"Our tyre will be safe and competitive"Michelin will not only make it to the chequered flag at Indianapolis, the tyre supplier is certain to deliver a full contingent of French-clad tyres to the grid.
That is the avowal of Nick Shorrock, F1 boss of the marque that
- a year ago - contributed greatly to one of the biggest and most damaging scandals in the history of Grand Prix racing.
''We have learned from our errors of 2005,'' he told sid, clearly referring to the tyre failures in practice at Indianapolis that forced the no-compromise resolve to pull all fourteen Michelin cars from the event.
Such was the impact of the farcical six-car procession that followed, the future of the US grand prix - which delivered the biggest crowd ever seen by the sport in 2000 - is still under a grey cloud.
Shorrock, whose employer is to pull out of F1 at the end of 2006, insisted: ''Our tyre (for this weekend) will be safe and competitive.
''And a victory at Indy would taste particularly sweet.''
No longer, however, is the after-taste really about tyres. It's now about fixing the damage and gauging whether enough fans will stroll through the turnstiles to justify another race contract for 2007 and beyond.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood has delayed talks with Bernie Ecclestone until the chequer falls on Sunday.
Hinting at the most important factor to consider, he said: ''(The 2006 event) has to feel like a good event.''
Circuit spokesman Ron Green said he has been 'surprised' at the strength of ticket sales, with a race-day crowd of about 100,000 - which compares strongly with other venues - still expected.
Triple World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, too, does not think the wounds of 2005 are terminal.
''But I also believe that Formula One will never be very big in the USA,'' the Scot, in New York, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Part of the problem, for a start, is that the race will not even be shown on free-to-air TV throughout the country.
But Stewart insisted: ''Network television will not do anything (for F1's popularity) unless you've got an American domestic sportsman doing well.''
Source GMM CAPSIS International
