Donington is Dead - Long live Donington [merged]

[Al Weyman]

Me too.

[stroller]

Originally Posted by Mark Flounders

Well e have just received our race dates for next year and to my MASSIVE suprise, Donington is on there!!!

Out of curisity

What Championship/Club/Dates ?

[stroller]

Originally Posted by grantp

FWIW.

The general feeling of others I spoke to was that it ought to be not so difficult to fix the track, especially if one was not too worried about the Melbourne Loop in the early part of such a process.

Hopefully others agree and will find ways to take positive action sooner rather than later.

I thought people might be interested.

Does that include sorting out the new tunnel. Don't forget the infrastructure of the Circuit (phones & communications etc) Plus all the earthmoving on the infield will no doubt have affected the drainage situation. It took years to get it something like right last time.

[Mark Flounders]

Originally Posted by stroller

Out of curisity

What Championship/Club/Dates ?

Pickup Truck Racing/BARC/4-5 September 2010

[chunder]

The loop is far too long for an oval circuit.

Most are between 3 and 400 meters.

Besides why race there when we have plenty of tar tracks!!

[Al Weyman]

Its two long for a 1/4 mile oval but when I did that type of racing I always yearned for a longer track so why not, it seems underused as is and a pain to race on, I have only done the GP once and didnt like it at all.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by stroller

Does that include sorting out the new tunnel. Don't forget the infrastructure of the Circuit (phones & communications etc) Plus all the earthmoving on the infield will no doubt have affected the drainage situation. It took years to get it something like right last time.

The new tunnel is as it was - at least it is as seen from a distance form the infield - and so still needs to be completed. How it is to be completed will, I guess, depend on what happens to the development plans. The finishing required looked like it would be part of the alterations to the layout for the entrance to the new pit complex. If that is not undertaken one might assume that it could be finished off some other way.

The plus side of that is that the tunnel would open up the potential for using the infield much more effectively than in the past. For many people visiting club meetings and some National events, especially with families, the ability to take the car into the infield was a major attraction.

I can't comment on phones/comms issues. I did not see anything that suggested potential problems but then I obviously don't know what the existing setup is or was.

In terms of drainage ... well, it has been wet and there are a lot of large puddles in areas of the infield that have seen earth movement but I didn't see anything notable on the track level.

In effect it seems that a lot of earth has been moved around on the infield but mostly not near the track. There are exceptions to that on the inside of Coppice up to the existing fencing and the area near Goddards where the new inner loop was intended but they are relatively small sections and not right at the edge of the track - just up to exisiting fence lines. The 'quarry' area on the infield near McLeans was filled last year. I'm not sure if that contributed to the tunnel problems on the very wet days but if it did some further work may be required there. Or maybe it has been done?

The major changes to the infield seem to have been

• a slight flattening and large widening of the banking alongside the Dunlop Bridge straight, presumably to accommodate the new pits complex although it is somewhat higher than the existing track which surprised me. Not sure how that would work with the airport but ...
• Some significant excavation where the old 'football pitch' was to accomodate the planned new loop. However that is in quite a constrained area at present so leaves most of the infield space much as it was otherwise. Some reprofiling and some flattening but not too much else. Of course the planned developments would change the infield and its usage potential quite dramatically so far as one can tell from the plans.

Really the summary is that whilst not a good situation it could be much worse should someone seek to re-open the circuit without doing the redevelopment. However I would also guess that leaving the place as it is for an extended period would not help when it comes to re-commissioning so hopefully sorting out the inevitably complex situation that must exist at the moment (in legal terms) will not be a long drawn out affair.

As for the oft discussed possibility of turning it into housing - living alongside a flight path is not too bad. Living right under one - not so good as the people in Kegworth know. I would be very surprised if the local authority would go with that as a plan, but then you never can tell these days.

A business facility development would be less problematic but there are so many of those already in (very slow) development or in the pipeline in the surrounding area that I would be surprised if another was proposed at this point. On the other hand .... see my previous paragraph conclusion.

Caution with all of this of course - it is purely my opinion and I claim no useful technical expertise at all.

[terence]

I stick by what I said after looking at the photos someone posyed a while back. All is not lost regarding sorting out the track work,quite minimal damage really.As for the infield,there's a very nice viewing area that has been cut into the hillside that overlook's Craner,about halfway down the hill.Surely,with the right construction team/s it would take no longer than a few week's to smooth out any earth mound's and replace Barrier's and sort the track? Even if the infield was grass seeded,it should be possible to re-open the circuit with minimal fuss.All thats needed is someone with the required funding [local councils,Government funding for local employment?] to save it for what Donington really is,an Historic Site in as much as one of the very first purpose built race circuits!

