Silverstone, Donington and Bernie

Jen

Here be dragons.
Contributor
Silverstone - governed by the BRDC - not a collection of businessmen, but a Trust - they can only do what the Trust documents allow them to.

Bernie signs a deal for 10 years with Donington - then turns round and says if you're not ready, no British GP.

Not a difficult concept - offload one, put the other in place and then give them very tight deadlines.

Ergo - no British GP. Why? Perhaps the West is too expensive and so cuts down on profits?

IMO, this is not about venue, but is about money.

We all applauded the fact that there would still be a British GP - but this is looking increasingly less likely.

Can Donington come up with the goods in time?

If Donington are not ready, would they be able to "rent" Silverstone until they are - BE says No - but what would happen if, come Summer 2010, Donington can't provide and there is nowhere else to go?

So many questions and suppositions - anyone got any answers?
 
I reckon even Bernie Ecclegnome wouldn't be that stupid. If there wasn't a GP in the UK, a lot of people would just give up on F1 and go back to grass roots motorsport, especially as it's cheaper and can be much more fun to watch. OK, every now and then we get an absolutely cracking race like Silverstone, but not too often and you've got to admit that BE IS getting tiresome with his threats.
 
Bernie's changed his tune from when he was interviewed before Sunday's race.

Effectively he's signed a contract with Donington Ventures Ltd. to host the British GP from 2010.

I doubt very much that it specifies within that contract that the race must be held at Donington Park though.

So if DVL aren't ready in time I think theoretically they could pay Silverstone to host the 2010 race for them at terms that are acceptable to the BRDC. Providing of course that the necessary safety facilities etc. are still FIA-approved by that time (which they should be).

In any case I think Donington can be ready for 2010. It won't be perfect, and access will probably take longer to fully sort out, but the circuit and spectator facilities can be ready in 23 months I think. Tilke has built circuits from scratch to more challenging timetables than that.
 
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