New Jersey and a second Indian GP?

The buzz this weekend as we wait for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in Noida is that Weehawken, New Jersey will get a race in 2013.  Color me surprised, as I thought this was just smoke and mirrors.  The claim is that an official announcement will come Tuesday.  Maybe Governor Chris Christie could be a grid girl.  That would be far preferable than any cast member of a reality show from the Garden State or other related orange wannabes.  WTF is a Snookie anyway?

Before Austin got the nod for 2012, a New York City area event was thrown around as an option.  With Bahrain getting canceled for 2011 and uncertainty for 2012, it makes some sense that Bernie Ecclestone would want to hedge his bets and get more tracks available outside of Europe.  The United State is pretty 3rd World when it comes to Formula 1 (and a whole lot of other things), but the island of Manhattan and its surrounds are a large draw for serious money.

It would've been nice to have Watkins Glen considered.  The venerable track has a storied F1 history that could have been revived.  But, as with so much in racing, it's about the money.  And a New Jersey (Exit 16E) should be able to get the hedge fund and glitterati crowds to cross the Hudson and spend some of their dirty lucre.

Lincoln Tunnel, baby.

Being on the left coast of the Untied States, I'd really like to see F1 come to Laguna Seca.  The elevation changes and the corkscrew with F1 cars would be insane.  But it'll never happen.  Instead, I can just hope that we can limit the orange oompa loompa quotient. 

Instead, we can look forward to whether Mumbai will actually build a track.  Yes, before Delhi (technically, Noida, but it's all sprawl, so how could you tell?) even gets the engines started, rumors are that a plan and money are set to build another track.  Mumbai makes about as much sense as Delhi for an F1 track, though.  From a pure sporting aspect, Chennai (Madras) would make far more sense.  Both Karthikeyan and Chandhok originate from there and that is the heart of Indian motorsport. 

[Update:] Well, it's confirmed with a 10 year contract.  And as I wondered previously after the Korean GP, it could be that Korea gets dropped from the schedule as early as 2013 after hosting on 3 F1 events.  But considering how the local organizers in Korea have no use for the track between F1 GP events and the place just gets put in shrink-wrap as soon as the last car leaves, it's no wonder that there is no excitement for racing in Korea.

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Alcohol content: not high enough (no comment)