impact of loss of british gp...

[tblincoe]

cant believe nobody has mentioned this but the axing of the british gp from the 2005 formula 1 calendar is huge for sportscar racing. next year, THE major motorsport event in the UK will be the LMES race. this is huge for sportscars in that many a brit is going to be ****ed off by the decision to not race in the UK, and those who move away from F1 will surely find the LMES and sportscars as an alternative. also, the LMES event will pick up more attendance because the LMES race will be the highest form of motorsport the brits can see next year on their home turf.

the stars continue to align for sportscar racing...

[Fab]

This is just to mention the fact that I hoped we got rid of the french GP too...

[CorvetteC6R]

Well, lets wait until next season...I hear there is much begging and barganing to be done before the race is "totally axed..."

[Andrew Kitson]

I agree CorvetteC6R, anything can happen - look at the French and Canadian races, back on the calendar after a few months and Spa only disappeared for one season.

If there really is no BGP next year The LMES race will indeed be perhaps the biggest International but the crowds are pitiful! Joe public ( not us here )just does not understand sportscar racing in this country and more the pity. Promotion? It was not always this way. I recall massive crowds at Brands for the old BOAC 1000kms events, despite the rain. But the cars were far prettier then, 917s, 512s, GT40s etc.
The big event next year attendance wise will be the Goodwood Revival. 103,000 people attended this year's meeting and it grows year by year. The Goodwood Festival of Speed is also good with massive crowds, but this is like an exhibition, a demo, the cars are not racing there and don't have the room to really stretch their legs.
The Revival will be the the biggest race meeting of the season by far.

[andy97]

Its probably coincidence but it has been announced that Donington has lost the WTCC round to Silverstone. Silverstone will obviously need to boost its annual turnover now that it has lost the GP and will probably do this by trying to poach other series from other UK circuits. That's business, unfortunately.

Despite Bernie's view of the facilities, the infrastructure at Silverstone is probably still better than most other places in the UK.

[Truckosaurus]

Bernard is a Tugboat of the Highest Order.

[Piglet]

Originally posted by andy97
Its probably coincidence but it has been announced that Donington has lost the WTCC round to Silverstone. Silverstone will obviously need to boost its annual turnover now that it has lost the GP and will probably do this by trying to poach other series from other UK circuits. That's business, unfortunately.

Despite Bernie's view of the facilities, the infrastructure at Silverstone is probably still better than most other places in the UK.

Don't forget that the day to day running of Silverstone will be reverting to the BRDC as Octagon have bought themselves out of the lease so things will change whether there is a GP or not.

I agree with Andrew though, I really don't see that there is any definate link between no GP and more money and people going into sports cars. Many of the people who attend a GP are going for the "glory" of it as a hospitality event. They won't go to other motorsport (is F1 a sport - another topic!) they will go to another "glory" event such as Wimbledon etc.

I think we'll see a rotation of European GP's, each one will get dropped for a year at a time to keep the organisers and the governments on their feet and to remind them who is in charge. In reality BCE cannot afford too many European GP's as the non-Euro races are more lucrative as emerging markets and the acceptance of tobacco advertising.

[Audi R8R]

Octagon left last year! The day-to-day running has been back in the hands of the BRDC since the start of this year. I think!

As for the biggest motorsport event of the year. Surely the MotoGP at Donington will have that honour? As much as I love the LMES, unless the F1 fans out there learn that there is something other than GP racing, they'll still be a poor crowd.

[PaulSands]

Originally posted by Andrew Kitson

The Revival will be the the biggest race meeting of the season by far.

Which in all honesty is a bit sad. In some ways that kind of validates Ecclestones stance of gentlemans clubs and looking backwards. I dont agree with him but we, the motoracing public need to do something to get more people through the gates of other meeting. Though it does need to be a partnership between the fans, clubs and promoters.

[PaulSands]

Originally posted by andy97
Its probably coincidence but it has been announced that Donington has lost the WTCC round to Silverstone.

