US GP Was Never in Doubt, Says George

IMS president Tony George, organiser of this weekend's United States Grand Prix, has said that there was no time he considered cancelling the event following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley remained defiant by deciding to run the Italian Grand Prix on the weekend after the disaster in America, and George says the American race was never in doubt.

"From the outset my first talks with Bernie and the FIA with Max was that we needed to go forward," said George. "I am not sure what the rationale was for cancelling the Ryder Cup (Golf tournament) and moving it back a year. We postponed an event at Texas, I felt that we did the right thing then to postpone and the right thing now by continuing."

The logistics required for the race to go ahead have been demanding to say the least, with teams having to alter plans to allow for new tighter security measures on flights to the United States. But George believes the teams have done well to overcome those hurdles and says that now the increase in safety at the event will, he hopes, allow things to run smoothly this weekend.

"It has taken an extraordinary effort on the other side of the Atlantic," said George of the logistical problems. "From what I have been able to understand it has gone reasonably well - albeit with some extra effort from a lot of people.

"We feel we have a good security plan in place, a good emergency plan in place, we have a long history of working closely with the agencies, from the local level up to the federal level, so we feel we are very well covered."