Donnington F1 a no go....

[Gaz Walker]

Donington Park's hopes of staging the British Grand Prix from 2010 look to be over after the operators' latest fund-raising attempts fell through.

 

Earlier this month, Donington launched a bond issue in an attempt to raise £135m, but that proved unsuccessful.

The track operators, Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, issued a statement on Friday confirming the bond had "failed to secure enough subscription."

 

Silverstone could step in to host the grand prix if offered a long-term deal.

 

The statement continued: "Donington Ventures Leisure Limited can confirm that a bond for £135 million to cover the cost of the F1 redevelopment at Donington Park has been unsuccessful.

 

"Despite higher than expected levels of interest and very positive early indications, the bond - which was launched with Citi Group last week - has failed to secure enough subscription ahead of today's deadline.

 

"The news dealt an unexpected blow to staff and management at the circuit, who still have a deadline of 12pm on Monday 26 October to remedy a breach of contract with Formula 1 Rights Holder Bernie Ecclestone, in order to keep any plans for retaining the existing 17-year Formula 1 contract alive.

 

"Information regarding the circuit's future plans is not yet available, however the major focus is on providing security for the Leicestershire venue and all related parties, including staff and suppliers."

 

Donington have previously missed several deadlines to provide financial guarantees.

 

In June, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said there would definitely be a British Grand Prix in 2012, and that it would be at Silverstone if Donington failed to come through.

 

But more recently he has backtracked and said it is not certain there will be a Grand Prix in Britain next year at all.

Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, the company that operates the track, has faced legal and planning problems since being given the rights to stage the race.

 

Chief executive Simon Gillett was initially given a deadline of the end of September to demonstrate the funding was in place to carry out the planned multi-million pound revamp of the circuit and its facilities. That deadline was extended by a few days until 3 October.

 

Motor racing at Donington ceased in September so work could begin to prepare the venue for next year's race.

Silverstone has hosted every British Grand Prix since 1987, while Donington, which is synonymous with MotoGP, has held only one F1 race, the European Grand Prix in 1993.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 300268.stm

[Arkwright]

I would love the British GP to be held at Donington however I just don't think the venue is practical or financially viable. Yes there is history; Yes it is slightly more central to the UK than Silverstone, Yes it has an airport next door and Yes it has 'easy' access to the M1. Having said that the M1 access is diabolical. On a weekday it's always busy, rush hour is a total mess and motor cycle days it's hell on earth. It would cost tens of millions to sort out decent vehicular access to the site to cater for one big race per year.

 

Silverstone has the infrastructure already in place. Road links are good and well managed parking is good and facilities are OK, they just aren't posh enough for the poison dwarfs rich friends. Money does need chucking at Silverstone to upgrade it but not the same quantities that Donington needs.

 

You have to look a lot deeper than the venue. If Donington goes ahead I predict that the M1 will be totally bunged up for 3 days at least with traffic going nowhere at all and the whole venture will be a total disaster. Of course it won't cost the poison dwarf anything but if you've forked out over £100 for a ticket you will be well pi**ed that you've sat in the UK's biggest traffic jam and missed the race.

[M13KYF]

a shame. I like the donnington track, but it would need to be widened all the way round for F1 otherwise its just too narrow for any overtaking