This is down to the reconstruction work at Donington though isn't it??

[Andrew Kitson]

Originally posted by Audi R8R
As for the biggest motorsport event of the year. Surely the MotoGP at Donington will have that honour?

Ooops! Apologies. Yes I forgot that one, but that's because I'm not really into two wheels having been brought upon the four wheeled kind. However the bike racing I have seen has usually been pretty good!

[PaulSands]

Originally posted by Piglet
they will go to another "glory" event such as Wimbledon etc.

or as Andrew suggested then the Goodwood Revival...that's become very much a "society" event to be seen at

[Piglet]

Originally posted by Audi R8R
Octagon left last year! The day-to-day running has been back in the hands of the BRDC since the start of this year. I think!

I think you'll find the MSV was done earlier this year but the BRDC doesn't regain control of Silverstone until later in the year, I would imagine on the anniversary of the lease which is just before Christmas.

[Piglet]

Originally posted by PaulSands
or as Andrew suggested then the Goodwood Revival...that's become very much a "society" event to be seen at

Yes absolutely, but because it is an "event" not because it is motorsport.

[Graham Goodwin]

Sadly I think its likely that bikes rather than sportscars will be the biggest winners in any fall-out from the loss of the GP.

Quite naturally very many people are attracted to the sport on the back of mainstream media coverage - lets face it, it certainly isn't on the back of value for money and/or entertainment!

I'd guess that there will be a LOT of people worrying about the future of their businesses this morning, not least of which will be the mainstrem motorsport media.

[PaulSands]

sports car racing could benefit if the promoters engaged fully with the punters and maybe actively advertised and promoted events locally rather than just in the specialist press

[Gilles]

Originally posted by Fab
This is just to mention the fact that I hoped we got rid of the french GP too...

I really like this idea !!!

[Nordic]

I don't think the loss of the British GP will benefit sportcar/GT racing at all.

If anything it may hurt it. It could become tainted in the publics eye, tarred with the same brush, if the people that run the sport ie BE says the track is third rate and not good enough for F1, why would that induce the casaul punter to go the same track for a 6 hour race? It won't.

The reason the goodwood meetings are popular is (beside great racing) its a family day out, even a none motorsport fan can find something of interest that is not tacky or contrived.

[Andrew Kitson]

Originally posted by Piglet
Yes absolutely, but because it is an "event" not because it is motorsport.

I beg to differ! Yes it is a great event, but some of the best motor racing I have seen anywhere in recent years has been at the Revival. The people dressing up, the sideshows, the air displays etc, are all 'extras'. It is the hard fast racing that makes the revival.

Some of the dressing up is a bit ludicrous IMO. There was an Elvis look-a-like for example and Marylin giving out the trophies. Don't recall hearing of them ever visiting Goodwood in the old days!

But the public, marshals etc who dress in the old 50s/60s style help to create a great atmosphere. There were a couple of dead ringer look-a-likes of another kind too, but these looked great! Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill were walking around in the old pale blue Dunlop overalls carrying their replica helmets. They stopped many people in their tracks and they were apparantly punters who bought tickets, not 'staged' by his Lordship.

One American competitor who races in historics everywhere told me that the big difference is that people 'race' here, not like Monterrey and other events which are more like fast demos. It is most definitely Motorsport with a great sideshow.

[Piglet]

Originally posted by PaulSands
sports car racing could benefit if the promoters engaged fully with the punters and maybe actively advertised and promoted events locally rather than just in the specialist press

But they could do that anyway couldn't they? Whether the promoter chooses to promote LMES or not is not related to whether there is a GP, the parties involved are different. Until promoters, organising clubs and circuit owners work together and come to an agreement to split the costs and income in a way that works for all of them things will continue as they are.

IMO British Motorsport will be worse off without a GP because of the knock on effect throughout the industry that has grown up around it. Joe public who watches on the telly won't see the difference they will just watch another foreign GP.

