A former main team Alpine involved in the rebirth of the A1 GP

Do you remember the A1 GP, the famous series which claimed to be the World Cup of motorsport in the 2000s? Created in 2005 by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, the championship offered us clashes of drivers by nations. France was also the first winner thanks to the duo Alexandre Prémat and Nicolas lapierre in 2006. Three years later, the series closed down, 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 experiencing a new golden age. The information, which AUTOhebdo is able to confirm, was revealed by our colleagues at Sky Business News. The man behind this initiative is an entrepreneur, 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 for the London Olympics.

Marcin Budkowski at the helm of the sportsman

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

In order to fully fit in with the times, the cars would obviously be designed to run on sustainable fuels, we learned. On the sporting side, the project would be headed by a well-known figure in motor racing, and in particular Formula 1, since Marcin Budkowski, who had been executive director ofAlpine F1 Team in 2021, after working at Ferrari, McLaren and at the FIA, is in charge 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 such as 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 selection football complements club football in the world of football. Thus, as in its heyday, the A1GP would take place during the off-season. 

Sky Business News also specifies that the series would take place over 12 races, divided between Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, from December through July, and that organizers should emphasize accessibility for fans through low general admission prices. 

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