Race Cars Economic Platform Formed
ZHUHAI, Nov. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- On November 11th, 2007 AGF Asian Formula International Open Competition Zhuhai station successfully came to a close. After intense competition, Daiwei, Hu An Zhu and Zhi Qiang Zhang respectively won the honor of champion, second-place winner, and third-place winner. Cao Ying, the first woman driver in the event and a welcome newcomer, participated in AGF with CY family and acquired the cup of excellent women in the competition.
During the two-day period, over 10,000 viewers attended the competition, participating in on-the-spot lotteries and the Karting challenge competition. The loud cheering of viewers from all over the world, the participation of star drivers, the extremely high speed of formula racing cars, and the flying colorful flags of sponsors, all made people feel that China's independent formula sports industry has found its footing.
China lacks a strong automobile culture. Car racing is not an Olympic sport, and without that support has remained rather exotic and obscure. In recent years, however, along with the developing economy and the increase in automobile output, the number of private cars in China has increased greatly. More and more matches are being independently held in China, though the increase has mainly been in rally matches and civilian car competitions.
In 2003, F1 established Shanghai station and formally entered the market of China. "Souvenir caps worth 300 Yuan were sold out on the first day, tickets and set tickets worth several thousand Yuan were all booked ... " Foreigners of F1 Organization Committee were surprised at the calling of formula sports in China, and felt the broad potential of the formula market in China.
The emergence of F1 originates from brand competition. Each year, different brands invest several hundred millions of dollars in providing their most advanced industrial technology to racing teams. However, it is not realistic to mechanically apply this international mode in China. Some F1 manufacturers exclusively produce racing cars and sports cars, whose needs are contrary to safety requirements and modern comfort. At present, civilian automobiles are still a growing market and so sports cars and racing cars have not yet branched out.
Foreign racing teams have occasionally been introduced to jumpstart the field, with the unintended side effect of perhaps stifling independent formula sports, but some growth has been organic. Several years ago, Geely automobile intended to produce formula cars for formula sports. Geely acted as the automobile provider of AGF Asian Formula International Open Competition and used that event as a promotion platform for their automobiles.
The huge value of formula sports and the high-end orientation of consumers are connecting well with many internationally famous brands and domestic emerging brands. At the beginning of AGF's investment period, advertisement sites for racing cars and driver costumes were completely booked. Michelin, Stanley, Aigo, Baidu and other well-known brands became the designated products of the competition or sponsored racing teams.
Great expense gives formula racing a reputation of being the sport of "burning money". China as a whole is not a wealthy country and racing competitions needs to be popularized to continue. Compared with the 1 million dollar-expense necessary to cultivate a formula driver, AGF drivers are more attainable in China. An AGF driver only requires less than 100,000 Yuan and training by the Organization Committee to have a chance to participate in the competition.
Many qualified Chinese drivers have been constrained until now. While strictly inspecting the sponsor level, and guaranteeing the high frequency and high level of the competition platform, AGF also invested towards reducing driver expense, enabling more civil drivers to realize their dream on the stage of AGF.
Some people have said that AGF's low price is suicide. However, AGF knows that China's independent formula sports are still in their infancy and need to further explore and experiment. The operation mode has no previous mode to follow. AGF needs to bravely break out into the field and enlighten fellow countrymen's enthusiasm on formula racing.
At present, in light of the star driver Cao Ying's participation, unprecedented media reports, and broad notice of the event across social fields, AGF has found a road towards the pursuit of popularizing the formula sport. The last station is set for Shanghai on December 8th and 9th, which hints at AGF's decision on running the F1 circuit and pursuing an international breakthrough. It's believed that, in the future competition seasons, AGF will more and more connect with commerce and entertainment, and a China-centered Asian racing sport brand and commercial platform will be primarily formed.
