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To be ruthless fella
1500 people is what we get every weekend for proper stockcar racing! It simply isnt enough to sustain any interest at a huge venue, unless you charging a lot to get in. And can guarantee a crowd.
15 grand is going to just about cover the wages of the staff present, OK you might get a bit back with trades stalls, but who are you going to attract with 1500 people!
I think truck racing might have a hardcore UK suppprt of 1500 perhaps with a few thousand floaters? And they had a boom period in the 80's whe tens of thousands of people watched, but it soon ebbed away, even internationally.
What you would call proper oval racing it simply isnt sustainable, short ovals are because they are freer, easier to access and do not cost the earth to compete in or run, in comparison.
And as for new tracks, have you tried getting planning permission!!! The thought of even trying to build something new in the UK is almost impossible unless you are miles away from anywhere or in an industrial estate or near an airfield/railway.
Donington's loop is too tight and would be a wreck fest, and Mallory needs all the help it can get right now without taking risks on resurfacing, building new stuff for a formula that will fail.
Not really sure Rockingham was ever in a bloom as you call it, it failed from the very first meeting!! Water seepage, awful stunts that made nearly every formulae race there want to get out as soon as possible like BSB, F3 and CART. How on earth the place is still there is beyond me, and it is largely down to Top Gear! Blokes watching and wanting a go in a posh car and their poor suffering bird buying them a supercar experience! I know, I've been and it was packed to the rafters!! Every one there paid over 100 quid, think about it a minute....
I bet they amde more money that day than any race meeting, and thats is why it has survived. The oval part is a white elephant, just like Lauzitz. Sorry
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