David Coulthard says anti-Grand Prix Melburnians are selfish

by:
Adrian Ballantyne From:
News Limited Network February 12, 2013
11:34AM

FORMULA One great David Coulthard says Melburnians who don't support the Albert Park Grand Prix are 'small-minded' and 'selfish'.

Coulthard, who won the Australian Grand Prix twice during his 16-year Formula One career, has anti-GP campaigners in his sights and said those calling for the death of the annual race needed to learn to be tolerant.

"If people want to be small-minded and not look beyond their personal needs, then that's disappointing."

"It's a great race track within the Albert Park facility, and for the one week of inconvenience where people don't get the access, then I think they shouldn't be so selfish, quite frankly."

"There's lots of things that I don't particularly appreciate in life, but I don't go campaigning against it as I understand there's a lot of people that do like it."

"The people who put out the negativity and the people that go there and do their little protest, I wonder how they'd feel if I came and stood outside whatever sporting event they follow and put forward my rights to say 'I don't like them doing that, it annoys me, it upsets my feng shui' or whatever it is."

The Grand Prix has come under fire from local opposition groups every year since it moved to Melbourne in 1996.

Renewed calls for its demise came last month when it was revealed Victorians were paying more than $30 million a year for the right to host the event, under a secret deal with billionaire F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone.

But Coulthard, in the Grand Prix's 'Keeping Track' podcast, said paying to host the event was part and parcel of attracting world class sporting attractions.

"The license fee that has to be paid … nothing comes for nothing, and license fees get paid to other sporting events."

"It's a truly international event, Melbourne is already on the world map and it's a great city, but having the Grand Prix there doesn't do any harm to the local economy."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/motor-sport/david-coulthard-says-anti-grand-prix-melburnians-are-selfish/story-e6frfgb6-1226576080034

Losing the GP is one of Adelaide's biggest ever regrets.

It wasn't exactly their idea.
I heard at the time the Adelaide guys arrived in London to talk to Bernie about extending the contract and were told it'd already been given to Melbourne.

I don't care just make sure there's an Aussie GP so I can watch it an ordinary time.

Funny thing, when I was living in the UK, I thought the GP starting at 2pm was a pain in the rear. You'd usually be out drinking Saturday night, wake up late, then there wasn't much time to get anything done before the race starts. Felt like that 2 hour race took up the whole day.
I kinda like that we can still have a Sunday to do stuff, then settle in for the race at 10pm. The only real problem are the American races at 2am!

I thought Ten/One doesn't even show the Asian races live (Japan, Korea, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore [which is a night race so should be on at like 9 or 10pm anyway])?

Pretty sure One shows the races live iirc.

*sigh

The amount of cities around the world who wish they could host a F1 GP is crazy. Be grateful we have an event like this in our city, let alone our country.

The amount of cities around the world who wish they could host a F1 GP is crazy. Be grateful we have an event like this in our city, let alone our country.

The thing is, once you're actually ON the track, watching the cars, you don't get to see anything that distinguishes Melbourne from any other city.

The international broadcasts don't have any of those panoramic shots of the track or Melbourne that we like to think they do. If it weren't for the big ass lake in the middle the international viewers couldn't really tell the difference between Melbourne, Hungary or China if it weren't for the distinct features of the track itself, which if we're perfectly honest, can be replicated anywhere.

Hmm maybe I'm thinking of HD broadcasting... whatever. :P