Cancún F1 plans now on Hold !!.

Secretary of Tourism Rodolfo Elizondo Torres now seems intent on bringing Formula One racing back to Mexico.

Elizondo has met with F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Joe Abed, who was Mexican Grand Prix race promoter in the 80s, to discuss the options. The resort of Cancún is the favoured location for a purpose built 100,000 seater stadium.

The Mexican government has given its support to the bid. "Cancún could be a new venue for the F1 championship. "If the Mexican authorities can reach an agreement with the F1 authorities. There are real possibilities. It is still necessary to look at all the details of the project but the amount of investment needed is about $100m USD, mainly for the construction of the circuit, which could be built on a site close to Cancún airport, at the Southern end of the Cancún Hotel Zone."

73 year old Ecclestone is seeking to broaden the sport's appeal outside Europe, but if these new plans become a reality, it is likely to be at the expense of Brazil, which currently hosts a Grand Prix in São Paulo. There are however no Mexican drivers currently involved in the sport, and Brazil is well represented.

It was the arrival of a topline driver in F1 which motivated the Mexico City authorities to invest in the construction of a racing circuit back in the 60s. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City was named after racing-driver brothers Ricardo & Pedro Rodriguez. Tragically, before the circuit opened, Ricardo - aged just 20 - crashed heavily on the Peraltada corner and suffered fatal injuries. It was Ricardo's elder brother Pedro who featured in the first Mexico GP on 27 October 1963. Pedro also died behind the wheel nine years later.

F1 returned to Mexico for the last time in 1992. British Driver Nigel Mansell winning that race on a hot, sunny March afternoon. He went on to win the World Championship. The bumps around the infamous Peraltada - now a 180-degree banked sweeper taken in fifth gear - were becoming dangerous. Mexico City was also becoming more polluted and there was peristent crowd trouble. It had lost any glamour it might have had in the 60s and became a chore for the teams.

F1 had turned its back on Mexico. The track hosted rock concerts, including David Bowie, and Pope John Paul II gave a mass there in January 1999. It was not until two years ago that international racing returned after the track was rebuilt for Champ car races, drawing huge crowds in 2002 and 2003. It was also included on the NASCAR calendar during 2005.

Quintana Roo could expect as many as 60,000 tourists would come to watch the race in Cancún.

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Just to update this page - Everything seems to have come to a sudden halt as far as the new Cancun F1 track is concerned, and this page will be updated as soon as there is any further news on the subject.

Plans Now Firmly on HOLD & may never Happen !!!!