Thursday March 28th, 2002

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone told Turkish motor sport officials on Thursday that if they built a track he would try to add them to the calendar.

"Turkey has a lot of potential," Ecclestone was quoted as saying by state-run Anatolian news agency.

Speaking after a meeting with Turkish Automobile and Motorsports Federation president Mumtaz Tahincioglu in Istanbul, Ecclestone said there was no reason why Istanbul should not host a Grand Prix.

"There are a lot of advantages. I don't see any disadvantages. First you just have to come up with a track. After that we can fix the calendar," he said.

There is currently no Grand Prix in the Middle East but Turkey is up against Dubai and Egypt as possible venues.

Economic Crisis

Turkey, a country of 65 million people that straddles the continents of Europe and Asia, is currently working to overcome an economic crisis and would dearly like the tourism boost that would come with a Grand Prix.

Istanbul failed last year in its third bid to host the summer Olympic Games, but has said it will keep trying.

The Turkish Motorsports Federation took out a full-page advert in the January edition of 'F1 Magazine' to publicise its campaign to bring a race to Istanbul.

There is much discussion within the sport over adding new races to the calendar, with some people advocating taking a race each off Italy and Germany, which currently host two races each.

Eleven of the 17 races are in Europe, South America has just one, while Africa and the Middle East are not represented.

Published at 16:48:10 GMT