ECCLESTONE GROUP CANCELS ALL EVENTS AT ISTANBUL PARK, INCLUDING CORNERSPEED SCHOOLS. Formula One owner and race mogul, Bernie Eccelstone, recently acquired the prestigious Istanbul Park F1/MotoGP circuit in a 15 year lease through the Turkish government. Assured by Ecclestone Group management that all negotiated rates and contracts would be upheld as recent as Saturday, April 21st, renters and lease holders kept business as usual. Things rapidly began to change by the evening of the 21st after Ecclestone was spotted walking the MotoGP paddock. That evening, track management spokespersons for Ecclestone, notified the MotoGP teams that in addition to the rates already paid by Dorna, each rider, not each team, but each rider would be required to pay a surcharge of $5000 euros each (approx. $7000USD) for Tuesday team testing which would have translated to a grand total of approximately $90,000 euros for the day if all teams would have remained and paid for Tuesday. Because the surcharge was not instituted for Monday, MotoGP teams shifted their testing schedules to complete all practice on Monday and cancelled all scheduled tests for Tuesday. Cornerspeed Riderschool was set to open their first international school on Wednesday and Thursday of that week when late evening on Monday, Can Guclu, GM of Eccelstone group called the home of Cornerspeed President and Partner, Murat Doruk and was notified that the new track rate for Wednesday was now $75,000euro (approximately $100,000USD), nearly 4 times the normal track rate. Over 3 weeks prior to this, Guclu had visited the Istanbul corporate offices of Cornerspeed and met with partners to assure them that all was well and the contracts and negotiated rates were in full force with the change over and that their “rate was secure”. After the news, O’Connor commented, “With 25 fully prepared Suzuki motorcycles furnished by Suzuki Turkey, 7 U.S. instructors present and large sums of money invested, it was a shocking blow to be given this news and in this manner. If Can would have been honest with us one month ago, we could have saved tens of thousands of dollars by securing another venue or canceling altogether.” Cornerspeed is not the only group affected. Among others, Porsche Cup, WTCC (World Touring Car), Renault and all other groups that had events scheduled have had to withdraw due to the astronomical increases in fees. Turkish media and newspapers reacted immediately in part due to the fact that the facility is owned by the Turkish government and was paid for by Turkish tax dollars in the amount of $240 million USD. Istanbul newspaper headlines read, “Bernie Steals Turkey” and “Turkish Motorsports Set Back 10 Years”. At present, no information is available as to why Ecclestone would deliberately mislead contract holders. Branches of the Turkish ministries have requested meetings next week with contract holders including Cornerspeed, Porsche Cup and World Touring Car to see if a resolution can be reached. Cornerspeed’s O’Connor commented, “Whether this is a viable attempt to restore events at Istanbul Park or just a political maneuver to save face is yet to be seen, we will have to wait and see.” Additionally he states, “In no way does this affect the US operations of Cornerspeed. The international schedule is completely separate. As for Turkey, we, Cornerspeed, are committed to developing motorsports here. Suzuki and all of our sponsors are with us 100%. This is only a hiccup in the business. We are hopeful on all fronts.”