THE NEED for an AMERICAN HERO Conor Daly Identified As One

THE NEED FOR AN AMERICAN HERO Conor Daly identiﬁed as one of the possibilities

With a second American Formula One race now slated for the US shores (Austin & New Jersey), Autosport magazine in England makes no bones about the fact that there is a "NEED FOR A (US) HERO" on the starting grid. It is a proven fact that Formula One thrives in countries when they have national pride wrapped around the event. There is nothing quite like having one of your own competing against the best in the world.

Autosport has identiﬁed just TWO American drivers with that potential; Conor Daly and Alex Rossi (enclosed). The headlines clearly state that "F1 keeps pushing to crack America". If there are no signiﬁcant American drivers competing in these events, history tells us that the interest in America will wane after the novelty and curiosity of the early years.

The British Racing Drivers Club proudly boasts of their "Rising Stars" ﬁnancial support program in addition to sponsorship for young drivers and consequently they draw 25,000 more spectators (as per BRDC) through the gates of Silverstone because of the presence of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button. Consider if each fan spends $200 over the course of the weekend, that equates to a $5M return on that weekend alone. The Brits truly understand that investing in their future stars pays dividends.

There is a need for an American HERO in Formula One and the very future of both Formula One races starting in 2012 depends on it.

The last American hero was Mario Andretti and its no coincidence that America had two strong Formula One traces when Mario competed. Long Beach and Watkins Glen were magical events but as soon as Mario left, so did the national pride and eventually the US Grand Prix was no more.

Germany has had record TV ratings for the past 15 years because of Michael Schumacher and now Sebastian Vettel.

S p a i n j u s t ﬁ n i s h e d building more new new race circuits than any country in Europe, driven by the success of their double world champion, Fernando Alonso. Another example of national pride driving a whole industry.

In 1982 France had seven Formula One drivers whose careers were developed with the help of French national oil company, Elf Oil. Elf cancelled all drivers support and today there are no French F1 drivers, no French Grand Prix and nothing but passive interest in Formula One. This is not a coincidence.