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Can Protesters Change The Bahrain Grand Prix?

Since its inauguration in 2004, the Grand Prix of
Bahrain has always had a different way of staging a formula one event. The glamorous
and stylish sheiks moving around the circuit, along with much high class personal
has made this event one of a kind and certainly an important part of the
formula one world championship.

However, in 2011, riots began to fill the streets of
the capital of Manama, the country’s capital. The issue was not against the
race itself, or the drivers who raced there. It was against the government of
not giving the inhabitants there of what they wanted. It was the rich class of
individuals leading the country against the lower class people who lived there.

The protesters realized that the only way they could
get their point across was to protest against this event, which draws fans from
all over the world. This would make people finally listen for their cause.

Unfortunately, there was a GP2 Asia series earlier that same year, and individuals
there did not like the way they could get around the city, due to the blocking
of the protesters. This made the FOM and the FIA reach a decision that that
year’s race would be cancelled.

A year later, the protesting began to appear again,
and once again, all the committees involved tried to make another important
decision to try and reach a compromise to either cancel the race for good, or schedule
the race entirely. The final move was to make the race go on, although rumors
that were going around suggested that the race committee were putting a lot of
money to host the event, and for it to be off the formula one calendar would
make the event lose considerable amounts of money that might never be refunded.

So now once again the race has appeared, and this
history from the past has not be forgotten because the protesters have returned
and even if it seems obvious that the FOM themselves have asked Bernie
Ecclestone to cancel the event. If this has been an idea that something needs
to be done here, it can be made even worse that FIA president Jean Todt will
not be attending the grand prix event this weekend.

This has not changed the mind of Todt, who believes
that the grand prix would be fine with Eccelstone in charge of the race. Todt
has not only done this before, but in addition, last season, when Todt did appear at the last minute asked to
resolve a dispute when the Force India team could not get though between the
hotel they were staying in and the circuit. However, the Frenchman in charge this time
used a reason that he is busy running for another re-election campaign of the
FIA when his term comes to an end in September.

With days to go, tear gas canisters have been fired
at protesters in Manama, which occurred when a young student Hassan Humidan,
was arrested a few days ago as the police stormed the University that he
resided and the students that witnessed this themselves tweeted pictures of the
evidence that the police were using tear gas and stun grenades.

The main movement named February 14th,
which mainly is a youth movement, have claimed most of the responsibility of
most of the clashes, stating that it wants to disrupt many activities going on
in the capital in protest against the formula one race. As many as 100 people
alone have been detained before the formula one teams arrived this week and it
will be very interesting whether or not this race can continue on the formula
one calendar with these circumstances going on.

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