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Jordan: New Jersey race 'huge' for F1

26 October 2011

Former F1 team boss turned TV pundit Eddie Jordan says the announcement that the sport will race on a new street circuit in New Jersey is 'huge news'.

It was confirmed on Tuesday evening that a new 3.2-mile circuit using Manhattan as a backdrop will play host to a second F1 race on American soil from 2013 onwards, with the new Circuit of the Americas venue joining the schedule next year.

However, Jordan admits it is the race in New Jersey that could become a key event on the calendar and will provide a unique showcase in front of a key market.

“New York is one of the major cities in the universe,” he told BBC Sport. “We have been wanting to go somewhere like this for a decade now, this is huge news.

"It is the jewel in the crown, not just in terms of America, but in terms of grand prix racing and brand awareness, bases and venues. A race in the centre of a major city has huge upsides. There are difficulties in terms of getting around, but it pales into insignificance compared with the benefits for the teams, the country, the city, commercially for Formula 1 and just the whole euphoria of the thing."

Jordan added that a successful event in the USA was key to F1 being able to call itself a global sport and was vital for the commercial element of the sport

"While Europe is steeped in Formula 1 history, the major commercial bugbear for Formula 1 is that we haven't penetrated deeply enough into the United States,” he said. "The States has always been one of those sketchy areas but this is the remedy of all remedies.Whether it can boost sponsor revenues or not, it will certainly maintain it. Global corporations will be able to say, 'wow now we can continue in Formula 1' or 'wow this is the time to come in'.

"It is the only sport that is able to offer that."