Eason at large: move the British Grand Prix to Donington, 'You having a laugh?'
Kevin Eason
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 191214.ecePity Bernie Ecclestone was in France watching Lewis Hamilton's travails this weekend. He should have stayed in Britain and tried punching the postcode DE74 2RP into the SatNav of his Mercedes and then taking a two-hour drive northwards up the M1 to Castle Donington. If he thinks the Magny Cours circuit is short on charisma to the extent that he is crossing it off the Formula One calendar, he should be here.
The diminutive maestro of Formula One is a notorious megaphone diplomat and dropping the bombshell the other day that he was negotiating to switch the nation's biggest motor racing event from Silverstone to Donington Park just two weeks before Silverstone opens its gates for the 2008 British Grand Prix was no surprise. But those of us who have been esconced in Donington this weekend for the MotoGP version of the British Grand Prix might be inclined to ask a serious of question of Mr Ecclestone by employing the comic catchphrase used by Ricky Gervais in his show, Extras: "You having a laugh?"
Has Ecclestone been to Donington Park recently? Blimey, even the MotoGP boys don't want to be here, from what I have been told at length.
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Silverstone is, admittedly, a little frayed around the edges and the British Racing Drivers' Club, which runs the place, have proved about as bright as a 20-watt bulb when it has come to negotiating with sport's ace dealmaker over the years. But things have changed: Damon Hill is now president and brings not only the energy and intelligence of a younger man to the role, he actually knows what he is talking about, having been the 1996 Formula One World Champion. Under his aegis, plans for a massive refit to turn Silverstone into the headquarters of British motor racing, not just Formula One, have already been given the green light.
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So, Ecclestone has a choice: stick with the historic home of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where the first grand prix of the modern era ran in 1950, or move it lock, stock and palatial motorhomes to Donington. Ooh, that's a good idea. Now, let's see: yes, the only way into Donington is on single-carriageway roads. Better still, the A453 runs right past the front door of East Midlands Airport. So when the grand prix turns up in its traditional July date, there won't be any problem getting 100,000 spectators in while the tourists are queueing up on the same piece of road to catch their Ryanair flight to Malaga or wherever, will there?
Oh, and then there are the magnificent facilities, such as the Paddock Cafe Bar, a sort of shed with chips. Or the perimeter gravel tracks that lead to grass car parks in fields that slope alarmingly. Can't wait for the downpour that turns that lot into a mudslide. Or the miniscule pits complex, not too bad for slimline motorcycles, but for grand prix teams with cars and 50 mechanics to a garage? But then, tens of thousands of spectators will be able to sink back into their sumptuous grandstand seats to watch Lewis Hamilton et al, happily sheltered from the elements. At least, they could if there was anything that looked like a sumptuous seat in anything like a grandstand.
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Donington Ventures, who run the Donington circuit under the flightpath of East Midlands Airport, are ready to spend and spend big, says Ecclestone. Good, so this lot will be solved by 2010, by which time Silverstone will have lost its grand prix contract and Donington will be gagging to take over. Well, they must have a King's Ransom and a time machine.
Even if work started right now, this minute, there is no way that Donington would be ready to hold a race in 2010. And it would cost huge money - start with £50 million and work up. For a start, planning consents would have to be won for everything from building work on the circuit to a huge, new roads system that would obviously be demanded by Ecclestone. After all, he demanded the same of Silverstone and now there is dual-carriageway all the way to the front gates, courtesy of a funding from a Labour government that thought it had already helped lay the foundations for the home of British motor racing.
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The most likely outcome of these shenanigans is that Britain simply loses its grand prix. Ecclestone just doesn't know how to deliver the bad news - yet. He did admit to Ed Gorman, our motor racing correspondent, that the chances of keeping Britain on the calendar were only 50:50. Make that 90:10 against as Ecclestone is forced to take his responsibilities as an employee of CVC Capital Partners seriously.
They own Formula One, Ecclestone runs it. They spent a fortune buying F1 and they want their money back, plus profits. After all, that's what they do for a living. And the big money comes from the flashy new races in the Middle and Far East, where ambitious governments are happy to underwrite the costs of new circuits and pay CVC fees so enormous - as much as £30 million - that they would sink Silverstone overnight. Even now, the £11 million basic fee Ecclestone is charging the BRDC for this year's race means Silverstone will struggle to break even.
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Ecclestone knows he will unleash a storm in Formula One if he pulls his circus from Silverstone. Six of the ten Formula One teams are based within an hour of the Northamptonshire track - Force India are right across the road.
And somehow, I get the feeling that Ecclestone does not really want to ditch a race and a circuit so close to his heart. For goodness sake, he even raced at Silverstone as a Formula One tyro. But this is all about tactics, so hold on for weeks now of "will it, won't it" stories as Ecclestone, the FIA and Silverstone dig their trenches for the fight ahead. Actually, come to think about it: don't bother driving up here Bernie. Just get on with making a British Grand Prix at Silverstone the centrepiece of the British sporting year, just as it deserves to be.
least you dont live i n east anglia, the pollen sink hole!
