Turkey eyes tourism benefits of F1

Turkey hosts its first Formula One grand prix this weekend and believes the event will generate serious money further down the road.

Sunday's race at the $70 million Istanbul Speed Park could eventually translate into $3 billion in additional revenues for an already booming tourism sector.

"This event will make a big contribution to this country and for the economy," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.

"People talk about the financial value but you can't put a value on it in terms of the publicity which it brings to the country."

Turkey expects to generate some $18 billion from tourism this year and events like Formula One are expected to provide a massive boost in terms of free advertising.

The arrival of Ferrari champion Michael Schumacher and the rest of the grand prix circus is also being trumpeted as a major boost for the country's international sporting profile.

Istanbul hosted a memorable Champions League final in May, with Liverpool coming from 3-0 down at half-time to beat Milan on penalties, and Sunday's race will be watched by another huge global audience.

At the same time, officials are playing down security concerns fuelled by a series of bomb attacks across Turkey in recent months.

They say all necessary measures have been taken in a country used to holding international events from NATO summits to the Eurovision Song Contest.

"We are ready for Formula One. Every measure has been taken in terms of security, customs, health, power and telecommunications," Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said.

Sunday's race will provide McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen with a chance to close the gap on Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso. The Finn revived his title hopes by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, while Alonso failed to score.

Turkish attention is focused as much on the benefits of a global event watched in 200 countries and expected to attract 40,000-60,000 visitors and revenues of around $80-120 million.

The event provides an opportunity to attract investment to the largely residential Asian side of Istanbul where the track is located and which often loses out to the European side of the city in investment terms.

Sporting prestige is feeding into growing Turkish self-confidence fuelled by a booming economy and anticipation of the start of European Union membership talks on October 3.

As well as the grand prix, Turkey already hosts a round of the world rally championship and will also welcome the first MotoGP race in Istanbul in October.

Even if Turkey has no grand prix driver, there will still be a home interest on race day when Jason Tahincioglu does a demonstration run in a Jordan after trying out the car at Silverstone this month.

Tahincioglu, who races in the junior British Formula Renault series, is the son of Turkish motorsport federation head Mumtaz Tahincioglu.

The undulating 5.4-km circuit has been designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the creative force behind Malaysia's Sepang, Bahrain's Sakhir and the lavish Shanghai track.

The country has invested $220 million in the track, surrounding infrastructure and roads as organisers have conducted a major publicity campaign in the build-up to the race.

Red Bull driver David Coulthard drove his car, with the Turkey tourism logo on the side, along Istanbul streets lined with Formula One fans and across the suspension bridge linking the city's European and Asian shores.