The track itself is mostly intact, though some sections have been dug up near where the new parts of the circuit were to have been built. Some barriers and run-off areas also need to be reconstructed.

Kevin Wheatcroft, son of former circuit owner Tom Wheatcroft who died last year, told the Derby Telegraph:

We have been assessing what is required to put things back as they were. We reckon this will cost in the region of about £600,000, but to get it up to Grand Prix standard you could add a couple of ’0′s. We want to get the place operational again.
Kevin Wheatcroft

Donington Ventures, the company run by Simon Gillett which held a lease on the circuit and aimed to bring the British Grand Prix back to it, went into administration last month. Wheatcroft is now looking for a new buyer for the lease.

He added:

The first thing has been to try to save as many jobs as possible. As of this week, we have re-opened the museum and cafe and race control office.Kevin Wheatcroft

The Donington Grand Prix Collection boasts dozens if not hundreds of old F1 cars. It’s one of the best – probably the best – motor racing museums I’ve visited.

I’ll try to make a trip up there again in the near future and I urge everyone else to go too and support this excellent venue which fell short in its effort to hold an F1 race.

Join the “Save Donington” Facebook campaign here

Read more: Silverstone to use “more exciting” Moto GP track for 2010 F1 race (Pictures)

The fate of the British Grand Prix hangs in the balance

Donington Park’s plan to hold the British Grand Prix in 2010 had its doubters from the start, and it looks like they were right all along.

Yesterday Donington missed its deadline to confirm it had the funding in place to complete the building work at the track in time for the race – a deadline that has already had several extensions.

Will Bernie Ecclestone now save the British Grand Prix by giving it back to Silverstone? Or will he confirm the suspicions of those who feared this was a scheme to get the event off the calendar to make room for more lucrative races?

Ecclestone told the Daily Mail:

This is the final deadline – 200 per cent. It’s not good is it? Even if they come up with the money they can’t build the circuit in time.
Bernie Ecclestone

He has changed his position on whether Silverstone could hold the race next year several times. After the Donington deal was announced during the British Grand Prix weekend in 2008 he insisted there was no way back for Silverstone, then conceded earlier this year that might not be the cased, and has changed his mind at least once more since then.

If Donington can’t pull it off, this will be the second time in seven years the British Grand Prix has been promised to a circuit other than Silverstone, only for the deal to fail.

Ecclestone originally gave the race to Brands Hatch for 2002 in a deal with circuit owner Nicola Foulston. But she sold the circuit on the strength of its British GP contract, making millions. The reconstruction work at Brands Hatch wasn’t completed in time and Ecclestone brokered a deal with the circuit’s new owners Octagon to hold the race at Silverstone.

Now we will find out if Ecclestone has anything up his sleeve to keep the British Grand Prix on the calendar – or if he is really interested in sparing it at all.

Damon Hill, president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, has said Silverstone will take the race back, but not on a one-year deal that might see the race returning to Donington in 2011:

If Donington does not happen, then you have to ask yourself what that says about the decision to look into it in the first place. And in those circumstances it would be nice to think that we could get round a table with FOM and put to bed once and for all the uncertainty over the future of the British Grand Prix.
Damon Hill

Is Hill’s optimism justified or misplaced? Could there be no British Grand Prix next year – for the first time in the history of the world championship? Have your say in the comments.

Keep an eye on Brits on Pole who are watching every move in this story.

2010 British Grand Prix

• More pictures of Donington Park 2010
• Donington Park has British Grand Prix deal until 2026, claims government
• Donington Park boss Simon Gillett on building the new British Grand Prix circuit
• Council backs Donington Park’s Grand Prix plans ahead of application hearing
• 2010 Donington Park F1 track revealed
• Donington Park, Silverstone, Brands Hatch and the British Grand Prix
• British Grand Prix switches to Donington Park from 2010. Really?
• 2010 F1 calendar

Update: Stephen Northcott on Twitter suggested I create a Twibbon for F1 fans to show their support for the British Grand Prix – so here it is! Grab yours now:

Ecclestone has another new idea for the British Grand Prix

Bernie Ecclestone has changed his mind on the future of the British Grand Prix yet again.

