Turkey is prepared to do anything to keep Formula 1 in the country in 2012, according to Mumtaz Tahincioglu of the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED).
Bernie Ecclestone has been invited to sit down with the Youth and Sports Minister, Suat Kilic, to negotiate terms which could see the race return to the 2012 calendar which was distributed to the teams in Hungary by Ecclestone last weekend.
The proposed calendar ominously left out Turkey, which had been included on the FIA’s 21-race calendar published in early June.
Tahincioglu told the Anadolu news agency that he expected the outcome of the negotiations to be a ‘good decision’.
“We are looking for ways to keep Formula 1 in Turkey,” he said. “The Minister is ready to do anything to keep the sport.
“We will invite Mr Ecclestone to Turkey. We would like to arrive at a conclusion to our negotiations, it’s not finished between us. I’m guessing the decision will be a good decision,” he added.
Mr Tahincioglu acknowledged the poor attendance figures, which saw less than 35,000 attend on Sunday, one of the lowest figures on the calendar, but he says the government is willing to help in this regard.
“There has been a reduction in interest and shortage in audiences, the commercial volume is shrinking,” he conceded. “The Minister has proposed to help in this regard with inductions and promotional support.”
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