Why doesn't Bernie buy Silverstone?
Discussion
richb said:
anyway why are the woods a problem for GP cars racing? 
...because, in order to creat the run-offs that would satisfy the FIA and the GPDC and to widen the circuit and create more space for spectators, they'd need to cut them all down. And we haven't even spoken about the fact that the pits won't match up to F1 standards.....
Let's face it, unless BCE buys Brands, it's never going to have the funding necessary to rebuild it to F1 standards.
Piglet said:
Have you seen the amount of helicopter traffic that goes into Silverstone on GP Sunday
As one of my friends put it "I thought I'd woken up in Vietnam!".
There will be a line of helicopters as far as you can see from 7am until midday.
I think I'm correct in saying it becomes the busiest airport in the world for that day only?
As one of my friends put it "I thought I'd woken up in Vietnam!".
There will be a line of helicopters as far as you can see from 7am until midday.
I think I'm correct in saying it becomes the busiest airport in the world for that day only?
Yes you are correct. It's one of those crazy little nuggets of trivia, but indeed the air space above Silverstone on race day is the busiest airspace in the world for that day!!
Just goes to show once again how cash rich this sport is, and yet we always here Max moaning about teams not having enough money at the tail end of the grid...
thunderbelmont said:
2. The turkish venue ended up in the sh1t following the "joke" last year where they had the Turkish Cypriot geezer doing a podium presentation and then suffered a big FIA fine which probably cost them more than the opium production of the hillier parts of the country. Hence "quick Ahmed, sell the little motorcycle dealer from Bexleyheath the circuit and we can afford to go to Harrods at Christmas!"
I thought that the fine had quietly been dropped, possibly shortly before this years race?
chrisgr31 said:
thunderbelmont said:
2. The turkish venue ended up in the sh1t following the "joke" last year where they had the Turkish Cypriot geezer doing a podium presentation and then suffered a big FIA fine which probably cost them more than the opium production of the hillier parts of the country. Hence "quick Ahmed, sell the little motorcycle dealer from Bexleyheath the circuit and we can afford to go to Harrods at Christmas!"
I thought that the fine had quietly been dropped, possibly shortly before this years race?
There were two parts to the fine, one for the circuit owners and one for the Turkish chapter of the FIA.
The FIA dropped one and BCE paid the other one. Not sure which way around though.
richb said:
I know it's going off at a tangent but I'd much rather have seen Brands hatch developed as the home of the British Grand Prix. It's all together a much more interesting circuit and far better for spectating, plus of course it's close to the Eurotunnel for people coming from Europe and it's right beside a motoroway... but what do I know. 
Silverstone is a pathetic place to get to.
rubystone said:
richb said:
[quote=rubystone]Err... no it's right beside the M20 so it wpuld perfectly plausible. As we all know Brands has held grand-prix races so I don't believe it wpuld be too difficult to add in the necessary run-offs and as for the locals, well I'm sure the track was there before they were so if you buy a house by a race circuit don't complain. 
I love the place, especially if the GP circuit is in use, I wander round all day.
It was a bit of a joke - sure the M20 runs closer than theM25, but in reality, there's no way that anyone is going to build a sliproad from a motorway just to access a race circuit - I can't remember the costs per mile of motorway, but it's well in the £millions. As to local residents....that argument doesn't work - see what happened to Castle Combe?... I love the place, especially if the GP circuit is in use, I wander round all day. richb said:
Possibly but remember the entire A42 near Silverstone was upgraded at a cost of millions for the GP traffic so I don't necessarily agree it's impossible.
Sure, but I think that the BRDC had some political clout there (JYS was chairman then, wasn't he?) and the circuit had the long term and exclusive contract already in place to host the British GP...
robbiemeister said:
To answer the question.
BCE hates the BRDC 'coz they have never asked him to be a member.
Therefore giving them money for something he thinks he should already own a part of would be akin to him standing on a street corner and handing out £1,000,000 notes.
BCE hates the BRDC 'coz they have never asked him to be a member.
Therefore giving them money for something he thinks he should already own a part of would be akin to him standing on a street corner and handing out £1,000,000 notes.
BE most certainly is a member and has been since 1989....
2priestsferrari said:
robbiemeister said:
To answer the question.
BCE hates the BRDC 'coz they have never asked him to be a member.
Therefore giving them money for something he thinks he should already own a part of would be akin to him standing on a street corner and handing out £1,000,000 notes.
BCE hates the BRDC 'coz they have never asked him to be a member.
Therefore giving them money for something he thinks he should already own a part of would be akin to him standing on a street corner and handing out £1,000,000 notes.
BE most certainly is a member and has been since 1989....
That surprises me as:
1) He is always slagging them off and making comments about many of the members never having raced a car (he of course has).
A) There was a time when (more recent than 1989) a list of members was published on their website. He wasn't on it.
I'd be interested to know how you know otherwise.
Cheers :-)
Robbie sometimes people's motivations for slagging someone off or not are as long as they are wide. Who knows why BE slags off the BRDC or even if he does actually slag them off?
The public perception is only driven by what gets reported in the media which is not immune from spin.
If one remembers the recent past the only real losers commercially from the British GP have been IPG. Nicola Foulston sold some circuits at a massive price, the BRDC leased Silverstone and then were paid an exit fee when IPG realised a bad deal when its shareholders saw it.
With regard to BRDC members, BE is quite right when he says many have not raced because many members are associates who are people who work within the sport but not behind the wheel.
I'm not sure where or what list you are referring to when talking about BRDC members but in the 2007 BRDC yearbook BE is listed as he has been ever since 1989.
The public perception is only driven by what gets reported in the media which is not immune from spin.
If one remembers the recent past the only real losers commercially from the British GP have been IPG. Nicola Foulston sold some circuits at a massive price, the BRDC leased Silverstone and then were paid an exit fee when IPG realised a bad deal when its shareholders saw it.
With regard to BRDC members, BE is quite right when he says many have not raced because many members are associates who are people who work within the sport but not behind the wheel.
I'm not sure where or what list you are referring to when talking about BRDC members but in the 2007 BRDC yearbook BE is listed as he has been ever since 1989.
Thanks for that.
Just to clarify, the BRDC used to publish a list of members on the BRDC website.
IIRC there was a bit of an odd way of getting into it. But it posted details of about 900 people. To prove my point the entry for Gordon Murray showed him driving his home built Lotus 7 style special in South Africa.
The website has since been changed and if it's there it is no longer accessablee to non members.
The reason I know BE was not on "that" list is I went to that list with the specific purpose of finding out if he was a member.
SO maybe he was a member but wasn't on the list.
Just to clarify, the BRDC used to publish a list of members on the BRDC website.
IIRC there was a bit of an odd way of getting into it. But it posted details of about 900 people. To prove my point the entry for Gordon Murray showed him driving his home built Lotus 7 style special in South Africa.
The website has since been changed and if it's there it is no longer accessablee to non members.
The reason I know BE was not on "that" list is I went to that list with the specific purpose of finding out if he was a member.
SO maybe he was a member but wasn't on the list.
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