Comments on: Donington had interest in bond deal, but not enough

By: Rich C

Rich C — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:04:10 +0000

I seriously doubt that Bernie got to be a zillionaire by listening to what “most people” say.

By: Exchange and Mart

Exchange and Mart — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:02:02 +0000

I was personally never in favour of the move to Donington.. I have had a slight chuckle since all this has surfaced. How embarassing for Gillet. Bernie is a businessman first and foremost but he really needs to understand that Silverstone is the face of british motor racing. They need to come to a deal asap. Now i know that Bernie is never going to give Damon and Silverstone the 17 year deal that was offered to Donington but if a 5 year deal was put on the table then silverstone should not waste any time. http://bit.ly/2jAC3Z

By: DAN

DAN — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:11:34 +0000

Maybe the only positive aspect of Bernie making a deal with Donington was that it gave time to Silverstone to put its house in order and refine its own plan for the future? If Bernie gets some money from Simon Gillet as a result of the breach of contract with Donington he would be well inspired to use it to help Silverstone fund improvement to its facilities. Between the money Silverstone could gather on its own and the one Bernie
is likely to bag they would have enough to do a good job.

By: GP

GP — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:57:51 +0000

What I find strange about the whole Donnington saga is that right from the start most people said it would be a complete failure, yet Bernie went ahead and made the deal.

Bernie didn’t get where he is today by making such bad decisions. I have to wonder if there weren’t some kind of hidden deal that made him ignore all the negative calls…

By: Dave Smith

Dave Smith — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:10:23 +0000

But with regards to Rockingham surely they could do what they did with the brickyard and build an infield although looking at the circuit layouts at Rockingham – they already have one. I disagree that Donongton is better. I have been to Silverstone over the years and they don’t seem to update the facilites for the fans only the VIP’s. In my opinion they dont deserve to have the race back!! What ever happened to the London GP?

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:41:22 +0000

The trouble is, you can’t just blame the BRDC as a single entity.

There seem to be some old-school, “my-god-your-blazer-is-squffy”, types that can’t see the reality of 2009 finances. And then there are some people with (IMO) a better grasp of reality. Unfortunatly the argument between these factions gets in the way of sorting out a GP.

See the housing-land sale debarcle as an example.

Personally, I think Hill really wants Silverstone and the BRDC to survive and prosper in the 21st century, but he is seems to have one hand tied behind his back.

Neil.

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:24:33 +0000

Rockingham F### me,thats even more of a joke than Donington.Like it or not the only circuit in the UK that is capable of staging an F1 race,without tens of millions of £`s of investment and restructuring is Silverstone.

By: Rudy Pyatt

Rudy Pyatt — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:29:51 +0000

Well said sir, as usual!

By: Rudy Pyatt

Rudy Pyatt — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Because it’s a roval. F1 (Bernie) is allergic to that, or we would still see Indy on the calendar. And it’$ not built and paid for by the government. Bernie’$ tithe, er tribute, er ransom would overwhelm Rockingham.

Then again: Why not put at least ONE full-on oval race on the F1 calendar? The “but that isn’t F1″ answer? Well, a lot of things are going on that aren’t F1 — night races for one, something that’s long been done on ovals. I wonder if Jean Todt has any thoughts on trying this.

James, do you know if anyone has seriously expressed interest in trying an F1 car on an oval? I know Patrick Head referred to a USAC race he attended in Indianapolis some years back as “proper motor racing,” so I guess he’s toyed with the idea.

(Then again again, I also recall Jacques Villeneuave saying that you couldn’t race an F1 car on an oval because it would explode…)

By: Werewolf

Werewolf — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:55:19 +0000

Another classic example of what happens when politics interfere with reality. Ecclestone tried to up the pressure on Silverstone by offering the star role to a bit part player who cannot even get to the theatre. All Silverstone had to do was wait for the inevitable.

When egos collide, somebody else normally gets hurt and this time it’s British motorsport, which risks losing its GP and a historic venue. This nonsense should have been stopped months ago.

Mosley has thankfully gone, it is time for Ecclestone to follow. Both men achieved much but both outstayed their welcome, becoming more extreme and less in touch with reality.

Will Ecclestone be remembered as the hero that made F1 an international phenomenon or the greedy villain that destroyed his own country’s grand prix?