To recap, he started the year saying there was no way the 2010 race would be held anywhere other then Donington Park. He later suggested in an interview with The Times that this wasn’t the case, and then took those words back.

Then over the British Grand Prix weekend he warmed to the idea of keeping the race at Silverstone. And today he’s told the Independent he thinks the race should be held at both tracks, rotating from one year to the next:

If they don’t do it, Donington will get together with Silverstone.

I think this is a fine idea in principle: they’re both great tracks and it would ensure the British Grand Prix will remain on the calendar. As Andrew Tsvyk’s article on this site today points out, the race has rotated between Silverstone and other venues in the past.

But we have to be realistic and admit this approach has not worked very well of late.

The German Grand Prix was supposed to rotate between the Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring, but the ltter has now said it cannot afford to hold a race next year.

Fuji Speedway and Suzuka are also supposed to be sharing the Japanese Grand Prix. But Fuji’s owners Toyota have recently decided the track will not continue to hold F1 races.

Rotating tracks should in theory allow tracks to spread out the mmoth costs of holding a Grand Prix over a longer amount of time, but for whatever reason that doesn’t seem to work in practice.

Already a month has passed since the last British Grand Prix – a month which in previous years would have seen tickets going on sale. Time is already running out, and it seems to me the decision Ecclestone should be taking at the moment is which circuit is bet placed to hold a race in 2010, and take care of subsequent years after that.

Read more

• Silverstone, Donington Park, Brands Hatch and the British Grand Prix
• Silverstone F1 crowd exceeds 310,000
• Donington Park F1 track revealed
• F1 cars will hit 298kph in the Craner Curves at the new Donington Park in 2010
• Donington: time to stop the cynicism?
• 2010 F1 calendar

On the eve of the British Grand Prix FIA President Max Mosley has raised the prospect of the race returning to Silverstone in 2010 instead of moving to Donington Park.

Speaking to the BBC Mosley said he thought it was very likely there would be a British Grand Prix next year – even if Donington isn’t ready in time.

This contradicts Bernie Ecclestone’s oft-repeated insistence that if Donington Park is not ready for 2010, the British Grand Prix may have to skip a year.

Given the political turmoil F1 faces at the moment – with no guarantees what form of world championship may take place in 2010 – it is likely to be some sort of political manoeuvre on Mosley’s part.

At very least, with the FIA deciding not to publish details of its proposed 2010 F1 teams list today as promised, it may simply be an attempt to deflect attention away from the wider crisis facing Formula 1.

Regardless of whether the offer is serious or not, it makes sense for F1 to keep a British round on the calendar: the reigning world champion is British, and the team and driver leading the championships at present are both British, as are most of the current teams’ bases.

As discussed earlier this week, Britain attracts far more fans than new venues like Istanbul or Shanghai.

Read more: F1 leaving Britain would be madness

The Turkish GP - almost half as many spectators as British GP practice

If Donington Park isn’t up to scratch by 2010, there won’t be a British Grand Prix.

That’s Bernie Ecclestone’s insistence – and it is complete and utter folly. At a time when F1 spectator figures are taking a hammering, the last thing F1 should be doing is turning its back on one of the best-attended races on the calendar.

The effect of the recession on ticket sales is clear when you look at crowd figures for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Spanish Grand Prix crowd sizes, 2007-2009 (click to enlarge)

Yes, part of the drop-off in ticket sales will be down to the fact that Fernando Alonso is not in a winning car. That said, going into this year’s Spanish Grand Prix he had won two of the last eight races, so I think that is part of the explanation but not the whole reason.

