British GP saved?

Great news, well almost, according to all major sources (am I about to break into song there?), a company called Brand Synergy has submitted a major proposal to the BRDC and already agreed with Bernie Ecclestone that they will sign a seven year deal to operate and promote the British GP.

Check out the news story at ITV’s F1 site where Nigel Mansell, who is on the consortium, and the BRDC have very guarded comments but Kim Cockburn the CEO is much more open and vocal.

I really do hope this is true but I have grave concerns about how they expect to compete with the new tracks on offer around the world. The new tracks are in rich countries with huge backing and sponsorship from companies and Government combined. They offer state of the art facilities and tracks designed for modern cars. Whereas Silverstone is a converted airport which just recently had it’s car parks converted from muddy fields!

I think Silverstone will have a lot of competition to stay on the race calendar in the coming years, especially against the likes of Bahrain, China and Turkey with promised circuits of Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Egypt. A lot of these are bringing with them new audiences and sponsorship, attractive potential revenue.

How can we compete in Britain without any Government sponsorship, no tobacco advertising (which there seems no plans for F1 to drop) and a lack of serious facilities.

My biggest fear is that the admission prices are raised. Consider the fact that the cheapest GP to go to for a British person is currently Spain, and Britain is not the second cheapest.

We can only hope that this offer brings with it the drive, and the funding, to make update the circuit and boost the surrounding area without the ticket hike.

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