Motor racing enthusiasts in Bahrain may soon get to see the popular NASCAR Championship at the Bahrain International Circuit, it was revealed yesterday.
"Hosting NASCAR is on the minds of the management at the BIC," said BIC director of PR and government affairs Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa who has just returned from the US after heading a fact-finding delegation.
"We did go and see a NASCAR race and an Indy 500 single-seater race there. We not only looked at things from the racing side, but also from a marketing perspective," said Shaikh Salman speaking at a BIC Press conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Resort and Spa.
"The NASCAR race was very good to see, but we are yet to look at how that system would work here because we don't have an oval. But it is something that we are looking into.
"It's not to say that it only works on an oval. I think we will go through our checklist and see if everything makes sense," he said.
However, he appeared to hint that the US promoters were making large financial demands to allocate a race to Bahrain.
Feasibility
"I would rather go to a person who says 'I am dying to go to Bahrain' than someone who says 'how much are you going to pay me to come'. The decisions that we do make are put on a business model and feasibility decides," he added.
"There is an interest in North America. Generally, here in the Middle East, we look to Europe. Everyone used to say 'if you are going to bring a race, look to Europe, look at what they are doing, and try to do the same'.
"But we have already shown that we are different by looking East instead of West. We secured the Australian V8 package and also approached the Japanese and Chinese markets. In the end, the Australian package was the best, and they were a lot easier to deal with to be honest," he said.
Meanwhile, BIC general manager Martin Whitaker predicted that Bahrain would have its own Lewis Hamilton in the next two or three years.
The British rookie of McLaren, which is partly owned by Bahrain, has captured the hearts of Formula One fans with seven podium finishes in his first seven races, including winning the Canadian and US Grand Prix titles from pole position to establish a 10-point lead over team-mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain.
"We know for a fact that the Silverstone Grand Prix in Britain on July 8 is completely sold out. When they sell out, it is well over 100,000 people and most of them will be there to watch Lewis Hamilton," said Whitaker.
"You can imagine what would happen if we had our own Bahraini driver in F1, say in two or three years time. I'm sure it can happen," he added.
"The great thing is that, we have got a number of young drivers who are now cutting their teeth at an international level and two youngsters - Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Hamad Al Fardan - are doing a great job for us.
"If you can get one or hopefully two more drivers into the top flight of single-seater racing on the world stage then who knows the kind of reaction we would get," he added.
