[Only? Sounds like they've gotta fix that...]
Formula One: Shanghai in high gear Brad Spurgeon IHT Thursday, September 23, 2004 Auto racing swoons over Chinese zoom http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=540124.html SHANGHAI The drivers' title has been won, and the team title has been decided, but that seems almost beside the point this week as Formula One prepares for its first ever Chinese Grand Prix.
The locale of the luxurious and gargantuan new track in Shanghai may well threaten Monaco's position as the favorite race for the teams and drivers, although probably not for the core fans who follow the races around Europe. Still, the organizers had no problem filling the seats in their enormous stands. Even though the cost of tickets makes it impossible for the vast majority of China's 1.3 billion people even to think about going, all 150,000 tickets were sold by August.
Formula One may think it is conquering China, but before the week is out, it is more likely that Shanghai will have seduced Formula One.
The walls of Pudong international airport are lined with billboards from DHL, a Formula One sponsor, depicting a race car driver and boasting of its connection to the sport, while along the roads into the city the Hongkong Shanghai Bank, another sponsor, has draped red Formula One flags bordered by a checkered flag. Other Formula One ads deck the city, which is in the middle of its 2004 Tourism Festival. Hotels have quintupled their room rates, but beds are still hard to find.
"Everyone's talking about it, from the CEOs of big companies to my baby sitter," said Laurie Underwood, head of communications and publications at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. "There's a general sense of euphoria about having Formula One come to Shanghai."
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