“This weekend made many young people from Imola who in 2006 were not yet born, or were too young, understand what F1 is for this city.” Even before being an entrepreneur (construction and hotels) and president of the IF tourism promotion company, Gianfranco Montanari is attached to Imola. And the first thought, recalling the weekend of over 200 thousand attendees, is to have rediscovered it like at the time of the San Marino GP.
“It was wonderful: an extraordinary event, organized in the best possible way, which was one with the city – he says –. The fan zone at the racetrack was great, of course; but we know that the F1 fans are the number one in the world in terms of made of entertainment. The truly special thing was the ability to tailor the event to Imola from the station to the Autodromo passing through the centre: there was something everywhere, even just a flag on the balcony of the house”.
And the effects have been seen for the hospitality system. “The hotels had been full for some time and everyone, from the bars to the restaurants, was working – underlines Montanari –. As for IF, we did very well with the Autodromo merchandising: we sold t-shirts, caps and gadgets of all kinds. We will have a excellent balance sheet this year, increasing compared to the substantial breakeven of 2023 and exceeding one million euros in turnover (condition required by the Court of Auditors to keep public companies open, ed.)”.
In short, the territory tries to promote itself at zero cost by making local activities work: a system that the Region and Government ensure they want to continue to support with their investments.
“F1 will have to stay in Imola, whoever comes after me will have to make it stay – warns the president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, leading candidate for the Democratic Party in the European Championships in the North-East constituency –. And all the conditions are there, although the international competition is incredible. The budget of the GP is extraordinary. We had 200 thousand people and 270 million euros of related activities, which are more than ten times the cost of the GP. I also have to thank Minister Salvini, who spoke well on Sunday very important to keep both Monza and Imola in the Circus”.
Words that the head of Transport (the department to which Aci refers, which has the task of carrying out the double negotiation) reiterated yesterday too: “Imola and Monza are pieces of history. We will do everything, even in terms of diplomatic relations, to guarantee enthusiasts and an income of hundreds of millions of euros on the territories”.
The ball therefore goes to Angelo Sticchi Damiani, president of ACI: “The GPs will not increase and the competition is enormous, especially in Europe, where they are in any case less profitable than those organized elsewhere. When will we have certainty from the government of the financing hypothesis public, we can try to have the agreement with F1.”