While previously popular European races are seeing a decline in attendance, some of F1′s newer venues have embarrassingly small crowds:

Malaysia and Turkish Grand Prix crowd sizes, 2008-2009 (click to enlarge)

So poor was the size of the crowd at the Turkish Grand Prix that even the drivers commented on it:

I think when you come here and you see in the city that there are massive fans around, and you come here and see that there is nobody then you know that it is just too expensive. So we have to make it cheaper. We prefer to race at a track with cheaper tickets but a lot of people inside, because if they put down the price of the tickets it would be full.
Felipe Massa

Inevitably lower ticket prices might mean more sales but it might not improve the track owners’ profit margins – and they have Bernie Ecclestone’s hefty fees to pay. As Ecclestone’s income from the races is not linked to how many people show up, he can charge sky-high prices and leave it to the track owners to worry about whether anyone will actually show up.

Of course, it is terrible for F1′s image for the racing to take place in front of near-empty stadia. That isn’t a problem at Silverstone:

British Grand Prix crowd sizes, 2007-2008 (click to enlarge)

Silverstone was a sell-out last year despite having recently added an extra 2,500-seat grandstand. More than twice as many people watched Friday practice at Silverstone last year than say the race at Istanbul this year.

I have nothing against Simon Gillett’s plans for a British Grand Prix at Donington Park. But we have to be realistic and admit that in a recession there are difficulties to financing such a large construction project and paying Ecclestone’s fees.

If Donington Park can’t hold the race next year, Silverstone should be offered the opportunity. For more than half of F1 teams it is a race right on their doorstep, and hence is the most cost-effective to attend. It packs in the crowds, and has never been off the world championship calendar.

Leaving the British Grand Prix off the 2010 F1 calendar would be madness.

Read more

• Join me and other F1 Fanatics at the British Grand Prix this weekend
• Where the money goes in F1
• British Grand Prix to skip a year in 2010? They said that about San Marino…

F1 fans at last year's British Grand Prix

Hockenheim, along with Donington and Fuji, looks uncertain for 2010

With so much attention focused on which teams might be racing in F1 in 2010, less is being said about what circuits might feature on the world championship calendar.

Many circuits are facing pressure from falling audiences and Bernie Ecclestone’s unrelentingly high prices. There is significant doubt over the planned races at Hockenheim, Fuji and Donington Park.

With this in mind, which tracks will still be on the 2010 F1 calendar, which new or returning events could arrive – and which ones will be squeezed out?

British Grand Prix

Significant doubt surrounds the British Grand Prix’s proposed move from Silverstone to Donington Park.

Construction work at the circuit has caused races to be cancelled or postponed, track owner Tom Wheatcroft is demanding millions in unpaid rent from race organiser Simon Gillett, and few details have emerged concerning how the circuit upgrade and race contract will be paid for.

Ecclestone has emphatically denied that, if Donington isn’t ready, F1 could return to Silverstone in 2010. But as well as suggesting the British Grand Prix could skip a year in 2010 while Donington gets ready, he has also indicated that a return to Silverstone could happen after all.

Silverstone, meanwhile, has bagged Donington’s Moto GP race for 2010 and is planning revisions to its layout to accommodate the bikes. But rumours suggest other F1-friendly developments are in the pipeline too. Among the most radical suggestions are that Ecclestone could buy the circuit.

Read more

• British Grand Prix to skip a year in 2010? They said that about San Marino…
• Donington Park has British Grand Prix deal until 2026, claims government
• More bad news from Donington
• Donington Park boss Simon Gillett on building the new British Grand Prix circuit

German Grand Prix

The German Grand Prix is supposed to rotate between the Nürburgring (this year’s host) and the Hockenheimring (next year’s).

However in December the Badem-Württemberg government said it would no longer provide financial support to the race which was believed to have lost €6m (£5.1m/$8.6m) last year.

The two circuits had begun sharing the event since the retirement of Michael Schumacher has seen a significant fall in race attendance – despite five of F1′s 20 drivers having German nationality. The Nürburgring round receives government support estimated at $15m per year in 2007.

Japanese Grand Prix

The Japanese Grand Prix is also operating a rotation system, between Honda-owned Suzuka and Toyota-owned Fuji.

