Re: [RC] Endurance riding/racing growing pains - Heidi Smith
>I think it was '98 when the WEC was
scheduled to be in Ireland but the major sponsor pulled out and it was switched
to the UAE.
>Money is a very important factor.
Yes, it was. And AIR, the issue over which
they pulled out was money--in particular, who would pay for additional security
needed due to some of the unrest going on in Ireland at the time.
They had a corporate sponsor (Nissan, I think), but the corporate sponsor
thought the Irish government should foot the bill for security, and the
Irish government thought the corporate sponsor should do so. So instead of
going and riding under the watchful eye of the IRA, we rode just down the Gulf
from Saddam. Can't say as how I blame the UAE for wanting to have their
Defense Minister's helicopter close to their Defense Minister, or for having the
guards with machine guns checking people into the stadium for the awards
cerremony... And all that takes money as well as putting on the
event.
