RE: Legal street racing in Coventry
Discussion
MC Bodge said:
How did Birmingham manage to stage the Superprix? Were the laws different then too?
I remember watching a good Porsche race and a very wet F3 practice on TV.
What caused it to cease?
There was a limited lifespan Act of Parliament passed, the Birmingham Road Race Bill, which allowed it to take place.I remember watching a good Porsche race and a very wet F3 practice on TV.
What caused it to cease?
It ceased mainly due to a campaign by the Ladywood district MP Claire Short who had been opposed to the whole thing throughout and made a real effort to louse things up with all sorts of spin and pressure on the Labour council to report the finances of the events in a negative light.
The public thrust of her argument was that her constituents were all horribly put out by these millionaire race car fans yet saw no reward in terms of the investment the events bought in. This being despite the fact that the survey commissioned by BCC at her insistence returned a figure of 67% of residents being in favour of the event prior to it's last running in 1990. 62% of the survey respondents agreed that the Superprix made a positive economic contribution to the city too.
There's more detail in the excellent book PHer lemanslegend put together:
http://www.amazon.ca/Superprix-Story-Birminghams-M...
I hope that our current civic leaders see the Coventry event as a wake up call to what we had back then and what it could do for the city's image again now. Without Claire Short around sense may prevail.
monthefish said:
RoverP6B said:
I just don't understand the point of this. There's a fully-developed race facility less than an hour from Coventry in the form of Silverstone. You've also got the little sprint track at Curborough, MIRA on an old airfield at Nuneaton and ProDrive also use an old airfield at Honiley as their test track, not to mention the so-called "Shakespeare County Raceway" on the former RAF Long Marston. There's also the old V-bomber base at Gaydon, but since that's JLR and Aston Martin HQ, might not be quite so suitable for racing on. Street circuits and ring roads tend to be dull as ditchwater, in any case, and I can vouch for the fact that the Coventry one is one of the dullest (and most dangerous) of the lot. Thankfully, I haven't had cause to use it in a long time.
Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
you're missing the point entirely. Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
It's about seeing the drama and excitement of racing up close within an environment you can not only relate to but can drive the morning after. Realising that people were hitting 140 MPH+ around Belgrave Middleway really brings home the skill needed to do that.
RoverP6B said:
I just don't understand the point of this. There's a fully-developed race facility less than an hour from Coventry in the form of Silverstone. You've also got the little sprint track at Curborough, MIRA on an old airfield at Nuneaton and ProDrive also use an old airfield at Honiley as their test track, not to mention the so-called "Shakespeare County Raceway" on the former RAF Long Marston. There's also the old V-bomber base at Gaydon, but since that's JLR and Aston Martin HQ, might not be quite so suitable for racing on. Street circuits and ring roads tend to be dull as ditchwater, in any case, and I can vouch for the fact that the Coventry one is one of the dullest (and most dangerous) of the lot. Thankfully, I haven't had cause to use it in a long time.
Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
You are the most boring person that has ever lived.Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
LukeR94 said:
RoverP6B said:
I just don't understand the point of this. There's a fully-developed race facility less than an hour from Coventry in the form of Silverstone. You've also got the little sprint track at Curborough, MIRA on an old airfield at Nuneaton and ProDrive also use an old airfield at Honiley as their test track, not to mention the so-called "Shakespeare County Raceway" on the former RAF Long Marston. There's also the old V-bomber base at Gaydon, but since that's JLR and Aston Martin HQ, might not be quite so suitable for racing on. Street circuits and ring roads tend to be dull as ditchwater, in any case, and I can vouch for the fact that the Coventry one is one of the dullest (and most dangerous) of the lot. Thankfully, I haven't had cause to use it in a long time.
Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
You are the most boring person that has ever lived.Coventry as a city has much going for it, but is also a prime example of how NOT to reconstruct a city post-WW2 - the Germans' reconstructions of their bombed medieval cities are mostly far better done. The modern cathedral in Coventry (designed by Basil Spence, who to my knowledge never did another church job) is hideous, though it has a decent organ and has a certain significance for me, as it's where I took my then wife-to-be to hear the Britten War Requiem.
Q: Can you do what you're proposing somewhere else?
Yes -> Don't do it here then.
No -> Don't do it at all then.
SpeckledJim said:
Can someone put together the flow chart for this rationale please?
Q: Can you do what you're proposing somewhere else?
Yes -> Don't do it here then.
No -> Don't do it at all then.
If Britain didn't have such a wealth of racetracks and disused airfields, I'd have more sympathy, but there are so many motorsport venues within easy reach of Coventry, including Silverstone, that I can't see how you could make turning the Coventry ring road into a racetrack stack up from a financial POV - building pit and hospitality facilities, presumably, putting in run-off areas, reprofiling junctions, kerbs etc... the cost would be immense. Add in the disruption to normal business and I can't see it working economically. Far easier just to go to one of the many existing motorsport venues nearby (of which Silverstone is easily the most and best developed).Q: Can you do what you're proposing somewhere else?
Yes -> Don't do it here then.
No -> Don't do it at all then.
RoverP6B said:
SpeckledJim said:
Can someone put together the flow chart for this rationale please?
Q: Can you do what you're proposing somewhere else?
Yes -> Don't do it here then.
No -> Don't do it at all then.
