Okay, I know it's a different venue. But I just watched a FIM motorbike race from Donnington, just to see the track. WTF? Is that the course Bernie wants to run F1 cars on? It'd be a parade. There's barely room for two cars across on the grid, much less at corners. Seriously: Is that the same track? They're leaving Silverstone for that?
Its a superb motorcycle track, designed from the get go for that purpose. Not only Fi loses from Bernies mindless struggle to feed the CVC monster. Incidentally Max could've stopped the over leveraged sale of those rights back then if he'd really been the sport's custodian he sells himself as.
It is a great track - went to the group C races when the 7l V12 Jags were battling the Mercs But I don't think its ideal for todays F1
I believe they are planning major changes for F1 and that the money hasn't arrived to finish the project. England might lose F1 since Bernie won't go back to Silverstone. If Donnington isn't finished they'll go elsewhere.
The map is here - its quite different particularly just before the current finish http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/09/05/2010-donington-park-f1-track-revealed/
I looked to and it certainly doesn't seem to be a step up from Silverstone yet. All that grass should be fun if it rains... CH
They have major modifications planned in the track layout. The big improvement from Silverstone would be in the infrastructure for the teams and fans. Nobody ever challenged Silverstone's track, but its aging and out of step infra. Donington has a museum nearby with one of the biggest F1 collections in the world (if not the biggest with about 100 F1 cars). That alone would be reason enough for me to look forward to a GP at this venue. However the reality is, that we haven't heard much about progress in the construction and this all might be just another pipe dream and an excuse for Bernie to host the "British" GP in Swaziland.
According to the link Jimmie posted, above, Donnington has access issues that the current plans haven't addressed. And even the new track map plans look like a narrow track with few overtaking options. It looked pretty good for motorbikes, and it might be a bit of fun "in a reasonably priced car", but I can't see unleashing supercars on it.
For overtaking there should be new place into the main straight, at the end of it and at the tight bend on the infield loop According to the planning agreement (which is now signed off) I believe access for the fans is by train & bus......
Not forgetting all the current talk, Silverstone will be back. I think BE has come to admit Donnington aint happening and the money needs to be made, so Silverstone will have a repreive, what I do hope is that the BRDC gets their snobby heads out of their snobby A@@'s and see's what they need to do. History and talk can only get one so far. Surely someone somewhere can invest and do what needs doing at Silverstone, IMHO, 2c etc. Tim
Yes it has. Like all British tracks. Silverstone is still a royal pain and so is Brands Hatch. Sadly I speak from personal experience... Read an update on Donington: Apparently all the permits and money issues have been sorted and construction will start in August. So there is hope.
How long ago? I'm inclined to agree, but the Queen spent a *lot* of money improving access to S/S a while back - Does it still suck? [BTW, I spent a lot of time there, and it blew the big one from an access perspective. ["If I ever go again, it's via chopper" was my conclusion - FWIW] OTOH, Donington is talking about "buses" - WTF? - 100-200K people, in the rain - That'll work real well. I *love* Brands. Great circuit and the M25 (+M2, M3, M4 are all close) - They all *suck* in "American" terms, but that's another tale..... To get in to Brands you had to "traverse" a *tiny* (by US standards) "Scratchers Lane". Ferrari's wonderful new transporter got all scratched up - They were pissed! Bring back Brands! Cheers, Ian
I know they poured a bunch of money into a new highway leading to the town. That's the good news. So we weren't really stuck on the highway, but once we tried to exit: It still only has basically one entry point and it is through the village, which makes for an endless crawl. Then onto the grassy fields for parking. It took forever and was a nightmare. And that was on Saturday... So yes, if I ever would go back to Silverstone, it'd be only by helicopter. True, Donington wants to use buses and that will be a nightmare too. Same is true for Brands Hatch (we bused). True dat. But I'm still fairly optimistic they'll make the deadline. The track will be of course brand new and slippery and everybody will complain, but so what.
There's your first mistake! Never, ever, try and leave S/S on Sunday evening....... That's the problem I thought the Queen fixed - I thought you can now get thrown out over by Stowe and "hit the highway" (?) I used to *dream* of grassy fields!...... It was (generally) a mud field when we were there!...... +1 +1 I like it when these guys "struggle" a little....... Nobody said it should be easy (or affordable......) Cheers, Ian
+1 I would even go as far as to extend the affordable part to the fans. I know this sounds snobbish, but I'm ok with F1 GPs coming at a premium.
Pasted Silverstone today...ahh my car was pulling itself towards the track.. and then past Prodrives place down the road looked busy.
I went to the Friday practice of the Superbike race, the track is very small and I was very surprised to see its condition. Currently where the new turn and facilities are there is a dirt-bike track that has been torn up. There are no grandstands around the current track other than a small one on the current main straight and two temporary ones. I dont see how they could build everything in less than a year. However access to the track may not be that bad, granted there wasn't 100,000+ people at the Superbike race but the track is about a mile away from the M1(Highway). And east midlands airport is pretty much touching the track.