However earlier this week it emerged that the organisers of the Fuji race are considering dropping the event after just two runnings at the modernised venue in 2007 and 2008.

Read more

• Fuji Speedway to disappear from 2010 F1 calendar, things are looking up

South Korean Grand Prix

South Korea's F1 track in Jeonnam (click to enlarge)

The South Korean Grand Prix is expected to be the major new addition to the 2010 F1 calendar.

The 5.4km Jeonnam Circuit was designed by (prepare to feign surprise) Hermann Tilke and is located in the south-west of the country.

The addition of a new round to the calendar doesn’t necessarily mean another event has to be dropped. This year’s calendar was cut from 18 to 17 rounds following the last-minute dropping of the French Grand Prix.

Read more

• 2010 South Korean F1 track shown in new pictures on official website

Recently dropped races

Several races that have fallen off the calendar in recent years have expressed a desire to return.

France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon has stated a desire to return the French Grand Prix to the F1 calendar in 2010. It is absent from the world championship calendar this year for the first time since its cancellation in 1955 following the Le Mans disaster.

However there are several obstacles hindering the hopes for a race at the proposed Flins-Mureux track (which, unusually, has not been designed by Hermann Tilke). The President of the Conseil General of the Yvelines departement Pierre Bedier, a key supporter of the race, has had to stand down from his position after losing an appeal against a corruption charge. And residents near the proposed site of the Flins track have raised many objections.

Similarly the promoters of the Canadian Grand Prix, which was dropped at the end of 2008, have had a series of meetings with Bernie Ecclestone aimed at returning the circuit to the F1 calendar.

However there has been little talk of a potential return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the United States Grand Prix. There have recently been rumours that speedway boss Tony George, who arranged the 2000-2007 races with Bernie Ecclestone, was to be dismissed from the circuit, but this failed to materialise. He is likely preoccupied with the affect of the recession on his circuit and the Indy Racing League.

The 2011 and 2012 F1 calendars

The Indian Grand Prix, which was originally planned for 2010, is now aiming to be on the F1 calendar in 2011. Ecclestone told the BBC in January:

Of course we will deliver… otherwise we wouldn’t have entered into an agreement. [India is] a large, large country with a big population and it’s good for the sponsors, car manufacturers and everyone involved in Formula 1.

A Rome Grand Prix looks increasingly likely for 2012. The circuit layout has been planned (video lap here) and Ecclestone is believed to have registered the name ‘Formula 1 Gran Premio di Roma’. This would likely scupper any lingering hope Imola has of returning to the calendar, despite getting a facelift since being dropped by F1 in 2006.

The Hungarian national government, which puts around $14m per year into the Hungarian Grand Prix, is considering whether to continue that level of support after 2011.

The Turkish Grand Prix’s contract is up for renewal after the 2011 race. Many circuits are suffering poor attendance at F1 races at the moment but the Istanbul Park circuit’s shortage seemed particularly acute last year. Keep an eye on those stands this weekend.

Read more

• 2012 Rome Grand Prix circuit revealed
• Rome Grand Prix track video lap
• 2010 F1 calendar

Which events do you think will fall off the calendar in 2010? Will we continue to see European races fall by the wayside? And will the South Korean race happen? Leave a comment below.

Donington Park 2010 F1 circuit simulation

Press release from Donington Park:

Peter Wahl – the architect who has worked extensively on the Donington Park redevelopment project – has promised that the new circuit, which will host the British F1 Grand Prix for a decade from July 2010, will present overtaking and excitement together with technical challenges for drivers and teams.

Tilke, the German concern in which Peter is a partner, has designed most of the world’s newest circuits. However, Donington Park is the company’s first project in England. On a visit to the parkland circuit last week, Peter described his work on the project as very exciting because the “circuit has to include the best of the old with the new.

“Donington presented a big challenge – there are the big spectator banks, the tradition of the flowing downhill section at Craner Curves to the Old Hairpin, the racing through what is like a country garden, but then we have to provide the new sections.”

