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ACO rejects FIA idea of F1 at Le Mans

An FIA request about the possibility of hosting a French Grand Prix at Le Mans has been rejected by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).

The French Grand Prix has been absent from the F1 calendar since the last edition of the race at Magny Cours in 2008. ACO president Pierre Fillon has revealed the FIA asked about the possibility of racing at Le Mans using the Bugatti Circuit but Fillon believes there is nothing to be gained by doing so.

"I don't think it would bring anything," Fillon told Le Maine Libre. "We would need to invest 17 or 18 million Euros and finance this investment via the ticket booths exclusively. At best we would be breaking even on such an event."

The Bugatti Circuit is 2.65 miles long and hosts MotoGP among other racing categories, while the Le Mans 24 Hour race runs on the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe. This year's edition of the iconic endurance race takes place on the same weekend as the inaugural Grand Prix of Europe in Baku.

2016 sees a record 21-race calendar for Formula 1, with the German Grand Prix also returning after being absent from last year's schedule.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.