Catalunya could quit MotoGP contract
Added on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Carole Nash Editor
Catalunya could quit MotoGP contract
The Circuit de Catalunya could pull out of hosting MotoGP and Formula One as part of a cost-cutting exercise by the local government.
The government of Spain’s northern region of Catalunya has admitted that it reconsidering hosting motor racing events, including MotoGP and F1, as it looks to comply with austerity measures enforced on it by national government.
“We may reconsider holding Formula One and motorcycling Grands Prix here. It is not clear whether we can do so in the current climate,” Catalan economy minister Andreu Mas-Colell said during an interview with RAC1 radio.
“It is not the first thing we will reconsider, but in times like these we have to look line by line at what we are spending money on.”
The circuit, just north of Barcelona, has hosted MotoGP since 1992 and has a contract to host both MotoGP and Formula One until 2016.
Mas-Colell said the situation must be looked at carefully in order to make sure breaking a contract does not cost more than hosting the race.
“There are contracts that are more expensive to maintain than to break,” he added.
Like other Spanish regions, Catalunya is under pressure from the central government to help bring Spain’s deficit down and make sure the country does not get dragged into the debt crisis mire that has already forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek financial bailouts.
Late last year the regional government of Catalunya raised taxes and slashed public workers’ salaries.
