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Silverstone Scrapped In Favour Of Donington?

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Ecclestone in talks with Donington Park

By Jonathan Noble Friday, June 20th 2008, 08:15 GMT

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has upped the pressure on Silverstone to come up with a deal to secure the future of British Grand Prix, by revealing he is also in talks with Donington Park about moving the race there.

Ecclestone and Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club, are in deadlock in discussions about a deal that will keep the race at the Northamptonshire track from 2010.

But with little movement on that front, Ecclestone revealed to The Times this morning that he was looking at alternative possibilities - and even claimed he would prefer it if Donington Park could put a deal together.

"We are discussing the possibility of reaching an agreement with Donington to host the British Grand Prix," Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

"We are trying to save the British Grand Prix and we want it to be staged at a venue which befits an event of its stature. I've been in negotiations for a long time and whether or not we're going to do a deal with Donington or Silverstone, I don't know.

"Donington have said they are going to build everything we want. Have they got the money? Only time will tell. But I think there is more chance of Donington having the money than the BRDC."

Although the amount of work Donington Park would need to be F1 ready makes a deal with them unlikely, the track's owners claim they are looking at it.

Lee Gill, joint chief executive of the company, said: "Formula One is not a walk in the park. It has implications in planning consent and the infrastructure and commercial terms of an F1 deal need careful consideration. We are looking at what the implications are if we took it on."

Source is Autosport as usual. So what do we think of that then? I can't say I'd mind having the GP at Donington, it is a fantastic circuit and it has it's history (Senna 93!). I don't know how much work would need to be done to bring it up to standard, I mean it can host a MotoGP race and those boys aren't slow! But anyways, I guess this is just Bernie playing some games..

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Yes surely it's Bernie playing games, at least to some extent. I've no idea whether Donnington is up to scratch and I don't care particularly as long as we have a GP in the UK. The thing that irritates me is Bernie's greed. Silverstone provides reasonable races but the prices are extortionate and the food and amenities are awful, no doubt because they're too busy paying off Bernie.

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Yes surely it's Bernie playing games, at least to some extent. I've no idea whether Donnington is up to scratch and I don't care particularly as long as we have a GP in the UK. The thing that irritates me is Bernie's greed. Silverstone provides reasonable races but the prices are extortionate and the food and amenities are awful, no doubt because they're too busy paying off Bernie.

Agree entirely.

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Yes surely it's Bernie playing games, at least to some extent. I've no idea whether Donnington is up to scratch and I don't care particularly as long as we have a GP in the UK. The thing that irritates me is Bernie's greed. Silverstone provides reasonable races but the prices are extortionate and the food and amenities are awful, no doubt because they're too busy paying off Bernie.

But you still buy a ticket. And that's why they never change. If people will still pay $1,000,000 for a ticket, they'll sell tickets at $1,000,000. If the food is s##t, but people still eat it, they'll still sell the same s##t food at the same s##t price.

It's called the NASCAR Theory of Business. It's broken, but if the fans aren't gunna do anything about it and will just suck their c#ck, it won't get fixed. Sure, blame Bernie, but in the end, blame yourself. No one made you pay those prices. No one made you eat the food. But you did it anyway. If attendance dropped, if food sales went down, you'd get some changes.

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Indeed, Bernie's power lies in the fact no one will complain or take any real action over high prices/s##t food/poor facilities etc.

The UK should most certainly have a GP, it's my opinion that it has a right to one, however at the moment there is no concorde agreement in place, which means no protection for the four historic races. I don't think Bernie is greedy, I think he's a great businessman, and I believe he has the interests of the sport in mind and does consider the fans, at least more so than the FIA. The fact is if you're a businessman and you've got one race circuit offering you 'x' amount of money, then you've got another one offering you '3x' amount, with better facilities/access/whatever - you're gonna pick the second one.

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Indeed. If you don't like it, you can always do what I do and visit a cheaper and better circuit in Europe somewhere.

I can't believe this is still a story. Every year Bernie makes comments about the British GP and threatens to take it away from Silverstone. And every year Silverstone is granted a reprieve. I think it's just Bernie's way of trying to stir things up a bit.

In any case blaming Bernie is the easy way out. If you want to blame anyone, blame the government for not providing any subsidies like every other circuit gets. And blame the BRDC for their poor organisation and inability to carry through on their promises.

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Donington only 3 GPs:

1937 Grand Prix - legendary race won by Bernd Rosemeyer

1938 Grand Prix - legendary race won by Tazio Nuvolari

1993 Grand Prix - legendary race won by Ayrton Senna

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But you still buy a ticket. And that's why they never change. If people will still pay $1,000,000 for a ticket, they'll sell tickets at $1,000,000. If the food is s##t, but people still eat it, they'll still sell the same s##t food at the same s##t price.

