French GP set for 2018 return

French GP set for 2018 return

Author
Discussion

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Monday 5th December 2016
quotequote all
ELUSIVEJIM said:
The huge plus is that it will not be held at the terrible Magny-Cours circuit.

The negative is the owner of Le Castellet - also known as the Circuit Paul Ricard

Ecclestone's family trust owns the track but the 86-year-old said: "It's nothing to do with them at all. I think they are renting it to the people that are going to be the promoters."

Nothing to do with him yet he will be making a fortune.

Unbelievable




Edited by ELUSIVEJIM on Friday 2nd December 13:01
I would be very interested to see the lease and precisely how the rent is calculated - do they pay more for holding big events - or owe a percentage of revenue - for instance

slf2012

307 posts

145 months

Monday 5th December 2016
quotequote all
KevinCamaroSS said:
Indeed, so he has managed to get double the money by renting it out to some poor gullible f00l who will pay to rent, then pay again to host. It is a genuine win/win. But only for Bernie.
When Bernie inevitably asks for the rent and the hosting fee to be paid prior to tickets going on sale, I am sure the prospect of $100m upfront payment by the 'promoter' will mean this event never materialises.

Mattygooner

5,301 posts

203 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
WelshChris said:
Reims - Now that would be fun smile
Ahh Reims, where every pitstop release would be dangerous...

Evilex

512 posts

103 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
I used to love Paul Ricard in it's 80's form, without the stripy run-offs.
Now it'll be sanitised, and Bernie will (as previously mentioned) make a fortune from it.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
They will have to spend a fortune getting this circuit up to F1 spec. New pits complex will be required and there are zero spectator facilities at the moment. It's going to be interesting getting the spectators to the circuit, the roads round there are not exactly compatible with big numbers. Hotels are going to be fun to find too.

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
What was it like facility wise in its previous incarnation?

I do know that the original circuit was changed when the old Mistral Straight was severely shortened after Elio de Angelis' fatal accident testing in 1986.

Extract from Wiki -

"De Angelis' death also saw the end of Formula One using the full 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard Circuit. In what many saw as a knee-jerk reaction from FISA,F1 was forced to use the 3.812 km (2.369 mi) "Club" version of the circuit, bypassing the Verriere curves where the Brabham had crashed, and cutting the length of the Mistral Straight from 1.8 to 1 km in length. The move was unpopular with many of the drivers, although most did like the reduced straight length as it was easier on the engines".

coppice

8,562 posts

143 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
All I recall of Ricard when we called in on spec during a Provencal holiday in the early 90s was that every road junction for miles around , all miles from anywhere,was populated with hookers .....You don't get that sort of local colour at Cadwell........

slf2012

307 posts

145 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
coppice said:
was populated with hookers ....
Bernie will be on a cut from them too for the weekend....!