Michelin Teams Offer Fans Second US Grand Prix

The seven Michelin teams who failed to race in this year’s US Grand Prix because of tyre problems have offered to stage a second event in Indianapolis...

The offer came from the teams this weekend in what is thought to be an attempt to rebuild Formula One's image in America after fans stormed out of the six car fiasco two weeks ago when seven of the 10 teams failed to take part.

The race, proposed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway management through Bernie Eccelstone, would not be part of the championship therefore competitors would not be able to score points in it.

The teams have said they would fund the race, which is proposed for October, themselves if they thought it would help repair the image of Formula One in America.

This somewhat surprising move comes four days after Michelin offered to refund all the tickets for this years Grand Prix, plus buy 20,000 new tickets for those fans who wanted to go to next years race.

It also comes just three days after the teams were found guilty by the World Motorsport Council of "acts prejudicial to the interests of the sport" and it was hinted by Max Mosely, head of the FIA, that if the teams made efforts to restore Formula One’s image in the meantime, the penalties, to be decided in September, may be lessoned.

Ron Dennis, team boss of McLaren, told journalists at the French Grand Prix: "We can't make it happen, but the proposal has been made. It's for them to take up the option or not, but we said we'd do it if it was something that would supplement the already generous package offered by Michelin.

"We can only try to demonstrate by our actions that, innocent we may be, we were party to the problem," he added.

It has yet to be confirmed if any of the Bridgestone runners would run in the race to complete a 20 car grid.