Just months after declaring that no country should host two races in a Formula One season, it does not surprise me to hear the announcement that from 2008 there could be a race on the streets of Valencia on the day the Formula One circus rolls into Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

With Valencia reportedly paying £17.5m, I’m not surprised. Bernie Ecclestone is a very rich man, driven by money more than he is the sports he rules over, so £17.5m for seven years is very nice, thank you very much.

But racing on the streets by the harbour of a European city sounds ridiculously like the Monaco Grand Prix. And while Valencia does have its own racing circuit  – the Ricardo Tormo track in Cheste, wich is is in fact used as a test track for F1 - Ecclestone has insisted that any future race in Valencia must be a street circuit.

Valencia will only get the race if the People’s Party remains in power in the local elections later this month. Surely a bribe if ever there was one to residents and the party, and while Valencia shelling out £17.5m might seem a great deal, what they will get back from being an annual part of the most expensive sport in the world and attracting the world’s media and thousands of spectators will undoubtedly be far greater. Ecclestone is no stranger to politics and money talks – his money more so than others.

Formula One has for decades striven to move forward with the times, and with Ecclestone dreaming up ideas like night races and continuing to move into new markets in the Middle East, Russia and Asia, announcing the European Grand Prix, as the Valencia race will be known, is almost a step backwards. Even the Japanese Grand Prix has moved from the Suzuka to the Fuji Speedway, while there are even talks that the Mexican Grand Prix could return with the new Mantarraya Circuit, possibly replacing the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso has put Spain back on the map in terms of F1, with a mighty army of Spaniards now following their hero around the world, akin to Michael Schumacher’s followers who did the same for so many years. And Ecclestone is keen to make sure that he doesn’t miss out.

It’s probably not a coincidence that Germany lost its own second race at the retirement of Schumacher with the old European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim now alternating as the German Grand Prix, while Spain regains a second just a year later with the continued rise of Alonso as Schumacher’s successor.

Street racing can be a wonderful spectacle as the cars disappear in a blur with picturesque backdrops, but as we have seen many times from Monaco, it can be dangerous and quite boring for the spectator with overtaking limited. I am sceptical as to whether Valencia will work and if it will prove a success. Only time will tell, but regardless of how successful it is, you can guarantee that Ecclestone won't care as long as he gets paid.

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