Motorsport: Korean Grand Prix Wins Cheaper Deal

Korean Grand Prix organisers said yesterday they have negotiated a cheaper deal with Formula One, which will save $20.5 million this year, following a long-running row over costs.

An official at the South Jeolla provincial government, which has been under fire over its mounting deficit since the first race in 2010, said negotiations were finished, although the contract was yet to be signed.

“Negotiations with Formula One Management (FOM) were successfully completed, and we hope a contract will be signed soon,” an official at the provincial government’s F1 organising committee told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

“The new deal will help reduce our deficit and host the race in a more stable manner,” he said, adding FOM has agreed to cut its fees by about 23 billion won ($20.5 million).

Formula One officials were not immediately available for comment. South Jeolla said there would be no change to the timeframe of the original agreement, which runs until 2016, with an option to extend for five more years.

After the second Korean Grand Prix last October, the organising committee warned it would be forced to drop the event because of losses, although Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone at the time ruled out a cheaper contract.

Last year, it paid a $55 million fee for hosting and TV rights, according to earlier official data.

The committee declined to give details of the new deal. But newspapers said organisers would not pay this year’s TV fee, estimated at $17.6 billion won, and it would also cut this year’s race commission fee by 10 percent.