[Al Weyman]

Local council/Government funding with all this C02 induced man made global warming stuff in our faces every five minutes, not a cats in hell chance if you ask me. Now if you wanted funding to turn it in to a long distance cycle track....

[stroller]

Originally Posted by terence bower

I stick by what I said after looking at the photos someone posyed a while back. All is not lost regarding sorting out the track work,quite minimal damage really.As for the infield,there's a very nice viewing area that has been cut into the hillside that overlook's Craner,about halfway down the hill.Surely,with the right construction team/s it would take no longer than a few week's to smooth out any earth mound's and replace Barrier's and sort the track? Even if the infield was grass seeded,it should be possible to re-open the circuit with minimal fuss.!

It goes back to my original point. It took ages to get the infield to a condition to prevent flooding across the track at the Old Hairpin/Starkeys sections everytime there was a consistent rainfall

Will the organising Clubs be willing to take the gamble of running on a Circuit without guarantees that the necessary precautions/groundworks were in place and working. (Bearing in mind the fiascos twice this year with the new tunnel problems)

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Local council/Government funding with all this C02 induced man made global warming stuff in our faces every five minutes, not a cats in hell chance if you ask me. Now if you wanted funding to turn it in to a long distance cycle track....

Traditionally it has been used for several charity events each year, at least one of which seems to have something to do with bicycles.

North West Leicestershire District Council and Leicestershire County Council have changed the status of this northern tip of the county from green belt to brown field and see it as a commercial/industrial development area. No surprise given the communications potential (Road/rail/Air and there are some canals around ... we may need them again soon ) and pre-existing developments. Castle Donington has in the south east wuarter the International Airport, the south West is Doniongton Park, The North West has what was a Power Station site but is now (slowly) being developed as a 'distribution centre' with road and rail links. The North east has a few fields until you hit the M1/A50 interchange and just the other side of that is the Radcliffe power station.

Put all that together and consider the Park to be, from time to time, a civic amenity of sorts, it ought to be possible for the local councils to see beyond the 'carbon' argument. They were, after all, seemingly supportive of the proposed GP arrival - I think they saw the £ signs, the worldwide publicity and the potential for jollies and rubbing shoulders with 'the great and the good'.

In addition to that at least one of the local MEPs is certainly not Pro the AGW camp in carbon terms and his position seems to be accruing active support.

So all of that means .... the council will probably decide to force the park to become an extention of the National Forest ... also a local project.

[terence]

Dont aircraft give off CO2?

[GroupOfOne]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Now if you wanted funding to turn it in to a long distance cycle track....

Originally Posted by grantp

Traditionally it has been used for several charity events each year, at least one of which seems to have something to do with bicycles.

On a related note, Future Publishing, have at long last announced the unspoken and that the Bike Radar Live event which was held at DP end of July/early August-ish will move to Brands Hatch for 2010. Obviously they claim it's to make it a bigger and better event, but at the time they claimed last year's was a massive success (central location, proximity to Peak District for sportif ride etc), so it looks like they were forced into a change by the current chaos and uncertainty.

Would guess the change has been brewing for some time, as they've been decidedly quiet on the whole matter of announcing the 2010 date/venue for the last couple of months.

[Al Weyman]

Someone was just in my shop 'in the know' tells me JP has put in a bid, anyone else heard this or just rumour mongering?

[Gerryc]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Someone was just in my shop 'in the know' tells me JP has put in a bid, anyone else heard this or just rumour mongering?

If true then that is about the best possible outcome, but I haven't heard it mentioned anywhere else.

[terence]

Five circuits in JPs name? Monopolies Commission? I agree that it need's someone such as Johnathan to take control,question is [apart from those already asked] would he be able/want to do it. Whatever happen's,it is still going to take a large financial outlay.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Someone was just in my shop 'in the know' tells me JP has put in a bid, anyone else heard this or just rumour mongering?

Yup, I heard it from a bloke down the chip shop yesterday

[John Robinson]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Yup, I heard it from a bloke down the chip shop yesterday

Elvis?

[Peter Mallett]

Well he's a liar and I don't know about you.

[Al Weyman]

He was a marshal actually.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

He was a marshal actually.

Who, Elvis?

[Al Weyman]

No he was just a cowboy.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Five circuits in JPs name? Monopolies Commission? I agree that it need's someone such as Johnathan to take control,question is [apart from those already asked] would he be able/want to do it. Whatever happen's,it is still going to take a large financial outlay.

He could, perhaps, try to sell one of his other circuits to avoid allegations of a monopoloy & to help raise cash?

[terence]

Wyatt?

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by andy97

He could, perhaps, try to sell one of his other circuits to avoid allegations of a monopoloy & to help raise cash?

If no one else wants Donington and JP is the only interested party, how can that be a monopoly? I can understand it if there was a queue of people after it but surely if he IS the only person interested, they have to sell to him?