Bulgaria in Talks to Secure F1 Race

After securing a MotoGP race starting 2012, Bulgaria is on the verge of becoming the host of a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the near future as well. According to local media reports, Bulgarian Motorcycle Federation chief Bogdan Nikolov revealed he is waiting on a response from Bernie Ecclestone before giving the go-ahead for the construction of an F1 track.

“We expect to have a result by next week. Once we sign the contract for hosting an F1 event, we can build a second track,” said Nikolov, according to Bulgarian newspaper Dnevnik.

While the national motorcycle body is willing to conduct further talks with the F1 authorities in order to secure the hosting of a Grand Prix in the next few years, the Bulgarian Motor Sport Federation (supposedly the body who should insist the most on the matter) revealed they can't possibly raise the funds for building an F1 track.

BFAS president Georgi Yankoulov insisted that “he has moderate expectations” on the hosting of a future Bulgarian Grand Prix, as the economic crisis makes it almost impossible to build a track to comply with the F1 requirements from scratch.

“I cannot imagine that the FIA will take any commitment before the ground-breaking ceremony for the track. I am not against the idea but I have moderate expectations about it. The task is too complicated and difficult especially in the current situation of an economic crisis with sponsors backing down,” said Yankoulov.