Driving ambition

"We have gone from a standing start to putting on races in a dozen countries, including the first ever around the streets of Beijing, paid out almost £20 million in prize money, been watched trackside by 750,000 fans and live on TV by approaching 100 million viewers in the space of three seasons and attracted 22 national team franchises," Bain says. "I believe even the doubters - and there were more than a few - will agree we have earned respect and achieved respectability and sustainability," he says.

The doubters saw trouble ahead from the minute A1 Grand Prix, as it was initially branded, left the starting grid at Jumeirah Beach hotel in Dubai four years ago.

Those doubters, including Peter Short, who teaches the University of Central Lancashire's degree course in motorsport management, are still not convinced.

"The series never filled the original grid in the first season, with only 25 of 30 places taken, and the second season saw fewer teams than in 2005-06. It struggles with a lack of clarity as to its purpose," says Short. "The objective of teams with national identities isn't in line with the culture of how racing fans traditionally support or follow teams. It seems to have failed to project that competitive image of international rivalry."

However, speaking from his home in Monaco, Scottish driver Allan McNish, 2007 American Le Mans Series champion, is direct about Bain's contribution to making the competition successful.

"Compared with where it was 24 months ago, A1GP is a totally different animal. There were those on both sides of the pit wall who harboured concerns about its longevity and just where it fitted. Stewart Bain possesses the vision, the drive and marketing skills to put the master plan into action."

Bain is tight-lipped on A1GP's finances, venturing only that "the group is forecast to break even or even show a small profit in season four in 2008-09 and we are confident it will kick on from there".

Several key indicators do suggest the business model - which takes a £100,000 franchise fee from each of the 22 national teams, controls and sells its own TV rights, sells its own sponsorship and merchandise and, where necessary, acts as race promoter - is showing signs of entering the fast lane.

London-based hedge fund RAB Capital paid a reported £100m for Maktoum's 80% stake in A1GP at the end of 2006, a move Bain describes as "ensuring A1GP benefits from the long-term investment objectives of RAB Capital and goes forward with a strong capital base".

In what insiders call a more significant move, Italian car giant Ferrari signed an exclusive six-year deal starting next year to supply engines to the fleet of A1GP single-class cars and to consult on chassis and other engineering matters.

"Getting an iconic brand such as Ferrari on board as a key technology partner is a huge step forward for us," says Bain, who helped broker the deal. "That is a major vote of confidence in A1GP."

McNish agrees with the importance of the Scuderia deal, adding: "Perhaps more than any other single factor, the long-term deal with Ferrari has given A1GP the stability and even the legitimacy it has needed and a very solid platform on which to build, whilst accepting it will never rival F1."

Bain insists that comparisons with Formula 1 are, "not only inaccurate but also irrelevant".

"F1 is and always will be the pinnacle of global motor sport and I am a huge admirer of what they have achieved and will continue to deliver for fans and sponsors," he says.

The viability of individual teams in A1GP remains a concern. Team GBR reported a pre-tax loss of £1.35m in 2006, to which Bain says: "Each franchise had relatively high start-up and development costs, but as the A1GP group grows in confidence and business strength, we would anticipate that teams would also move into a stronger position."

There have been many twists and turns in Stewart Bain's chequered career. University educated in Australia, he entered the hospitality industry with Intercontinental Hotels, joined fellow Scots Peter Tyrie, Ken McCulloch and David Coulthard in their Balmoral, Malmaison and Columbus hotels ventures, spent two years working as director of global sales at Chelsea Football Club under Stamford Bridge boss Peter Kenyon and with British motor racing legend, the former world champion John Surtees.

He eschews comparisons with Bernie Ecclestone's Formula 1 empire, but Bain clearly and cleverly exploits fissures in F1 to the advantage of A1GP, both strategically and commercially.

"A1GP is fresh, we start with a clean sheet of paper and our flexibility, sporting and commercial, is a huge strength. Whereas some might say F1 is exclusive', A1GP stresses its inclusivity," he says. "Our pricing structures are attractive entry to Brands Hatch this weekend is £40 compared with F1's £199 and although our demographics are similar, ABC1 audiences, our ability to be pragmatic pays dividends for fans, sponsors and the media and we're family-friendly, seeing women as key stakeholders as opposed to pit-lane eye-candy."

Where Bain differs from mentors such as Tyrie, McCulloch, Coulthard and Roman Abramovich is in the fact he seems willing to remain a "hired hand" rather then enter the entrepreneurial arena himself.

"I'm a risk-taker for sure," he insists, "But I take calculated risks and the most effective contribution I can make right now is as a sports marketeer with a uniquely global perspective, a commercial leader and innovator, but it's never a case of expertise for sale', as I have a huge passion for and commitment to AIGP."

Bain describes himself as, "a proud, patriotic Scot", and is keen to put something back into a Scottish motorsport scene he describes as rich in heritage and talent. Could a Team Scotland or a Scottish round of A1GP become part of the landscape? "I would never say never, although A1GP is established along Olympic lines and as such Team GBR currently has primacy, but we are talking to business, and who knows where that might take us?"

A1GP is, in anyone's language, an "immature" business, so where does Bain see the mid to long-term future for motorsport's newest recruit?

"We are confident about growth in the short to mid-term and, longer term, who knows, but an IPO share issue would not be out of the question as we seek to take A1GP, which in mountaineering terms was at base camp four years ago and is now around 20,000ft, onwards and upwards in a push for the summit."