The existing circuit from Redgate to McLeans remain unchanged, but Coppice Corner will the tightened going into the 1001 metre straight – one of the longest in the championship, which stretches through to the Melbourne Hairpin.

“The long straight will be very fast, but then it goes into a slow hairpin and I believe that will create the perfect overtaking place, and that is what we need, more overtaking, more excitement,” added Wahl.

“There is the new piece on the circuit infield, and that will be demanding and exciting. It goes downhill steeply and into a left-hander – the drivers will feel the high pressure there, and then they will have to accelerate back uphill. It will be technically very demanding for everyone.”

The design of the circuit has been handled by Wahl and his partner Herman Tilke: “We had a lot of fun – Herman is a racing driver so we added many features and are confident that the new circuit will be very good. It has been a task for us to maintain the tradition of the circuit with the necessary new designs but we have done it in such a way that it will be as interesting as when Ayrton Senna won the 1993 Grand Prix of Europe there in 1993, and that was the best race ever.”

Wahl had flown in to the adjacent East Mildands Airport to check progress on the £100m project which was given planning permission last month, and noted that works on the £750,000 tunnel to provide ready access to the infield area pits and paddock complex at all times was nearing completion while works to carefully remove the Dunlop Bridge – necessary given the re-alignment of the circuit – were in hand.

“I am confident that everything will be delivered on time – we Germans and British have a similar mentality when it comes to doing things and Simon Gillett (the chief executive of the circuit) is good – we have a friendship and have worked strongly together. Donington Park knows how to handle lots of people having the MotoGP here and the airport being so close gives good access.”

Works, despite the recent bad weather, are on schedule to deliver Britain’s newest Grand Prix circuit in good time for the July 2010 hosting of the British F1 Grand Prix.

Read more

• Donington: time to stop the cynicism?
• 2010 Donington Park F1 track revealed
• F1 cars will hit 298kph in Craner Curves at the new Donington Park in 2010
• Council backs Donington Park’s Grand Prix plans ahead of application hearing
• Donington Park boss Simon Gillett on building the new British Grand Prix circuit
• More pictures of Donington Park 2010

Hermann Tilke's A1 Ring was first used in 1997

Yesterday’s discussion about a potential Rome Grand Prix circuit turned into a debate about Hermann Tilke’s abilities as an F1 track designer. Daniel put forward the case for the prosecution:

Why do they still get this guy to build tracks? Every track he has designed is boring. With all the new tracks that have appeared in the last five or six years, the old ones are still the most entertaining: look at Spa and Monza.

Paul responded:

Tilke is rather limited to what he can produce by (presumably) FOM/Bernie and FIA regulations [...] I really don’t see any bad track he’s produced aside from Valencia, and we only have fifty or so laps to base that upon.

Has Hermann Tilke ruined the F1 calendar? Let’s take a look at what he’s done for F1 track design in the last 14 years.

In 1997 the Austrian Grand Prix returned to the calendar on a circuit based on the popular old Osterreichring. But the new A1-Ring was a radically different affair to its predecessor: the fast, long-radio turns of the original were replaced by tight, slow corners.

This is one of the hallmarks of Tilke’s designs and by comparing the calendar of 13 years ago with today’s schedule we can see the influence it has had.

1996 F1 calendar

Melbourne, Australia
Interlagos, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nürburgring, Germany
Imola, San Marino
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Canada
Magny-Cours, France
Silverstone, Great Britain
Hockenheimring, Germany
Hungaroring, Budapest
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Monza, Italy
Estoril, Portugal
Suzuka, Japan

Since 1996 every new track that has been introduced on the calendar has been developed by Tilke GmbH. And on almost every other occasion where an existing track has been changed, the modifications were handled by Tilke’s team – with the possible exception of Indianapolis in 2000 (I’m not sure who handled that one):