It's called the NASCAR Theory of Business. It's broken, but if the fans aren't gunna do anything about it and will just suck their c#ck, it won't get fixed. Sure, blame Bernie, but in the end, blame yourself. No one made you pay those prices. No one made you eat the food. But you did it anyway. If attendance dropped, if food sales went down, you'd get some changes.

I didn't buy any tickets this year! :P And even when I went, I didn't buy their food - we took a little disposable BBQ and surreptitiously cooked our own. But you're right that F1 fans should kick up more of a fuss in general about the state of the sport etc. I've made the same argument myself, about F1 and plenty of other issues/problems that people blame on some authority. Of course, Bernie is still greedy.

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I didn't buy any tickets this year! :P And even when I went, I didn't buy their food - we took a little disposable BBQ and surreptitiously cooked our own. But you're right that F1 fans should kick up more of a fuss in general about the state of the sport etc. I've made the same argument myself, about F1 and plenty of other issues/problems that people blame on some authority. Of course, Bernie is still greedy.

Well, that's a start. We've got one.

Yeah, Bernie's greedy, but again, if you let him be, why shouldn't he be?

Anyway, Donington is a better track than Silverstone, in my opinion, but you know Hermann Tilke is dying to butcher it...hence, a GP might not be as good as you think.

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I was at Donington last month, and it's nowhere near up to scratch, especially since they built the infield motoX circuit. It's a shame though, it's a fantastic track. Silverstone is not even in my top 3 of the best circuits in England, let alone in the world. Same can be said for many of the other GPs too.

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I was at Donington last month, and it's nowhere near up to scratch, especially since they built the infield motoX circuit. It's a shame though, it's a fantastic track. Silverstone is not even in my top 3 of the best circuits in England, let alone in the world. Same can be said for many of the other GPs too.

I'd agree. I've played both of 'em on simulators, and Donington is a hell of a lot of fun (even if I always find a way to spin in Craner Curves), while Silverstone is just...flat and boring.

And just to p**s you off, the top three in England are the three ovals I know of (Rockingham, Mallory, and Foxhall) :P

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haha, I'm gonna have to disagree with you there! Even Rockingham's "non-oval" config is not very good! I didn't know Mallory Park had an oval... it's only 10 miles away from me and I've never once been

My top 3 are Brands Hatch (Indy) and Donington for joint best - unsure on the third... maybe Croft... or even I may cheat and say Brands GP config haha That said, Silverstone does give good action... actually, the national circuit is pretty good. My only problem with Silverstone is that it's a very cold track, as in it's not very good for fans, there are stupid massive fences everywhere, the paddock isn't very organised, the "bottom" half of the circuit (Club, Stowe) feels like you're in a different county from the top half (Pit Straight) and their customer service is pretty bad.

Also - there is no way the Donington paddock is anywhere near big enough for F1. Same goes for the amount of spectator space.

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haha, I'm gonna have to disagree with you there! Even Rockingham's "non-oval" config is not very good! I didn't know Mallory Park had an oval... it's only 10 miles away from me and I've never once been

My top 3 are Brands Hatch (Indy) and Donington for joint best - unsure on the third... maybe Croft... or even I may cheat and say Brands GP config haha That said, Silverstone does give good action... actually, the national circuit is pretty good. My only problem with Silverstone is that it's a very cold track, as in it's not very good for fans, there are stupid massive fences everywhere, the paddock isn't very organised, the "bottom" half of the circuit (Club, Stowe) feels like you're in a different county from the top half (Pit Straight) and their customer service is pretty bad.

:lol: You? Disagree? Crazy!

Well, I keep my oval and road course ratings separately. For the British road courses, I'd have to go with Brands and Donington like you did. After that, I'm not really familiar with tracks like Croft, Outlon Park, Snetterton, Thruxton, etc, etc.

For an oval, British Rockingham is actually reall cool because it has four straights, like Indy, but takes the shape of a trapezoid (?). The CART race there in 2001 was good. The Mallory oval is cool, too, though I've never actually seen a race there.

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NO!!!!!!! I hate Donington, it's a crap circuit with too many fast blind corners! Can't Bernie be happy now that he has all the money he could want & stop ruining F1???

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NO!!!!!!! I hate Donington, it's a crap circuit with too many fast blind corners! Can't Bernie be happy now that he has all the money he could want & stop ruining F1???

Silverstone's a snoozer. Total elavation change: 0 mm (yes, I'm a clever little American, I know my Metric system).

We can all sit here and wish the guys in charge weren't greedy, but guess what, they are. And when you're greedy once, you're greedy forever. There's no "well, once I make $5,000,000,000, I'll settle down." No, once you get in that range, everyone can kiss your a##.

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We can all sit here and wish the guys in charge weren't greedy, but guess what, they are. And when you're greedy once, you're greedy forever. There's no "well, once I make $5,000,000,000, I'll settle down." No, once you get in that range, everyone can kiss your a##.

:lol: Sure but we're not all just sitting here wishing things. People should (1) complain about his greediness and point out that he is greedy to anyone who hasn't woken up yet and (2) stop going along with the extortionate prices.

