After the sacking of a Williams catering staff member, two members of the Force India team have left Bahrain with the TV broadcasters Sky Deutschland, Fuji TV, MTV3 Finland, and a correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper all pulling out of covering the weekends events. But now the Porsche Supercup squad’s turn, a support-race team, is to pull out from Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix scheduled for this weekend.
“It is the first time in our team history that we have to cancel a race of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup,” Porsche team leader Karsten Molitor announced in a statement issued on Wednesday, reported thecheckeredflag.co.uk. “In the end, we have the responsibility for our employees. The race in Bahrain is for us one of the season’s highlights, therefore it was not easy to come to a decision.” he added reported Press TV.
Two Force India members announced they were leaving Bahrain for safety reasons after four of their team members were caught amid clashes between dissident groups and police in Manama on Wednesday night.
Oricchio correspondent for S.Paulo newspaper admitted not getting tickets for the race as "I always believed that the race would not take place, and I'm still not 100 per cent sure that something will not happen that will lead the FIA or FOM to cancel."
Bahrainis have planned "Days of Rage" directed at the Formula One Grand Prix, a a key event in the Gulf country scheduled for April 20 to 22.
Despite growing violence Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One boss, decided to go ahead with the race. On Thursday afternoon, police forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at opposition protest in Manama. Demonstrators protested against the Khalifa regime and demanded the cancellation of the race.
The Shi'ite community, who complains of political and economic marginalisation, led a protest movement that erupted which led to the cancellation of the race last year. Eccleston’s decision to go ahead with the race undermine the Bahraini revolution and send a clear message to the people of Bahrain.
The wise decision would have been for Eccleston to cancel the race. Unfortunately it all comes down to money and not wisdom and as Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of the Bahrain International Circuit, said "The economic impact of the grand prix runs into the millions of dollars and it ties us to the world in that we – this small island of Bahrain – are part of a very unique group and really become a world player with this race."
