Life in the fast lane

Claire Ferris-Lay meets Richard Cregan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management, and the man in charge of turning Abu Dhabi’s Formula One dreams into a reality.

It’s unusual in this day in age to find someone who has worked for the same company for more than 20 years. But former Toyota team manager, Richard Cregan, spent some 24 years with the car manufacturer helping to establish its place in motorsport history.

During the seven years he worked as team manager Cregan saw the Toyota team compete more than 100 times, taking the podium eight times. It might not have been one of the most successful teams on the circuit but for the former mechanic and driver, it was the perfect job.

Not that perfect though that he didn’t jump at the opportunity to head up the team charged with creating Abu Dhabi’s first Grand Prix event. The F1 enthusiast describes his current job as CEO of Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM) as the opportunity of a lifetime. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t miss,” he tells CEO Middle East just days before ADMM takes control of the 5.5km track. “If you look at the size of the project you’ll know why I made the decision.”

The track, designed by renowned F1 track designer Hermann Tilke, is the centrepiece of the $40bn Yas Island development. Featuring some of F1’s most spectacular characteristics, including an 18-metre elevation between the third turn and the start/finish straight and a marina, the track even passes through a specially designed hotel giving guests exclusive views of the race. Other features also include a world champion-standard karting centre and a drag strip. Away from the track state-backed Aldar has also been busy developing the world’s first Ferrari theme park, a Warner Bros theme park, golf courses and shopping malls.

Abu Dhabi paid a reported $60m to host the race, which will take place during the first weekend in November. Cregan joined ADMM just 14 months before the grand opening, which will play host to F1’s final race of the season and the sport’s first day-to-night race. While most of the project was already underway when he joined, Cregan faced the daunting task of putting together a team that would not only take charge of the running of the track but would also be responsible for ensuring its success outside of that one weekend.

“It’s been difficult,” he admits. “You come on board to do a particular job and then you take on the whole responsibility of the company and the F1 project,” he says of his quick promotion from team manager to CEO. “It’s only when you sit down and you see the enormity of something like this you just need to knuckle in and get it done.”

Funding for the project in the current economic climate, however, hasn’t been an issue. Financed by Abu Dhabi’s government, which hopes to both raise its profile and diversify its economy away from oil in line with its strategic 2030 plan, the project has not only been blessed with an open wallet but also the sheer determination to see it through to fruition. “Like all of the projects here you also need the resources to get it done and the great thing is that the resources are here and the will to get these things done is here,” says Cregan.

Ticket sales in the lead up to the event have also proved a hit. At the time of going to press, over 90 percent of tickets had already been sold and despite the economic climate, Cregan has been forced to increase capacity in the Paddock Club, the stadium’s corporate hospitality area, by 1,000 seats.

“Paddock Club has been increased because there has been such demand,” he says. “The year started off in a very difficult way for corporate hospitality because of the economic crisis, which is understandable. I think that probably 50 percent of that was reflecting the economic crisis and the other 50 percent was reflecting the fact that those with money didn’t like to be seen spending it. As the year has progressed things have moved on a little bit and started to improve a little bit for the economy… We had the capacity to increase the numbers; we didn’t believe we would need to but in the end the demand was greater than the supply.”

Abu Dhabi has placed a strong emphasis on having an Emirati presence both during the event and afterwards. Cregan expects around half of the attendees at the F1 race will be from the UAE. “We are very confident that there is going to be a very big Emirati presence, that’s great because that’s why this is being created. This is an Emirati project for Emiratis and its main purpose is to create a meeting place; an iconic venue, which happens to be an F1 track. It has been designed for that but it has many other uses.”

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