Poll The Return of British Street Racing

Do you want to see motorsport return to the British streets?


  • Total voters
    20

F1Yorkshire

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The year was 1986. I was still a young child and the world of motorsport had not yet captured my attention but a revolution in British motorsport got underway. Thanks to a new act of Parliament, Superprix was born.

It was a typical August bank holiday in Birmingham, torrential rain and a bumpy circuit around closed city centre roads meant F3000 racing was difficult and dangerous. Crashes on almost every corner and the tricky weather conditions meant the race was cut short and only half points awarded but even so the crowd enjoyed the experience and although the organisers made a loss the event would return again.


The following years brought the crowds to Birmingham seeking the thrill of close and personal street racing. Then the NIMBY's had their say. Led by MP Clare Short, the act of Parliament was opposed and 5 years after it's creation Superprix would just become a memory.

Fast-forward to 2014 and due to recent events such as London 2012 & the Tour De France Grand Depart public opinon has changed. In a bid to keep the mob happy David Cameron has announced a change in the law to be considered in the upcoming deregulation bill. This change in the law would allow such events like the Superprix to return to our roads. It would also allow events like the recent Jim Clark rally and other historic racing such as the London to Brighton Race to be competitive once more instead of being limited by current speed limits.

A London Grand Prix unfortunately would still be a pipe dream as the closure of the capitals roads for any period of time would be be incredibly expensive and crippling to the already crowded streets of the capital. This clip from a well known console game shows the potential of street racing though.


As many as 20 races per year could be allowed on closed roads around the country. Would you be happy about having street racing on your local roads? And where would you want to see racing take place?

With the advanced journey planning that google earth and other programs provide it is now possible to map out circuits with ease so post your designs and your thoughts on what is possible if this legislation is passed.
 
Having had the pushbikers whizz past my house a couple of weeks ago, I'd be more than happy to see a motorised event around Sheffield - I remember discussing the potential layout for a Sheffield GP with Penske666 back on BBC606, and we came up with a belter of a circuit (lots of elevation changes!).
 
I suspect F1Yorkshire most people on here would love to have motorsport ontheir doorstep. Not sure the same applies to the public at large obviously...

Here's some more footage from Birmingham, this time from 1989, and some familiar names in there:

 
Formula E will be hitting the streets of London in June 2015 with a race round Battersea Park which I'm very excited about.
 
I would love to see some street racing. But these days with traffic being heavy almost anywhere you go, I can only imagine how non petrol heads would moan.
 
Well in other parts of the world they got their priorities right.

Spa wasn't even a permanent track until the nineties, and the part of it that's made up of public roads used to be busy with traffic.
And then instead of closing down the venue they kicked road traffic out of it and turned it into a permanent racing track. :)
 
To clarify I only said not in my backyard because that would make it a non-British street race. I'd love to see street racing up close and personal, as well as on TV in the British Isles.
 
I don't like street circuits pretty much full stop, if for no other reason than if there is an incident then the whole field can be taken out in a flash, and very few are as practiced as Monaco in clearing a stranded vehicle quickly. I far prefer purpose-built circuits, just MHO.
 
F1 isn't very well suited to the streets of Britain. Too many medieval street layouts dominate the towns. What this change in the law will do is open up the country side as well to all forms of motorsport.

Imagine the rally stages that can be done across the Yorkshire moors or along the coasts in the South of the country. TT racing won't just be limited to the Isle of Man. I could see a whole new era of Scottish based motorsport with their endless empty highland roads. The possibilities are endless!
 
This is terrific for national rallying, which has been in decline for a long period; not helped obviously by the tragic events on the recent Jim Clark. There won't even be a British Rally Championship contested next year.

It's hard to see too much potential for circuit racing - the roads with the fans close to them are usually jammed with the aforementioned fans and therefore effectively impossible to close. A new town with plenty of spare road capacity like Milton Keynes might be interesting for the BTCC though I suppose.
 
. A new town with plenty of spare road capacity like Milton Keynes might be interesting for the BTCC though I suppose.

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That had occurred to me as well but you'd have to say, it wouldn't score very highly in terms of either atmosphere or scenery... no offence meant to anyone from there.
 
It seems to me that this government isn't prepared to put a single penny into British Motorsport but it is doing its damnedest to squeeze money out of it, so they can stick their street racing idea where the sun don't shine...
 
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I used to enjoy blasting around the Edinburgh tracks in PGR2 - there was an even better variant which was a figure of 8 course crossing over at Johnston Terrace/King's Stables Road.

For now I will vote the NIMBY option, not because I'd be against it, but purely because I can't think of that great a route near where I now live in Inverness. Though now you've got me thinking...
 
Good little route around the castle there. Shame that Princes street has a tramway down it now and the cobbles on the Royal Mile would be murder on any suspension system!
 
I'm all for it, but like other posters have said, think the General Public and Eco Warrior MP's would never allow it, well unless £ were involved ot even € (Switzerland have good interest rates at the moment).

I would imagine even with the way we have our streets in the United Kingdom, there would be some cracking tracks.

You'll know the corners you drive yourself, I bet you've muttered to yourself, that corner would be cracking in a F1 car!

Even Wigan, my home town, there are some corners, striaghts & loops that could be used. Though I'm under no illusions that the Hollands Pies Grand Prix of Wigan may never see the day. But we may see other competition events in the North West. I know for a number of years the GB Rally used to go through Haigh Hall just down the road from where I used to live, so it has been done.

Would like to see it, but do fear the Health & Safety teams would win the day.
 
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