Beijing design almost done

Our Beijing sources tell us that plans for the expansion of the Goldenport track are getting closer to reality. BAMSA, the government owned company that Champ Car signed the agreement with, has assets of approximately 1.2 billion Yuan, and it looks to our sources like they are pretty well gung-ho to have the event there at Goldenport (recall the race may move to the Olympic Village in 2009 and a street race in Beijing was apparently considered even before that). There have been a couple more revisions to the track extension, and we hope to see a diagram in a week or so, and that should be the final draft. The Aussie designers will be there next week, we believe, to finalize the design.

Our Beijing informants also tell us the Chinese contingent came back from Long Beach very impressed (giddy is how it was described to us) with what they saw and the "insider" view they were given. Even more impressed than the F1 race in Shanghai that they attended.

Meanwhile, some potential support races have emerged for the headline featured Champ Car race. The A1 Grand Prix Series has paid a visit to Goldenport. Sheikh Maktoum himself dropped by and took a look and had a chat, and it seems that he would like the Chinese stop on the circuit to come to Beijing, rather than Shanghai. They will also be back at some point to take a look at the expansion and to engage in serious discussions regarding a race there. This Thursday evening, a representative of the Superfund F3000 Series is arriving. Mark C.