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He could always invest it in charity! (runs & moves to Kyrgyzstan)

I wish Bernie would do more for charity, but to be honest, I don't know how much he does for charity. But I've always like charitable donations (which I guess you could tell by my avatar).

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:lol: Sure but we're not all just sitting here wishing things. People should (1) complain about his greediness and point out that he is greedy to anyone who hasn't woken up yet and (2) stop going along with the extortionate prices.

Well, I agree with number 2. Number 1 is just stupid. This is our swan song at Pocono for the NA$CAR race. And, for the record, we're all going in "I Am Indy" shirts.

$250/ticket to see four hours of racing and being able to see the entire 2.5 track is reasonable (we also get free food, which is all really, really good). However, putting that many in Brian France's pocket isn't. I don't mind Pocono because it's one of the last independently owned race tracks; they need the money.

But it's IRL or bust next year.

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:lol: You? Disagree? Crazy!

Well, I keep my oval and road course ratings separately. For the British road courses, I'd have to go with Brands and Donington like you did. After that, I'm not really familiar with tracks like Croft, Outlon Park, Snetterton, Thruxton, etc, etc.

For an oval, British Rockingham is actually reall cool because it has four straights, like Indy, but takes the shape of a trapezoid (?). The CART race there in 2001 was good. The Mallory oval is cool, too, though I've never actually seen a race there.

Oulton Park is the best track in Britain ever, because I say so, especially when you get into a rhythm round there. Brands Hatch GP circuit is an excellent track too and I even prefer it to Donington - but only just! Those three tracks are all great flowing tracks where one corner leads to another and if you get into a rhythm you can really fly. Croft is a lovely fast track but doesn't have the character or require the same skill of any of the previous ones I mentioned, same goes for Rockingham which always produces good action in the F3 races I've seen but has nothing to it. Snetterton kicks a##, lovely fast simple sort of track which you have to respect quite a lot as it's easy to lose concentration and crash.

Of course I know all this from ToCA 3 :lol:

NO!!!!!!! I hate Donington, it's a crap circuit with too many fast blind corners! Can't Bernie be happy now that he has all the money he could want & stop ruining F1???

Donington rules, every corner leads into another and it's a fantastic challenge and you gotta be brave (kinda like Stoner in today's MotoGP practice session, damn he makes that Ducati slide, amazing to watch).

Silverstone's a snoozer. Total elavation change: 0 mm (yes, I'm a clever little American, I know my Metric system).

We can all sit here and wish the guys in charge weren't greedy, but guess what, they are. And when you're greedy once, you're greedy forever. There's no "well, once I make $5,000,000,000, I'll settle down." No, once you get in that range, everyone can kiss your a##.

Yeah Silverstone the fans are too far away, not good for entertainment and such, but it is a damn hard technical track to master I think.

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I should start watching IRL more often cos Sky Sports show coverage of it (via Speed TV) sounds very good & they're supposed to be McLaren F1-whippingly fast!

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Well, I agree with number 2. Number 1 is just stupid. This is our swan song at Pocono for the NA$CAR race. And, for the record, we're all going in "I Am Indy" shirts.

You also pointed out that Bernie's greedy, so you at least go along with half of (1) too. Complaining to other F1 fans eg here is a good way to get more people to stop paying the ludicrous prices. And, although I didn't mean this, complaining to the circuit about some of the amenities wouldn't be a bad idea either.

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I should start watching IRL more often cos Sky Sports show coverage of it (via Speed TV) sounds very good & they're supposed to be McLaren F1-whippingly fast!

It's a really fun series, in my opinion. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they can hit 230 mph down the straightaway (back in the mid 90s, Paul Tracy ran a lap with an AVERAGE speed over 256 mph in a CART practice session at Michigan, but the Hanford Device was soon introduced to cut back speeds and make the racing damn good, but still just as dangerous). They're about as fast as an LMP1 car on a road course (depends on the road course, though. At St. Pete they were faster by a few tenths).

Anyway, the races are really entertaining. Last race, in Texas, the battle for the lead was incredible. Marco Andretti made a move, 3-wide on the high side for the lead. The race was going to end in a 4-way battle, but Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact, and it ended under caution. Still a thrilling race. Iowa on Sunday could easily be a wreckfest like last year.

You also pointed out that Bernie's greedy, so you at least go along with half of (1) too. Complaining to other F1 fans eg here is a good way to get more people to stop paying the ludicrous prices. And, although I didn't mean this, complaining to the circuit about some of the amenities wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I've complained to Pocono before. They screwed up the traffic directing last year. We used to get out of there in 15 min. Last year, we got out in 3 hours because they chose to empty lot by lot instead of a free-for-all. All the teams got out before us. They chose us, THE MAIN PARKING LOT, to empty last. They didn't hear the end of it, and if they do it again this year, I'll make sure heads roll.

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