 

The part where Sylt just rips the crap out of Saward is funny as hell. We were just saying pretty similar things about him over in the Alonso Destination thread. /csb

 

There was a big falling out with Guy and Wynn when Wynn hired Franco Dragone and other Cirque talent to launch his Cirque-a-like Le Reve. (which is a pretty good show)  Wynn has a lot of juice in town but not as much as Caesars or MGM.  He could probably get the Strip closed in front of Wynn and Encore but there isn't much else on that block these days.  They might be able to cobble some sort of track together on that part of the Strip but just south of Spring Mountain all the way to south of Trop there really isn't anywhere to put a track.

 

Cirque and in turn Laliberte don't really have much influence in spite of the fact they have 8 shows on the Strip.  MGM owns the venues and supplies the crews and equipment as part of a partnership.  While Guy has enough money to go into space (paid the Russians 30 mil or so for a ride) Cirque is having a rough spot after an uncontrolled expansion during the boom and not realizing the crash until well after it happened.  This has lead to steep cutbacks and layoffs throughout Cirque proper basically getting rid of most of the Las Vegas local office and mass layoffs in Montreal but has had little impact on the MGM side. The expansion of the high end nightclub and day club scene has had a pretty dramatic impact on Cirque numbers in Las Vegas.

[AustinF1]

Good info.

 

Doesn't Wynn own a Ferrari dealership with Penske or something like that?

[loki]

Sylt's conclusion about races out at the speedway are flat our wrong.. (emphasis mine)

 

As the speedway is located in the outskirts of Vegas  it doesn’t show off the local landmarks and the series racing there doesn’t make a statement by taking over the town. A Grand Prix on the streets of the city would have much more of an impact.

 

During Cup week the Strip and downtown are awash not only with fans but with events for those fans as well.  The hauler parade attracts 20k plus as the team transporters parade from Trop to Sahara, there are several fan events and autograph sessions as well.  Most of the properties have displays and theme parts of the property with racing.  And there are tons of sponsor parties.   Under the canopy downtown on Fremont it's turned into a NASCAR theme park of sorts, packed with fans.  The race happens at the track but the partying happens in town and there a a bunch of it.  During Champion's week about 30k come to town for an awards dinner they aren't able to attend. They livery cars from the Petty Driving Experience with the current liveries of the Chase drivers and they close the Strip so they can parade down to Spring Mountain, do some donuts then head back to Trop.  Plenty of events happen over that weekend as well.

[loki]

Good info.

 

Doesn't Wynn own a Ferrari dealership with Penske or something like that?

Yeah, and they're also a Maserati dealer.  Great place to go but to get into the dealership you either need to buy a car or pay a $10 cover charge.  ;)  Seriously but I think it's worth it. There is a gift/swag shop with no cover though and you can see into the dealership.  At one time it was the highest volume dealer in the US but I don't know if that is the case these days.

[Tombstone]

How can you possibly make an interesting race down the LV strip?

 

In all seriousness? It would have to be a night race, no doubt.

[Maaarsh]

In all seriousness? It would have to be a night race, no doubt.

 

Midnight East coast, 5am Europe?

 

Sounds super viable.

[garoidb]

No. It was sh*t the last time.

 

Ah, but this time is has heritage.

[Nemo1965]

 

Here's a great paddock shot of Laliberte and Dav...I seem to have...err... lost my train of thought...

 

 

 

You lost the finer points of your train of thought, admit it!

[LORDBYRON]

F1 one is like football in the usa its the last thing they think of. No network will  show this over nascar its only hope would be a Vegas night race.

[Amphicar]

F1 one is like football in the usa its the last thing they think of. No network will  show this over nascar its only hope would be a Vegas night race.

NBC is already showing all the F1 races without the dubious incentive of a Vegas night race.

[AustinF1]

I've actually been wondering about the possibility of this being a night race. Vegas never sleeps, right? Both the city and F1 could get a lot of PR mileage out of something crazy like that, and it would, of course, be cooler. 

As far as the attraction/spectacle/tv backdrop of a night race vs a day Vegas street race, I would think in those terms a night race would easily win in Vegas. The difference between the look and feel of the place at night vs daytime is massive.

[froggy22]

Midnight East coast, 5am Europe?

 

Sounds super viable.

Actually, Midnight in Las Vegas would be 8am UK/9am Europe so no different to the Asian races. Only difference would be that the race would be on a Monday morning over on this side of the pond (Assuming they keep the traditional Sunday race day) so they would probably hold the race on the Saturday night?