Valencia formula one

VALENCIA STREET CIRCUIT: ALL FUR COATS AND NO KNICKERS 18 years ago it was common to see in grafiti sprayed around Valencia capital the words, "volem circuit" we want a circuit in Valenciano. Then ,as now, there was an enormous group of motor sport fans, especially motor cyclists, who were demanding not only a circuit nearby where they could watch their idols, but also a circuit where they themselves could race at speeds not permitted on the public roads. As a result of this lobby, the beautiful circuit of Cheste was developed. This circuit is one of the best in the world for spectators as almost all the circuit can be seen from almost all the grandstands. It is set in a natural amphitheatre with excellent road communication( at the side of the A3 motorway) with ample parking facilities and sufficiently far away from the urbanised area to cause only minor acoustic problems for the local residents.

In their desperate need to grab votes before fhe municipal and autonomic elections of 2007 and spurred on by the success of the America`s cup yacht regatta, the local right wing Popular Party enticed Formula one`s owner and mentor Bernie Ecclestone, whose true colours are becoming daily more evident, into not only agreeing to stage a race on the projected Valencia street circuit, but also into conditioning this event to the re-election of his good friend Francisco Camps president of the Generalitat . Neither Ecclestone nor Camps paid for the construction of this circuit. We did, the taxpayer 90 odd million euros worth of asphalt and a swing bridge across the waters of the harbour. Now ;I don`t know about you other taxpayers but if I invest money in something, I expect a good return on it. Not,of course,if its a hospital: better health care is its own recompense for the investment, but in an unnecessary, non ecological, environmentally unfriendly cnstruction of this type ,I want some profit. I am getting none.Three big time operators (their names are not important although one happens to be ex-president Aznar`s son in law) have the rights to the exploitation of the circuit and, after paying Ecclestone the paltry 18million euracos for his slice of the cake, any profits made go into their three already well-lined pockets. So what´s in it for us? If you´re a fan and wish to watch the race, you will have to fork out a minimum of 200€ each for a poor seat where, if you´re lucky, you may just be able to see 100 metres of track. If, on the other hand, you are unfortunate enough to live in one of the three neighbouring areas Nazaret, El Grau or El Cabañal and are not a motor racing maniac, through no fault of your own you are in for a week of misery, which you helped to pay for. Travelling from one of these areas to the other (normally 5-10 minutes by bus converts itself into an

odyssey of anything up to an hour and a half " I m just going to see if Mum`s O.K. I`ll be back in three and a half hours." " What! you want to drive down your street and park your car in the underground parking space that cost you 27,000 € Forget it. You ain´t going down there til Monday" You want some peace? Go to Cheste. There`s a beaautiful natural amphitheatre there with absolutely nothing going on.

Around the circuit is a mixture of wasteland, vacant lots and semi-derelict industrial buildings whose appearance is so dilapidated that in the first,2008, edition of the race they had to be covered up by giant tarpaulins with photo imposed images of how they once looked so that the world´s T.V audiences would not see the real and apalling state in which the long neglected surrounding area has fallen. "Ah," I hear you thinking," but that was the first year. This year will be better¨Wrong. NOTHING has been done in 300 odd days Everything is just as it was and is ready to be disguised once again so that from Japan to Montreal, from Oslo to Rio de Janeiro T.V. vieweres will be able to enjoy the "virtual" Valencia and not the real one.As my old Mum used to say, " All fur coats and no knickers".