[Andy Zarse]

Setting aside emotions, which can be quite hard at a time like this, you have to appreciate that F1 is simply a money circus, not a sport. It is supremely naive for anyone to assume otherwise. And it's not just F1 that's guilty of this, look at IRL etc and the political upheavals they've had in the recent past.

Bernie is playing a bloody good game. Yes he's a soulless little ******* but you have to understand the dynamics of the F1 business. And it's got sod all to do with racing cars and soul stirring racing. Effectively, he's competing for revenue with International and European Premier league football, the Olympics and other huge worldwide sports and events.

There is no room for sentiment in this day and age. F1 only ever plays the heritage card when it suits itself to do so. Silverstone does not, and probably never will, square up to the fantastic new facilities such as the £300m spent at Shanghai. Know a couple of friends who were at Dubai and they raved about it's facilities.

Yes, I know the racing is **** at the moment, the cars are beyond parody and the drivers with one or two exceptions are utter dullards. But I'm appalled though that the British GP has been lost for the sake of £3m. If it was that important to the likes of Sirs Ron and Frank, Eddie and the others, I reckon they'd have a whip round for what effectively is loose change given team budgets, sponsors etc.

So where does this leave us? Difficult to say, but pretty largely in the lurch. It's not too late for one of the big knobs to pull the iron out of the fire, they've got until 13th Oct to come up with the dosh. I just wouldn't bet on it!

So it's back to LM for me, yes it's commercial in a way, but it's a bit more honest to goodness and retains it's sense of heritage. At least the ACO try to keep it real, even if they don't always suceed.

[SALEEN S7R]

Dont mean to put a dampner on anything but crowd wise, and manufacturer wise the LMES will not be the biggest sporting event in the UK. The biggest event in terms of attendance will be Moto GP by a long chalk, and probably WSBK too, each attract about 100,000 people for race day.

[Audi R8R]

Did I not say that earlier on in the thread??? Or am I just talking to myself, again???

[SALEEN S7R]

You never mentioned WSBK though - which last year attracted 110,000 people to Brands, a much bigger attendance than Moto GP, some 10-15,000 more people.

[Andrew Kitson]

MSA STATEMENT REGARDING THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX

The Motor Sports Association, as the governing body of UK motor sport, is greatly concerned at the announcement made yesterday that the British Grand Prix will not appear on the provisional 2005 Formula One calendar to be presented to the FIA World Motor Sports Council for ratification on 13 October.

John Grant, Chairman of the MSA, says that the MSA will continue to work urgently with the parties involved to seek a financial solution and that, as a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, he will argue strongly that the British Grand Prix should be retained on the F1 calendar.

“It is not just the British fans who want to see a Grand Prix at Silverstone,” says Grant. “For the majority of the race teams, their sponsors and the vehicle manufacturers involved in F1, it is important to be able to promote their products in the major established markets such as Britain, as well as in the newer, emerging economies. It has also become clear over the last few years that the circuit at Silverstone provides one of the best racing spectacles of the F1 season for worldwide TV audiences with its fast, challenging corners and superb overtaking opportunities.

“It is widely acknowledged that the British Grand Prix makes a significant direct contribution to the UK economy each year and that it is an important flagship for the hugely successful British motor sports industry. We seem to have arrived in the situation where a funding shortfall of some £2-3 million a year is standing in the way of retaining an iconic event which is vital for our sport, which directly contributes some £40 million a year to the local economy and the Government’s tax revenues, and which is needed to sustain the prestige of an industry that is responsible for international trade worth in excess of £3 billion pounds annually.

“With a bit of goodwill, we are hopeful that a constructive solution can be found to the benefit of British motor sport, the British economy and F1. There is still time to work this out, and the MSA will work urgently with all the relevant parties to help retain the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the foreseeable future.”


Release MSA04-032: 1 October 2004