If Britain didn't have such a wealth of racetracks and disused airfields, I'd have more sympathy, but there are so many motorsport venues within easy reach of Coventry, including Silverstone, that I can't see how you could make turning the Coventry ring road into a racetrack stack up from a financial POV - building pit and hospitality facilities, presumably, putting in run-off areas, reprofiling junctions, kerbs etc... the cost would be immense. Add in the disruption to normal business and I can't see it working economically. Far easier just to go to one of the many existing motorsport venues nearby (of which Silverstone is easily the most and best developed).Q: Can you do what you're proposing somewhere else?
Yes -> Don't do it here then.
No -> Don't do it at all then.
Coventry has pretty dismal image, and always ranks highly in the lists of s
t towns. This would help, a lot, to bring a bit of interest to the town.RoverP6B said:
If Britain didn't have such a wealth of racetracks and disused airfields, I'd have more sympathy, but there are so many motorsport venues within easy reach of Coventry, including Silverstone, that I can't see how you could make turning the Coventry ring road into a racetrack stack up from a financial POV - building pit and hospitality facilities, presumably, putting in run-off areas, reprofiling junctions, kerbs etc... the cost would be immense. Add in the disruption to normal business and I can't see it working economically. Far easier just to go to one of the many existing motorsport venues nearby (of which Silverstone is easily the most and best developed).
This years event, which had the ring road closed for parade laps didn't appear to affect local businesses, if anything the city centre was the busiest I've seen it - which can't be a bad thing in an age of boarded up city centre shops!The problem with Silverstone is that you have to make the effort to get there, if it is in the city centre and free it will reach a far great audience!
SpeckledJim said:
Whether it pays or not isn't our problem, our only question is 'would you like to see it? My answer is "Yes!"
Coventry has pretty dismal image, and always ranks highly in the lists of st towns. This would help, a lot, to bring a bit of interest to the town.
This, exactly. Ugly though it is (doubly sad since apparently it was one of the most picturesque cities in England pre-war), I can at least appreciate how atypically car-friendly the city centre is. Relatively wide streets and pavements, plenty of cheap parking, and a ring road that lets you get anywhere around the whole centre in 6 minutes pretty much any time of day. Good to see them trading more on the motoring heritage, hope they'll get this televised as well, might help change a few perceptions.Coventry has pretty dismal image, and always ranks highly in the lists of s
t towns. This would help, a lot, to bring a bit of interest to the town.SpeckledJim said:
Whether it pays or not isn't our problem, our only question is 'would you like to see it? My answer is "Yes!"
Coventry has pretty dismal image, and always ranks highly in the lists of st towns. This would help, a lot, to bring a bit of interest to the town.
Ultimately, any council organising or approving such an event is accountable to the electorate. On that basis, I hope it does well for the council and businesses. I assure you, I'm not a total anti, and far better to use a ring road than a road people actually live on (don't get me going on the cycle races here in Surrey and the total lack of consultation regarding them...). If it means the good burghers of Coventry get to see some D-types flat-out down Warwickshire's equivalent of the Ligne Droit des Hunaudieres and some kids being thrilled and their lives changed by that, great...Coventry has pretty dismal image, and always ranks highly in the lists of s
t towns. This would help, a lot, to bring a bit of interest to the town.RoverP6B said:
. If it means the good burghers of Coventry get to see some D-types flat-out down Warwickshire's equivalent of the Ligne Droit des Hunaudieres and some kids being thrilled and their lives changed by that, great...
It's a long time since Coventry has been in Warwickshire.RoverP6B said:
If Britain didn't have such a wealth of racetracks and disused airfields, I'd have more sympathy, but there are so many motorsport venues within easy reach of Coventry, including Silverstone, that I can't see how you could make turning the Coventry ring road into a racetrack stack up from a financial POV.
Well there are so many usable racetracks in this country when there's a dire need for housing, why not just have one well serviced racetrack that everyone can use and turn all of the rest of them into housing developments?...Or alternatively you could grind your axe about the cycle races at Box Hill elsewhere.
I always felt the ring road would be a great circuit. The beauty of it is there are so many side roads on and off it, that it wouldn't just need to be a simple oval and could indeed take in all sorts of little detours and so forth to make it a really technical and interesting circuit 
They're also currently in the process of building a massive covered over section by the railway station to make a new business district / plaza, so that will make for a nice tunnel for cars to blast through
They're also currently in the process of building a massive covered over section by the railway station to make a new business district / plaza, so that will make for a nice tunnel for cars to blast through
PositronicRay said:
It's a long time since Coventry has been in Warwickshire.
Really? Last time I looked at a map, it was definitely still where it's always been, in Warwickshire.The Wookie said:
Well there are so many usable racetracks in this country when there's a dire need for housing, why not just have one well serviced racetrack that everyone can use and turn all of the rest of them into housing developments?... Or alternatively you could grind your axe about the cycle races at Box Hill elsewhere.
That's a false argument and you know it. Having just one track in the country, like some other countries (some of them even European), would do nothing for motorsport. It always amazes me that there are so many Finnish F1 drivers when, to my knowledge, there isn't a single permanent circuit in Finland. My question was, what's the point in setting up a racetrack on public roads, including (temporary?) pit and hospitality complexes, grandstands(?) etc, when there are established motorsport venues (one of them considered among the greatest in the world by many) within an hour's drive of Coventry? The lesson of Box Hill must be learned - and that is that there has to be PROPER consultation, not some mere lip-service exercise asking a few dozen people who mostly don't even live in the locality if they think it'd be nice if...I really like the look of that volvo in the photos.
http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/01/the-strip-club...
http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/01/the-strip-club...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff