Things are percolating on a number of fronts so chew on this:
A fine piece of reporting by Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal has revealed that the Rexall Edmonton Indy has cost the city of Edmonton nearly $10 million the last two years.
My God.
Wrote Barnes: “The open wheel auto race has been operated . . . on budgets of $15 million in 2008 and $12.1 million this year and has generated a combined loss of $9.2 million, a bill picked up by the City of Edmonton on behalf of its taxpayers.”
For the whole story, click here.
Okay, here’s what I want to know. It’s okay to say $9.2 million has been lost – but it didn’t disappear into thin air. If it went out of one pocket, it went into another.
So my question would be: who’s making the money?
Who’s ripping off whom?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, that’s what’s happening.
I would suggest that Kimi Raikkonen’s official move to the World Rally Championship will be followed soon by Michael Schumacher’s announcement that he will return to drive in Formula One next season.
Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that the Kimster was on the verge of signing a contract with Citroen to compete in the WRC in 2010. As Sebastien Loeb has won the last six world rally titles in that marque, it would appear to be a wise move by Raikkonen and he could perhaps become the first driver to win both the F1 and WRC titles.
The reason there’s been a delay in the Schumacher announcement is because Raikkonen’s managers have been talking to Mercedes. Now that he’s been thoroughly rebuffed (there was a chance for him at McLaren, too, once upon a time), Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP, formerly Honda, formerly BAR, formerly Tyrrell) can go ahead and do what it’s wanted to do all along: announce that the seven-time world champion will return to the cockpit in 2010 and be reunited with Ross Brawn – an unbeatable combination when the two were at Ferrari.
Schumacher has been dropping hints that he’s fit again and raring to go. When Felipe Massa was injured this year, it was expected that Schumacher – who remained on the Ferrari payroll until recently – would step in.
But he begged off, citing a neck injury suffered in a motorcycle accident that hadn’t fully healed. However, he’s been telling people at various karting events he’s contested recently that the neck is fine.
I think any racing car driver who crosses over to another class of racing cars and succeeds is better than winning only one kind of championship. First who comes into mind Mario Andretti along with Graham Hill. For Kimi to cross into rallying is absolutely great! In this way of thinking, we may be witnessing one the greatest ever in Juan Pablo Montoya! Look at the races he has won. F1-Monaco, Monza, Indy 500, Daytona 24 hrs, and now Nascar.....
Posted by: Matti Lilleberg | 12/03/2009 at 05:22 PM