Ecclestone: Senna's tragedy was good for F1 - the statement first denied, then proved true

[demoleft]

ecclestone hurried to deny he ever stated it, but the brasilian journalist who had collected it gave the tapes to the local radio stations that confirm the words.
he seems to have stated that (senna's) death was sad, but it was much publicity ... was good for F1. many people who neved had an interest in F1 started to have thanks to the immense echo of this accident.

"Detentor dos direitos comerciais da F-1, Bernie Ecclestone lamentou a morte de Ayrton Senna, em 1994, mas falou que a tragédia trouxe publicidade para a categoria. As declarações foram dadas para Fábio Seixas em entrevista publicada na edição deste domingo na Folha (a íntegra da coluna está disponível para assinantes do jornal e do UOL).

"Foi uma infelicidade. Mas a publicidade gerada foi tanta... Foi boa para a F-1. É uma pena que tenhamos perdido o Ayrton para isso acontecer. Ele era popular, mas muita gente que não o conhecia soube da F-1 por conta da publicidade gerada com sua morte", declarou o dirigente."

source: the same paper that collected the statement, fohla de s.paulo. http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/esporte/ult92u639669.shtml

can't get to find an english source. this is elmundo, spanish:

Ecclestone: 'La muerte de Senna fue buena para la Fórmula 1'
"La publicidad generada por su muerte fue buena para la Fórmula 1. Fue una lástima perder a Ayrton. Era muy popular, pero muchas personas comenzaron a adentrarse en la Fórmula 1 debido a la publicidad generada por su muerte", sentenció Ecclestone, que ya ensalzó a Adolf Hitler y a Sadam Hussein el pasado mes de julio.
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2009/10/18/motor/1255881509.html

no comment.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Ecclestone needs a minder, apparently...

between saying things like this and his recent comments about Hitler being a man who 'got things done', I can't see how having him speaking in public at all is a good thing for F1 or the FIA.

[demoleft]

2. yes, it was in july right? he's not new to these things. n/t

[JBoy]

3. Ecclestone is a total dick.

Commenting once about Danica Patrick, he said "women should be dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?series=irl&id=2089257

[madrchsod]

4. bernie needs to be retired....

i watched that race and knew he was in big trouble. if bernie thinks senna`s death was good for the sport he`s wrong. i hope the F1 teams say something about this