Silverstone back in the running..?

raveydavey · Silverstone back in the running..?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6216309.ece

Bernie Ecclestone could be reneging on the crucial commercial contract he wants Formula One teams to sign if he ditches the British Grand Prix amid fears that Donington Park is not going to be ready to hold the nation’s showpiece race.

Silverstone, the traditional home of the race, is on standby to stage it again in 2010 should Donington fall victim to its financial problems, and has £40 million of financing ready for release. But Ecclestone, chief executive of FOM, the company that controls Formula One’s finances, insists that no Donington means no British Grand Prix.

However, it emerged last night that a British race on the Formula One calendar is a key component of the new commercial contract, known as the Concord Agreement, which Ecclestone wants the teams to sign. One team principal, who refused to be named, said that the contract demands specifically that five key races are protected as part of Formula One’s heritage: in Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and Monaco.

The “traditional” races are also on a protected list in the Formula One constitution held by the FIA, the world governing body of motor sport. With France already falling off the calendar, though, there seems little commitment to preserving the history of a sport focused increasingly on making profits for its commercial overlords. Six of the ten present grand-prix teams are based within an hour’s drive of Silverstone, while two of the three new teams expected on the grid next season — Prodrive and Lola — are British.

Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula One world champion, who is chairman of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which owns Silverstone, wants Ecclestone to negotiate a sensible way out to allow a race to go ahead in 2010.

“Britain is a key protected race,” he said. “The first grand prix of the modern era was held at Silverstone and this country has been loyal to the championship throughout.

“Now we have new countries wanting to stage grands prix and governments willing to put up the money for them. But there is no government money for a British Grand Prix and Bernie needs to recognise this. It will not happen.

“Everybody was sceptical about Donington from the start, yet we have funds here to improve our circuit and we are improving all the time. But we have to do it with our own means and with our own money. The FIA should also act responsibly for the health and wellbeing of the sport. Britain is a protected race and they should look after it.”

Silverstone has just spent £7 million on circuit upgrades to accommodate MotoGP, Formula One’s motorcycling equivalent, which has deserted Donington. But financing, arranged before Ecclestone’s decision, is available for more rebuilding.

Ecclestone handed Donington a ten-year contract to hold the British Grand Prix on the eve of last year’s race at Silverstone, again arguing that Formula One’s traditional home in this country was not up to standard and that Donington Ventures Ltd, which had taken over the running of the circuit, was offering a Utopian racing future based on a £100 million redevelopment plan. If there were doubts at the start that Donington could work a miracle in two years, the recession appears to have holed the scheme below the waterline.

That was underlined last month, when it was discovered that Donington Ventures was being pursued in court for unpaid rent of almost £2.5 million and forfeiture of the lease by Wheatcroft and Son, the landowner.

Simon Gillett, the chief executive of Donington Ventures, says that the project is on schedule and will be ready by next summer, but where the £100 million financing will come from remains a mystery. Local planners getting nervous and a meeting of North West Leicestershire District Council tomorrow could pull the plug on planning consent.

Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, who is the MP for Ashfield, a Nottinghamshire constituency just across the M1 from Donington, is desperate for the race to go ahead, while Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has also intervened.

But it is clear there will be no government money forthcoming — despite Ecclestone’s pleas — and time is running out.

The 2010 British Grand Prix is only 14 months away, should Ecclestone decide on a plum July date. Donington is clearly not ready, finance is still being sought and Donington Ventures has to negotiate its way out of the wrangle with the Wheatcrofts.

If none of those issues can be resolved, Ecclestone will have to face the British contingent in the paddock with reasons why there should not be a British Grand Prix.

wewantourdarbyback

I'll give that a chance of 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001/10

raveydavey

Silverstone is the only obvious choice. Trouble is that Bernie has painted himself into a corner with his incessant demands and complaints about the place.