Do you remember the A1 GP, the famous series that pretended to be the World Cup of Motorsport in the 2000s? Created in 2005 by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, the championship rewarded us with driver-by-nation matchups. France was also the first winner thanks to the duo Alexandre Prémat and Nicolas Lapierre in 2006. Three years later, the series put the key under the door, due to insurmountable financial worries caused by the global financial crisis.

However, it seems that the series is about to rise from its ashes, at a time when motorsport seems to be living a new golden age. The information, which AUTOHebdo can confirm, was disclosed by our colleagues at Business news from heaven. The man behind this initiative is a businessman named Sir Keith Mills. The latter is known for having created the Nectar and Air Miles loyalty programs in the United Kingdom, and for having been, among other things, vice president of the Olympic organizing committee in 2012 on the occasion of the London Olympic Games.

Marcin Budkowski in front of the athlete

The businessman, who also worked for the Tottenham football club of which he was director, is trying to raise funds to try to get the necessary support to launch the project. The initial idea of ​​the concept: 20 teams representing countries from all over the world for what would be an Automobile World Cup, during which each driver would have a single-seater, whose speed of around 350 km/h would make it the second most Fastest car in the world behind a Formula 1.

We learned that to be fully in line with the times, cars would obviously be designed to run on sustainable fuels. On the sporting side, the project would be headed by a well-known figure in motorsport, and in particular Formula 1, since Marcin Budkowski, who had been executive director of the Alpine F1 Team in 2021, after having worked at Ferrari, McLaren and in the FIA, it takes care of the sporting aspect.

A 12-race championship

The project aims to raise $100 million and the series is expected to include teams from countries including Great Britain, China, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The idea would not be to compete with Formula 1, but rather to complement it, as national team football complements club football in the world of football. Thus, as in its heyday, the A1GP would be held in the off-season.

Sky Business News also specifies that the series will take place in 12 races, divided between Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, from December to July, and that the organizers must emphasize the accessibility of fans through a generally low level. entrance prices.

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