British GP to be held at Donington

[bjohnsonsmith]

Well done Squib Burton and what a great name.

[Last2LiftOff]

70,000 some-odd posts later...

[mickey29]

Sorry, newbie to the discussion! I have just seen that Citigroup are not exactly rolling in dosh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8308816.stm

Surely there can't be anyone dense enough to buy into this concept?

[Peter Mallett]

Welcome Mickey. Nobody should buy into it, it is so desperate.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by mickey29

Sorry, newbie to the discussion! I have just seen that Citigroup are not exactly rolling in dosh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8308816.stm

Surely there can't be anyone dense enough to buy into this concept?

No one will, under the current economic climate.

[mark_l]

If Gillet can raise the money required in 2 weeks then he should be made Chancellor and get us out of the current recession.

Pigs all fed and ready to fly.

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by Bodysnatcher

This is going to screw up the whole of the British racing scene.

Donington destroyed and probably bankrupted for a deal I really can't see them sustaining for the full 10 years.

Silverstone, in order that it does not decline to Rockingham like levels of white elephantism , I can see bidding for just about everything of status that Brands Hatch currently gets. Which in turn....

Really really bad move Bernie, but I guess it was as much about settling personal scores as making the deal.

I've just been looking at early posts on this thread - you must be psychic

[White flag man]

Originally Posted by arnage arnie

I've just been looking at early posts on this thread - you must be psychic

Is he Bernie in disguise!!

[mickey29]

2 differing opinions from financial analysts:

s&p say the whole thing will be unlikely to succeed and haven given it a poor rating
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE59E4U020091015

moodys say it might just work and consider the project to be stable. http://uk.reuters.com/article/market...LA578320091015
(it took some tracking down Moodys actual report, I had to register on their website but it made for interesting reading. They believe that Donington has sufficient liquidity to complete the project)

So, if The City is divided perhaps Gillett can find enough dopey muppets who will invest.

Personally I would rather the whole was back at Silverstone and Donington was left to lick its' wounds and return to being a good little track for national racing.

[Piglet]

Sufficient liquidity? - I thought the last accounts showed 28 quid in the bank or something similar

[bjohnsonsmith]

Wouldn't we all but Bernie in his wisdom thought different, even though everyone at the time said it would be a disaster. Did he listen?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by mickey29

2 differing opinions from financial analysts:

s&p say the whole thing will be unlikely to succeed and haven given it a poor rating
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE59E4U020091015

moodys say it might just work and consider the project to be stable. http://uk.reuters.com/article/market...LA578320091015
(it took some tracking down Moodys actual report, I had to register on their website but it made for interesting reading. They believe that Donington has sufficient liquidity to complete the project)

So, if The City is divided perhaps Gillett can find enough dopey muppets who will invest.

Personally I would rather the whole was back at Silverstone and Donington was left to lick its' wounds and return to being a good little track for national racing.

Moodys... the institution that rated subprime-based CDOs as triple A ! That says it all. They should have been shut down on principle after what's happened in the last 12 months.

[p261brm]

Originally Posted by mark_l

If Gillet can raise the money required in 2 weeks then he should be made Chancellor and get us out of the current recession.

Pigs all fed and ready to fly.

Good, flying pink pig racing at night presume luminous pigs available for this provided we give 14 stardate zens notice to allow Gillette [close shave boy wonder] to raise enough of the folding. What a load of bull.... almost as good a joke as Cleese not mentioning the war, I'm off to Silverstone for HSCC finals [poor substitute for Portimao I know] where at least a reasonable sense of whats what will take place, at least I will be spared Eddie Jordon and can JB win the title!

[Purist]

I thought the flying "Pink Pig" was being housed at Zuffenhausen. After all, we can't have that beast taking anyone else off the road like it did to Alain de Cadenet at Le Mans in 1971.

Seriously though, why does Donington just need to go back to being a "good little national circuit"? Unless there's someplace I've forgotten, I will pretty much take a circuit with real undulations over a "flat" track any day. Silverstone has some nice corners, but it has too much technicality added for technicality's sake (and specifically to slow F1 cars) and is relatively flat compared to Donny or Brands.

I hope this comes off. As an alternative, I wouldn't mind an alternating arrangement between Silverstone and Donington.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Purist

I thought the flying "Pink Pig" was being housed at Zuffenhausen. After all, we can't have that beast taking anyone else off the road like it did to Alain de Cadenet at Le Mans in 1971.

I hope this comes off. As an alternative, I wouldn't mind an alternating arrangement between Silverstone and Donington.

It is, I've got some pics of it.

I would love to see an alternating arrangement between Silverstone and Brands again, like in the '70s and '80s; two greatly contrasting circuits, which the drivers liked.

Officially Brands was dropped because FISA had instituted a policy of long-term contracts with circuits, though this didn't stop Hockenheim and the new Nurburgring from alternating. Brands Hatch was 'perceived' as a poorer facility and Brands did have very little run-off area and room to expand, something Silverstone has in acres, though Brands seems to have made up for it now.

Unofficially Brands lost its spot because Bernie got sour grapes as John Foulston the Chairman of Atlantic Computers and owner of Brands, didn't want to sell Brands to Bernie.

[davyboy]

Donington was a great circuit as it was. I drove it many many times and I was fortunate enough to be standing just after the Old Hairpin in the pouring rain to witness one of the greatest Grand Prix of the modern era in 1993. It may not have met the requirements of what F1/Bernie wants today... but at least it was a great circuit. What's it now ? A building site. If this ridiculous circus act of Gillet's fails, what chance has it of ever returning to be a motor racing circuit again ? That's the saddest thing about all of this.

[bjohnsonsmith]

As you say Donnington was a geat track and with a lot of history. I just get fed up with the continued meddling by Bernie. That's why F1 is mainly in the state it's in; there is no stability or continuity.

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Unofficially Brands lost its spot because Bernie got sour grapes as John Foulston the Chairman of Atlantic Computers and owner of Brands, didn't want to sell Brands to Bernie.

Replace 'Brands' with 'Silverstone' and 'Atlantic Computers' with 'BRDC' and I think we're starting to see a pattern forming.

[Last2LiftOff]

And maybe it's time to change the title of this thread while we're at it. We could do, something like, Son of British GP to be held at Donington, or how about simply, British GP to be held at Donington?

[Peter Mallett]

Whatever you're smoking, I'll have some.

[Last2LiftOff]

Oh, you mean pass the spliff?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Is this the thread about passing? I thought this was the thread about Donnington having the GP.

[Last2LiftOff]

Donnington having the GP...?

[Peter Mallett]

Do they, when did that happen?

[Dave 455]

One of my friends/work colleagues managed to access Donington Park today, whilst visiting Donington GP Collection and even I was shocked by his findings and pictures, there is NO CONSTRUCTION GOING ON, NOTHING IS HAPPENING , AND THERE IS JUST ONE J C BALLS DIGGER ON-SITE AND A MR BALLS DUMPER! That is unbelievable and I'm now 100% confident this is a setup and no Donigton GP was ever going to happen!