1997 – A1-Ring
1999 – Sepang International Circuit
2000 – Monza (first chicane)
2002 – Hockenheimring (major re-design)
2002 – Nürburgring (new corners at start of lap)
2003 – Monte-Carlo (Rascasse reprofiling and moving of barriers)
2003 – Magny-Cours (new corners at end of lap)
2003 – Hungaroring (new corners at end of lap)
2004 – Bahrain International Circuit
2004 – Shanghai International Circuit
2005 – Istanbul Park
2007 – Catalunya (new chicane at end of lap)
2007 – Fuji (major re-design)
2007 – Spa-Francorchamps (new chicane at end of lap)
2008 – Valencia
2008 – Singapore
2009 – Abu Dhabi
2010 – Donington (major re-design)

Regardless of what you think of Tilke’s tracks, you have to ask whether only having one circuit designer is good for Formula 1. Where are the new ideas going to come from in a monopoly? How can good value for money be ensured in an industry where there is no competition?

2009 F1 calendar

The first race at Tilke's Valencia street circuit was processional

Here’s this year’s calendar with the tracks entirely designed by Tilke marked in bold and the tracks where he’s changed at least one corner in italics:

Melbourne, Australia
Sepang, Malaysia
Shanghai International Circuit, China
Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Istanbul, Turkey
Silverstone, Great Britain
Nürburgring, Germany
Hungaroring, Budapest
Valencia, Spain
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Monza, Italy
Marina Bay, Singapore
Suzuka, Japan
Interlagos, Brazil
Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

On top of that, the German and Japanese rounds are being rotated between two other circuits which aren’t hosting Grands Prix year, but will be on the 2010 F1 calendar.

These are the Hockenheimring, which was substantially re-designed by Tilke in 2002, and Fuji Speedway, which has also had a complete Tilke overhaul.

Culprit or scapegoat?

Tilke gets a hard time from a lot of F1 fans. His designs are derided for being unimaginative, with too many slow corners.

I think Tilke gets a bad press. As this Youtube video posted by Gabal on the forum shows, he is more of a petrol head than people give him credit for:

It’s hard to match the idea of Hermann Tilke grinning through hot laps of the Nordschleife in a Lamborghini with the man who gave us horrible Mickey Mouse bends like the final sector at Fuji Speedway. So what’s the problem?

As I’ve said before I think the regulations are partly to blame. Why should the world’s most technologically sophisticated racing cars be prevented from tackling no more than ten degrees of gradient?

I also think the safety demands placed on modern circuits saps them of their power to impress us. This is not an argument for making tracks less safe, but I think it shows why the first turn at Shanghai doesn’t impress us the same way Eau Rouge or Blanchimont does. (Also, it helps that corners on old tracks usually have proper names).

Motorland Aragon – his finest work?

Motorland Aragon

Ironically, one of Tilke’s most promising tracks may never be used for an F1 race. Motorland Aragon in Spain includes the closest thing you can get to Laguna Seca’s fabled Corkscrew on an F1-ready track.

But with Spain already holding two Grands Prix at Catalunya and Valencia, its chances of getting on the calendar look slim. This is a great pity, as it looks like one of Tilke’s best efforts, and includes a dramatic pit building designed by Sir Norman Foster, the man behind the McLaren Technology Centre and many other exceptional pieces of architecture.

Although I’m not sure Tilke deserves all the criticism he gets, equally I’d like to see more variety in F1 track design. For example, given enough run-off space, why couldn’t F1 have high-speed circuits like the Monzas, Silverstones and Osterreichrings of old?

Do you think the Tilke track monopoly is good or bad for F1? Would Tilke produce better tracks if the rules were freer? Have your say in the comments.

Images (C) BMW ag, Red Bull / GEPA

The Craner Curves at Donington Park

Simon Gillett was looking slightly the worse for wear when I met him at Autosport International this morning. He had a reason to be, as he celebrated Donington Park winning approval for its development work in order to hold the 2010 British Grand Prix.

