Melbourne Grand Prix media manager, Geoff Harris has quit with less than a week to go before the season opening race at the Albert park circuit, sending shockwaves through the paddock.
Harris cited ‘excessive bureaucracy’ as the reason for quitting the organization he has been with for the past eight years, revealing that he had had enough of the ‘lack of direction and leadership’ displayed by new chief executive, Tim Bamford. It appears as if the final straw was Mark Webber’s drive across the Sydney harbour bridge yesterday as the original plans would have been a PR disaster.
"It was looming as the world's greatest media non-event," Harris said.
Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart is stunned by this latest turn of events…
"I am completely lost for words, as this bloke was the driving force behind the Grand Prix in this town," he told the Herald. "He is the one who commanded great respect from all the overseas teams and it's a massive loss for motor sport in this country."
Meanwhile, Mr. Bamford has assured the public that he event will run smoothly, despite Harris’ absence.
"I've got a fantastic team of people here and putting on the best GP in the world is not about one person, it's about the team," he said. "We'll just let the 10th event, the best one we've put on, to speak for itself."
;)
