MILAN, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Italian Grand Prix organisers fear
Ferrari's poor form is having an impact on ticket sales for Sunday's
Formula One race at Monza.
"Ticket sales are down on previous years and this is troubling
us," Milan Automobile Club president Ludovico Grandi told reporters on
Tuesday.
"On the one hand costs are going up and on the other the returns
are going down while the competition is growing from emerging
countries, as Turkey, China and Bahrain have demonstrated."
Enrico Ferrari, director of the Monza circuit, said ticket sales
were down 15 percent on last year despite prices being reduced,
although the organisers hoped for an improvement leading up to the
weekend.
Some 117,000 spectators turned up for last year's race, won by
Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello after the Italian team had already won
the constructor's championship and Michael Schumacher the driver's
crown.
The circuit's record attendance was 160,532 in 2000, the year that
Schumacher became the first Ferrari driver in 21 years to win the
championship.
Crowd figures for last week's testing at Monza were just over
30,000, half last year's levels.
Organisers said Ferrari's fortunes and the fact that this year's
race is a week earlier than previously were both factors.
After winning 15 of last year's 18 races, the champions have had
just one hollow victory this year in a six-car U.S. Grand Prix
blighted by the withdrawal of all the Michelin-equipped teams due to
tyre safety fears.

"DC" <gojphNOJUNKTA (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote


Doh! Ferrari are bad but moving a race date for something as traditional as
the Italian GP cannot be underestimated.

DC <gojphNOJUNKTA (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote in
news:hn79h19e50t81o3v4387r7661gfrag0so3 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com:

I think it's pretty clear the organisers should sue Michelin: for ruining
the competition.


--
CatharticF1

'What you thought was freedom is just greed'

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:16:38 GMT, CatharticF1 <eferrari (AT) heaven (DOT) net>
wrote:

My, my. We are in a tart frame of mind this morning/evening, aren't
we...?

David

"CatharticF1" <eferrari (AT) heaven (DOT) net> wrote

Better still sue Ferrari and it's team of supporters simply for being sore
losers!

FAR MORE Clearer

"Weird Al" <weird (AT) no (DOT) fuss.com> wrote in
news:X8kRe.6689$t4.3153 (AT) newsfe1-gui (DOT) ntli.net:

I think that saddest cases are those with the equipment they need but
fail to deliver.

I'll give you a clue, his initials are JPM.

--
CatharticF1

'What you thought was freedom is just greed'

What is it about the neo-tifosi mentality that seeks solace in poring over
the
minutiae of JPM's career in moments when Ferrari are lame?

www.groovesmag.com

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 07:55:33 GMT, CatharticF1 <eferrari (AT) heaven (DOT) net>
wrote:
....KR's no minor slouch either.