Nevertheless he was happy toi spend a half hour answering questions from journalists – plus myself armed with some of your queries. Here’s what he had to say about how the track will change, how it’s being paid for – and how that controversial park and ride system will work.

Construction

“We’ve already started – we began about two weeks ago on the expectation that we would get planning permission. We have the tunnels bored through so there’s a big hole in the circuit at the moment. That will be completed by February 20th so we can re-open the track. And we start work on the pits and paddock on Monday morning.

“It’s full steam ahead now. We expect to have all the construction work completed by the end of this year, giving us plenty of time to try it all out and make sure everything works before the Grand Prix rolls into town.

“We always knew how long we had to build it and the buildings we’ve designed we should be able to construct in that time frame.

“From Redgate corner to McLeans is being left untouched – we’re not even re-surfacing that part of the track. It’s wide enough, the run-offs are big enough and it’s fantastically good so I’m not going to touch it.

“One of the main elements of Donington Park’s character is that from Hollywood all the way down to Schwanz you’ve got a grass bank for spectators, which is staying. It’s where I go to watch the racing from. If you’re on the outside of Old Hairpin you can just about see them coming out of Redgate, then down Craners, all the way up to McLeans and then you’ll just lose them at Coppice behind the new pit and paddock. Then they’ll reappear coming into the new half-mile loop, back up onto the current start stretch. You can see about two miles of the track.

“We’re retaining the club circuit and the changes should enable more club racing to happen. We have the ability to divide the circuit into two, plus the existing versions of the circuit, and we’ll be able to retain all the bike racing.

“We’re going to be shifting quite a few thousand tonnes of earth – but the great thing is we need that dirt to build the pit and paddock area and make it level.”

2010 Donington Park F1 circuit (click to enlarge)

Raising money

“We’re presenting our funding package in March. We’ll be using a debenture scheme and we’re a long way along with the process for that.

“All I’m doing here is copying what other sports around the world have done. As I’ve said you can’t drive to Twickenham and you can’t drive to Wembley. And how did Wembley and Twickenham raise their money? Debenture schemes. It’s not rocket science. But Formula 1 and motor sport can be so dyed in wool that people think what happens is you put on a race and spectators turn up and pay for it and that’s the only way to raise money. But we’re basically following every other sport. Horse racing at Ascot has a debenture scheme, it’s commonplace everywhere, it’s tried and tested.

“Taking Wembley, for example, you pay an upfront fee and an annual sum to be a member. That gives you a range of offers that not everyone else gets. For us that will be access to the the clubhouse, behind the scenes entry to the races, they can have their own track days and things like that. We’ll be offering around 6,000 of them.

“In terms of making it financially viable we’re not focussed just on the Grand Prix. For example, take the media centre. Typically if you build one of these it’s a square box with hangers for TV screens. But what we’re doing is building a 500-seat stepped auditorium so that when the press isn’t there for the other 360 days of the year I’ve got a space I can offer for sales conferences, product launches, that kind of thing. Spending £8m building a media centre that can’t be used for any other purpose would just be throwing money down the toilet.

“You may have noticed I’ve not said an awful lot until the press until now. That’s because we’ve been thinking about delivery. I’m talking now because I’ve delivered something. I’ll go back into my little box now and you’ll hear from me at the end of March when I say ‘here’s the debenture scheme, here’s what it’s going to cost, here’s what you get’ and then I’ll get back on with delivering again.

“We’ll start ticket sales once we get the date for the race from Bernie Ecclestone. We’ll allow people to look at the what the view will be like from the stand they book – that’s something that was pioneered by Wembley when they built their new stadium.”

Working with the airport

“If someone were to put up a 300ft pole, that would cause a problem with aeroplanes coming in to land. Normal TV transmissions isn’t a problem. We run Motor GP quite happily. There was one problem at the last Moto GP race – a lighting rig had been assembled in the wrong place, and the airport had to shorten its runway until it was moved. It was a screw-up. We had a similar problem a year ago with a fairground ride that was in the wrong place, so we have a plan showing how tall constructions may be within that flight corridor.

