Tyrell: F-1, Las Vegas fine fit

Karl Heinz Urbat

Friday, June 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

BARCELONA, Spain -- One of Formula One racing's most venerable car owners said if the high-tech series returns to the United States, the site may be irrelevant.

But Ken Tyrell's appreciation for history tells him it should be Las Vegas.

"Having won the last Las Vegas Grand Prix in 1982 with Michele Alboreto, then I am very happy to go back in Vegas," Tyrell said, referring to F-1's two-year run at Caesars Palace and the possibility of racing down the Las Vegas Strip in the very near future.

"But I am happy to race anywhere in America where the facilities are equal to those in Europe. I am sure that there won't be a race over there unless the circuit matches the standards of what we are used to in Europe."

According to the rumor mill, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. (Disneyworld) top a list of four cities interested in hosting F-1's potential American return. The last United States Grand Prix was held in Phoenix in 1991.

Mirage Resorts Inc. chairman Steve Wynn has mentioned the possibility of opening his new Bellagio resort with a Formula One race in spring, 1998. Wynn was part of a Las Vegas contingent that attended the recent Grand Prix of Monaco.

Series regulations would allow two U.S. races, one on each coast. But during a break at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, Tyrell said that development seemed doubtful.

"Whether there is more than one event in the USA is totally dependent on whether there is a demand in the USA," said Tyrell, who will field cars for Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

"IndyCar racing is their national formula, in which a lot of drivers are Americans. Formula One at the moment has international manufacturers and international drivers. There is only one North American (Jacques Villeneuve) and he is Canadian."

Tyrell said if Michael Andretti still were racing F-1, there probably would be a race on American soil now.

"For Formula One to take off in the USA requires that there be a competitive American driver with a competitive team," he said.

But Tyrell indicated that at the moment, there aren't many Americans worthy of driving in F-1.

"Because the most competitive formula of racing in the States is with the CART series, if one was going to use an American driver, that's the series he would look to.

"At the moment, the most likely one over there is Greg Moore, who is another Canadian."

Tyrell said he is familiar with many of the Indy-car teams -- "they keep coming over here to steal our staff," he said -- and once attended the Indy 500. But he thinks open-wheel cars are meant to run on road circuits.

"I personally don't like oval racing," he said. "I think oval racing is too fast. There's nowhere to go for driver error or a mechanical failure of the car. Too many drivers get hurt."