Turkey hopeful of keeping F1 race in 2012

Reuters, ISTANBUL, May 9: Turkish officials sounded more optimistic about keeping their race on the Formula One calendar on Monday after weekend talks with the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"We sat down with Ecclestone and Youth and Sport General Director Yunus Akgul and discussed the plans that we could implement," local media quoted Turkish Automobile Sports Federation Chairman Mumtaz Tahincioglu as saying.

"Both sides are trying to solve this issue. Comparing before the race and the current situation, there is a 50 percent difference," he added.

Istanbul Chamber of Commerce head Murat Yalcintas said before Sunday's race at Istanbul Park that the grand prix faced the axe next year because of a disagreement with Ecclestone over payments.

He also said the government had rejected a bid by the 80-year-old Briton to double the payment to stage the race to $26 million from 13 million.

Ecclestone subsequently said he would be disappointed to lose what is one of Formula One's better modern circuits, despite poor crowd figures.

Official figures released on Sunday put the race day crowd at 42,000, although some paddock observers questioned the numbers.

"We will do everything we can. We will talk with Ecclestone," said Akgul.

"We want this race to stay but it is not the be all and end all," he added.

"We will keep this track alive in every way. There are other races, we will go to them. We definitely want Formula (One) to stay here and we will do everything we can."

"The draft calendar will be discussed on June 3. Even if the issue is not resolved by that date, we must get into the draft."

Formula One teams and drivers hoped the race would stay on the calendar.

"It's a good circuit, it's a great city, we enjoy coming here and I think all the teams are of that mind," said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

"It is a very special place for me. I won three times, especially the first time it was a big fight with Fernando (Alonso) and Michael (Schumacher) in 2006," said Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa.

"We will miss it if we are not coming here next year."