“We’ve got a good relationship with the airport and we’re looking to give them a commercial benefit, although we can’t quantify exactly how much yet.

“The story about planes dropping fuel on the track isn’t true. I always say to people they can come and pour water on the track and see if it turns purple. Would we get an FIM licence to hold bike races if every time it rained you could see oil on the track? No.”

Park and ride

“Park and ride, park and walk, park and cycle – we’ll have cycle paths from the car parks to the track. Apart from just being good sense – no other sport allows 90,000 people to drive up to the front door – it’s environmentally responsible. At the moment we’re a business the burns hydrocarbons for fun. There’s a finite amount of time we can sit there with our fingers in our ears saying ‘this doesn’t matters to us’.

“My intention would be to have all the spectators to arrive via some form of public transportation. The reality is, obviously, disabled visitors will be able to drive to the track and we’ll make sure campers can too. The car parks we’re not using we will turn into camp sites, bringing all the camping on-site, taking all those people out of the traffic problem straight away. They will be coming on-site, but it they won’t all be arriving at 7-11am on Sunday morning and leaving at 5 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.

“People will be able to get a bus from the track to the station in about 15 minutes, and then be in London in two hours. And in year one some people will complain a lot and in year two people will complain a little bit less and by year three they’ll have gotten used to it and they’ll probably say ‘it’s quite nice actually, we can have a drink on the train, have a drink at the circuit, enjoy myself and then go home.’

“Die-hards I’m sure will complain and say they’re not coming if they can’t rev their car in the car park but I think that percentage that won’t turn up will be more than offset by people who are attracted by the idea of not having to sit in a car park for four hours.

“We’ll look at improving the local roads later on. But the thing is, we’ve got a race in 18 months and with planning and highways submissions, compulsory purchase orders, road widening and everything else… it might be ready for 2020. So it can’t form part of our plan. Yes, we’ll always look to improve the road network around us. But for those people who think ‘I’ll just be lazy and drive to the track’, I want it to be quite difficult for them to get in by car.”

Three priorities

“When I first came to the idea of getting a track I didn’t turn to any other circuit to find out how to run one. I turned to horse racing, rugby and football. These are sports that have been out there, forging ahead, adopting new business models.

“People asked me ‘how did you get to the point of buying a circuit?’ and it happened because I was fed up with the treatment I got as a motor sport spectator. When I spoke to Tom Wheatcroft originally it wasn’t about money – though of course that was a consideration – the thing that made a difference to Tom was when he said ‘what makes you different from all the other people offering me money from the track?’ I said I had three priorities: security, food and toilets. They’re the three elements that ensure people have a good day.

“Why is it that you turn up at an event and the first person you see is someone who doesn’t want you to get in? It’s ridiculous. Look at what Asda have done introducing greeters at the front of their stores. It’s not ‘I don’t want you in’, it’s ‘I want you in – with the right ticket’.

“For food – gone are the polystyrene tubs with the polystyrene burgers in them. People still want burgers, but what’s wrong with a ciabatta with a 100% beef burger in it?

“And the toilets. There will be no blue plastic toilets. We’re putting in eight permanent toilet blocks and more under the suites.

“You have to get the basics right and allow people to get in and out easily.”

More on Donington Park 2010

• More pictures of Donington Park 2010
• F1 cars will hit 298kph in Craner Curves at the new Donington Park in 2010
• British Grand Prix switches to Donington Park from 2010. Really …

I’ll be speaking to circuit owner Simon Gillett at the Autosport show tomorrow, so if you have any questions for him please leave them below.

Press release

His excitement at the positive news was mirrored by Donington Park landowner Tom Wheatcroft: “I’m delighted to see that the plans have been accepted – there is a lot of work ahead now for everyone and I am looking forward enthusiastically to 2010 and the arrival of the British F1 Grand Prix,”.

Read more

• Donington: time to stop the cynicism?
• More pictures of Donington Park 2010