Magny-Cours doomed

This year's French Grand Prix will be the last at the Magny-Cours circuit.

Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed the race will leave the unpopular and remote venue after the July 1 event.

"It's a little bit disappointing because we organised this grand prix and it has never developed in the way that we would have liked it to," Ecclestone told L'Equipe.

Magny-Cours replaced Paul Ricard as the French GP venue in 1991, but it has never been a favourite with fans or teams.

The French motorsport federation announced in March that it was 'suspending' the Magny-Cours race for next season because "not all the conditions necessary for success were met."

Ecclestone has been pressing for the development of the F1 world championship outside its traditional European heartland and races in the Far and Middle East have either come on stream or are in the pipeline.

But as the 76-year-old has shown with a night race in Singapore and a grand prix around the streets of Valencia next season, innovation is the key to the sport's growth.

That means that the French GP, which has been on the calendar every year bar 1955, could be spared from the axe by moving to a more glamorous venue.

"That's why I would like to see something in Paris," he added "A beautiful track on the roads of Paris - going up the Champs-Elysees, going round the corner there.

"You can always dream, can't you? I'm trying to turn dreams into reality. Why not Disneyland? It has hotels, you can get there by train, it would be ideal."