The Formula One empire built under the watchful eye of Bernie Ecclestone is being attacked from within. GPWC Holdings, which includes BMW, Ferrari Maserati, Renault and DaimlerChrysler the four largest and most influential manufacturers in the sport have announced they would set up a rival world championship series by 2008

"We have been more than patient with the management and governance of formula one but recent developments have underlined the need for a structure which guarantees a stable and prosperous future," said Jürgen Hubbert, the former Mercedes-Benz board director who is chairman of GPWC.

As is often the case in these matters, those in charge of their own little F1 fifdoms are bleating like sheep. The first is Ron Walker head of Grand Prix Australia:

"Without a licence from the FIA they just become another Indy or another cycle of motor racing which amounts to not much at all. I don't think anyone wants to take on a secondary race – they all want a Formula 1 race."

"Frankly I can't see this getting off the ground. I think it's a leverage exercise by (Ferrari owner) FIAT and Renault and Mercedes and BMW to try and force Mr Ecclestone...to distribute greater funds from the revenues."

I seem to remember similar arguments made by more than a few CART officials when threatened by Tony George and the then, upstart IRL. CART, since the split, has fallen far down racings list of must see events. In the just completed Indy 300 in Australia CART/Champ Car ran as an undercard event to the local V8 SuperCar Series. Even veteran Champ Car reporters ware taking potshots at CART:

"Look at these idiots. They are hopeless," said one veteran reporter on the Champ Car trail.

"There are only a handful of decent drivers. And Tracy is past his sell-by date."

The Indy 300 organisers pay about $10 million to bring the Champ Car show to Australia, but the race yesterday was the worst in the event's 14-year history. There were no superstar drivers and most of the cars ran with no sponsorship.

The Champ Car series is heavily supported by its three owners, who are also team bosses, and they even promote some events and subsidise teams to run cars to boost the field to the 18 cars required by its contracts.

The series almost folded earlier this year and the V8 Supercar teams are waiting for it to collapse so they can become the headline act on the Gold Coast.

"We can take $8 million straight out of the bottom line and provide a better show," V8 Supercar supremo Tony Cochrane said. "And I guarantee that the crowd won't be any smaller."

The bottom line is Walkers defense of Bernie and the current F1 setup won't hold water if the four largest manufacturers bolt and have any success in establishing a new series. Walkers question then becomes, "Why would the FIA grant a license to a series that consists of Sauber, Menardi, and possibly Jaguar under new ownership?" Bernie would do well to ponder the current fate of CART/Champ Car.

Cross posted @ Full Throttle