03/08/2011
FEATURE BY GUEST AUTHORS
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It wasn't that the people of Turkey weren't into motorsports, just that they were not into Formula 1. For years, when someone said anything about motorsport in turkey, they were talking about rally, only rally. Yes, there was a very small group of Formula 1 enthusiasts, but they had to settle for a weekly motorsport show on state television, nothing else. They will have known the famous names of the sport, such as Senna, Prost and Mansell but never Ecclestone.
Then the time came, and politicians rediscovered a new and unused tool to promote development and the westernization of Turkey in order to gain support for its acceptance to the European Union, much like certain Gulf States' use of Formula 1 to cover human rights allegations. On the other hand there is something missing as far as Turkey is concerned, certainly when we compare it with the Gulf States. The fact is Turkey never will be as important market as the Gulf States, consequently its easy to see why Ferrari built the world's largest indoor theme park in Abu Dhabi.
Then, in one surprise move they decided that Formula One is the right platform on which to show the world that Turkey was developed enough to build the best race circuit ever to host a Grand Prix. With the support Bernie Ecclestone, ever-hungry to expand his franchise, the deal was done. Hermann Tilke was the chosen architect and the Turkish Grand Prix was on the calendar for the 2005 season, with just one shortfall… spectators.
As I mentioned before, the people of Turkey weren't into Formula 1, mostly because they didn't know what it was. Very few people, including the head of the Turkish Motorsports Federation, Mumtaz Tahincioglu, a prominent Turkish businessman, supported this decision, and in his case it was for personal reasons.
The Tahincioglu family is very much into motorsport, especially circuit events like karting. When his son, London-born Jason Tahincioglu wanted to enter F1 he helped him form a GP2 team, backed by national oil company Petrol Ofisi. Sadly, he wasn't as talented as he was rich, so while his teammate was fighting for podiums, he was rarely to be seen.
Turkish people are used to all things being arranged by the politicians. Nobody asked anybody about anything before it was decided that there would be a Grand Prix.
Two other cities showed interest in hosting the circuit. Coastal tourism towns with lots of hotels and good air and sea port facilities with virtually no downside. However, the politicians and Mr Ecclestone had already decided that Istanbul, a 15 million citizen metropolis with a chronic traffic problem must host the event.
Istanbul is a big and crowded city. It takes huge amounts of time to travel from one side to the other, especially when it was hot and humid, like all summer. For those who doesn't know Istanbul, The Kurtkoy district where Istanbul Park built, is 40 miles outside the city centre, with virtually no mass transportation except for city buses. There is no easy access for ordinary people.
When I say 'ordinary people', I mean sports enthusiasts who happens to love F1 but doesn't own a mega-yacht, in Turkey that means football fans on the minimum wage.
What we have now is a public that doesn't know a single thing about F1 except the name Michael Schumacher, and even then cannot afford the entrance fee, because the Turkish event is one of the most expensive races on the calendar. We have politicians who want to promote a developed new Turkey with a highly political agenda, we have Bernie Ecclestone who wants to add new circuits to increase revenue, not to mention we have Turkish television channels who used football presenters to comment on the races because the regular motorsport guy is needed by the Turkish Motorsports Federation to organize the event. Consequently, the F1 loving few Turks tune into RTL to watch the race on television even though they don't know a single word of German.
Turkey's dream of hosting Formula 1 has been realized, but at the cost of creating one of the most expensive race tracks ever built and declining spectator numbers year on year.
Turkey missed the point that you need money to build racetracks but also a cultural infrastructure to create Formula 1 enthusiasts. In the end there are no Turkish teams, no mechanics, no drivers, no spectators, no sponsors... there is just Istanbul Park and its unknown future.