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Originally Posted by flatlandsman
Our biggest venue in the UK will be to late tot he party and routinely outbid by the Middle East or the USA I would guess.
In fairness to them they hosted it in two era, the last sort of golden era of LMP1 and also the dead years of Toyota and nothing else.
They did not want it anymore, and would have little interest in bidding for it, they only care about one event all year anyway, and I would imagine they are quite happy to drop MotoGP when their contract runs out too, as crowds have fallen off a cliff at that event too.
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That Silverstone only care about one event is incorrect.
The GP is their most high profile event. It is also their most risky event. They have to get it right. It has the most focus not because of Silverstone’s uncaring attitude to everything else, but because it is just inherently higher profile.
It’s a right pain for them, the baggage that comes along with it is high, and for those involved it is a real pain. Their life would be way easier to not bother, but that venue size needs it. Otherwise none of the other stuff would happen.
Some harsh realities may come in, especially when trying to make the venue fit the entire spectrum of Motorsport from F1, to national championships, to club racing, to track days. They have to deal with that. They have skin in the game unlike people at home (especially those at home that don’t go to the races!). Although people at home do still have keyboards.
WEC, as you say, hasn’t always been in the top state it is right now to always make it work at such a venue in the UK. It came with some of that world championship baggage, but without the bums on seats. So should Silverstone fight for it when they have a full calendar of other events?
It’s great to see the crowds at Imola in this latest era, but it wasn’t always so as you say.
If MotoGP has become unviable because of the attendance dropping then they’ll have to, but it won’t be because they don’t care.
The people who run Silverstone, the club behind it, and the vast majority of those that work there love all motorsport. I know they love and enthuse about it all even the club stuff. To suggest they don’t care is too simplistic at best.