johnfelstead

Rejoice.

Nicola Foulston has resigned from brands hatch leisure.

Maybe we can now have some common sense in the brands v silverstone F1 fiasco.

Lets hope the new board put some money into the other BHL circuits like Oulton, which is a disgrace to paying spectators.

ChrisB

Interesting, didn't she inherit control or something? I could be wrong though.

Great threats of her's to take the British GP overseas.

Chris.

Devils Advocate

Does this mean that we are subject to more boring GP's at the airfield which is a sorry excuse for a grand prix circuit ?

I Hope that this isn't the final nail in the coffin for Brands!!

Grubby

Great News! Maybe we can now expect future Grands Prix to remain at Silverstone - the only circuit capable of managing these events well. Brands would take years to prepare, and even then would still be hard to reach for many people.

spence

Does rather go aginst all the claptrap she was reported as saying when she sold off the group though. Typical PR crap as usual.

Devils Advocate

The name Silverstone and the phrase "the only circuit capable of managing these events well" are mutually exclusive!!

I remember seeing many Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in the eighties, where larger crowds had absolutely no problems getting in or out of the place comparatively speaking, I certainly can't say the same for Silverstone (Friends have queued for 5 hours just to exit car parks).

The drivers love the circuit, the crowds loved the circuit, it was only greedy Mr Ecclestone who signed up to successive exclusive deals rather than the alternating arrangement. The fact that the Eurpoean Grand Prix seems to be permanently rooted in Germany is testimony to his greed (money talks).

Admittedly Brands would need extensive work to comply with the safety conscious age we are in, but that is by no means beyond the realms of possibility.

The Silverstone circuit has been extensively modified to make it more interesting, but I believe that by doing so, it has also been made less exiting i.e. speed was it's only saving grace and now even that has gone.

A nice afternoon's entertainment if you like helicopter spotting but that's about it !

johnfelstead

Youve just hit the nail on the head as to why brands won't be used for a GP.

There isnt the capacity in the local airways for the helecopters to land due to the exhisting london airports.

There is still no planning permision to demolish the ancient woodlands required, and i cant see that happening in the new environmentally friendly times we live in.

Grubby

OK Devils Advocate, I take your point about getting out of the car park, but there are several exits at which you can queue and exchange views!

Having been to many GPs at Silverstone I think it has a few things in its' favour, apart from helicopter space:

Tons more parking than BH.
Loads more grandstands and viewing areas.
More central than BH easier to reach for the majority.
Huge run off areas (I doubt BH would be considered 'safe' enough as-is).
Able to put on good air display to waiting crowds.
Excellent pits and other facilities.
Wide track.

I admit I enjoy spectating at BH because you can see more of the track, but I wouldn't go there for a GP.

Oh, did I forget to mention - Silverstone is less than 10 minutes from home for me - no queueing, no parking problems! Sorry!

spence

Bearing in mins that Brands is easier to get in and out of I think the volume of helicopters would decrease anyway. When the refurbish the bits that need to be done they could alow for that any way. Brands is a much better circuit for the spectator... a much more personal experience. Just look at the World Super Bike last year, 120.000... only 90,000 at the F1 GP. I reckon the gate would go through the roof if they moved it to Brands.

Grubby

Let's put some of this into perspective:

You cannot compare F1 popularity in the 80s with F1 in the nineties, nor can you compare the popularity of BH by the attendance at Superbike events! Things are different now, for instance, if entry to Superbikes cost best part of a hundred quid just to get through the gate do you still reckon 120,000 would turn up? I think not. Also, going to F1 in the 80's was a better experience than it is today, you had more freedom to move around the circuit, get closer or even into the pits, you could stand much closer to the action, it was better value. I don't think that a Brands GP in the current millenium would ever have the same atmosphere as it did back then (which is a great shame I must add), safety regs rule OK nowadays.

I'm afraid that air display rules have changed significantly also, so whereas in the past BH could do it well, now its' smaller footprint would be a hinderance!

VIP passes are excellent if you can get them, but failing that do what I do - live nearby, use a private road and car park! Home in 10 minutes every time! Not many places left on my guest list though . . . any offers?

TonyB

I'm old enough to have seen a few GPs at Brands, and they were brilliant for all the usual Brands Hatch reasons, notably the Natural Amphi-theatre it provides, around the Indy circuit section at least.

However, the changes required for future GPs will change the circuit almost beyond recognition. I've seen the outline plans (At a Bike track-day late last year) Unfortunately i didn't keep a copy, but they were also published in MCN, and someone might still have a copy.

The biggest change was a move of the pits complex to an area where the current GP circuit leaves the Indy Circuit and goes off into the woods. That straight, and most of the rest of the GP Circuit is completely re-routed and widened, with tight chicanes slowing the cars down before the (previously) superfast corners. It looked fine by GP Circuit Standards, but not Brands Hatch as we know and love it!

Devils Advocate

I don't quite follow you reasoning there:

Tons more parking than BH - parking was never a problem at Brands, even with 150,000 crowds on Race days (far more than we see at Silverstone)

Loads more grandstands and viewing areas - Viewing areas of what? a small stretch of track, the natural bowl at Brands give far superior viewing round the Indy circuit (not the full circuit admittedly, but at leat 1.2 miles worth

More central than BH easier to reach for the majority - If this is much easier to reach for the majority then why are so few people going to Silverstone, Brands is certainly better positioned for the majority (population of motor sports enthusiasts wise, 80's GP's prove this)

Able to put on good air display to waiting crowds - Esqueeze me, baking powder... I remember seeing plenty of good air displays at Brands including Red Arrows, and better concentrated due to the smaller footprint, Kent airspace is as good as anyones !!

Excellent pits and other facilities.
Wide track - Admittedly the Pits are in need of refurbishment / relocation, this was in the Foulston plan!

I would say that if parking isn't a problem, then we should all come round to your place come GP weekend , but I have found an even better secret weapon, "The VIP parking pass", I didn't encounter a single traffic queue either on the way up/in or out/down last year, what a shame the enthusiastic masses have to suffer so!

The plaintiff's case rests m'lud...

Nicola Foulston was right all along, you can take the British Grand Prix anywhere, cos all the helicopters can get there in any case!

[This message has been edited by Devils Advocate (edited 13-01-2000).]

johnfelstead

See below, told you so, nah nah na nah nah.

British GP could remain at Silverstone - 24-Jan-2000

The British Racing Drivers' Club is said to be close to completing a deal to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
According to British newspaper, The Independent, the company which now owns Brands Hatch Leisure, Interpublic, is interested in renting the Northamptonshire circuit for three weeks a year - and hosting the event there.

Last year, Brands Hatch Leisure signed a deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to host the Grand Prix from 2002.

However, it is thought that Octagon - the sports marketing branch of Interpublic which owns the venue - would like to avoid a fight with Kent council to get planning permission for £40 million worth of renovations to the circuit.

Denys Rohan, managing director of Silverstone, reportedly told the newspaper: 'Silverstone as a venue for the British Grand Prix makes 1,000 per cent more sense than trying to stage it at Brands Hatch.

'To stage it at Brands Hatch and spend £40m in the process has to be a nonsense.'


The above is an extract from autosport online.

cheers

john

Devils Advocate

Black arm-band at the ready !

Grubby

Good News! Sense at last! Now I don't need to move house!

[This message has been edited by Grubby (edited 24-01-2000).]