British Grand Prix 2010, Donington Park

[Bravo73]

Here's one for the panel:

What with the BGP being held at Donington Park from 2010 onwards and the close proximity of East Mids airport, do you think that biz jets and even Easyjet etc are going to replace either a)some or b)all of the current demand for helicopters at the BGP, Silverstone?

[Daifly]

I was discussing this very subject with a friend of mine yesterday.

1. Wil Donnington really be ready to host a race in two years' time from its current infrastructure? That's one hell of a lot of work to complete and I just don't think it's achievable, or affordable - a lot of investment for not the largest return in the world. There are massive fundamental problems with the site, the biggest of which is access, yes the M1 is big enough, but once off that it turns into gridlock.

2. The majority of the weekend's income to F1 and the circuit comes from corporate hospitality (remember the good old days of the Silverstone heliport and remember the numbers there at £1k a head) - it's companies digging into their coffers more than individuals digging into their pockets. By moving the race oop north you immediately cut off a vast proportion of the London-based market. The benefit of heli'ing into Silverstone is that you're only an hour from London and then a quick flight over the hedges, at Donnington you're going to be about 2.5 hours (if not more) from London to drive to the feeder site - any less than that and the cost of the heli rises significantly which makes it more difficult for the operators to sell again. Without causing a massive north/south divide, there is more business from the London end rather than Scotland and the midland cities. In these "credit crunch" days, are companies going to increase what they spend to get people in from the south? I have heard that everyone is forecasting a poor heli year at Silverstone anyway because of marketing budget slashes.

3. I can't think that people are going to charter airliners to get into EMA to avoid the queues, so whilst EZY/BMI will benefit from having more passengers flying closer, they're unlikely to pick up the helicopter trade.

4. Bizjets? Yes, they might benefit. You could rock up at Farnborough, champagne reception and get into your BMI Embraer with 40 other wannabees and fly in. But then you have to get in a bus and arrive with the rest of the plebs without making the grand entrance into the back of the pits a la Silverstone!

5. Helis will still have a role, provided they don't interfere with finals at EMA!, people will always want to arrive at the GP in a helicopter as they are so inextricably linked. But I doubt it will be anything like Silverstone.

6. It's not an issue for Bernie, he has a helicopter paid for him...

All in all, I'm disappointed with the move. I think Silverstone has been shafted by Bernie; he's made continual demands on them which they've addressed within their (small) budget, but then the moment they do he wants more. I know F1 is a business and he's got to report these days to his shareholders, but the speed at which, following the end of the Concorde agreement, he jumped isn't fair. But then I suppose "fair" rarely comes into multi-million pound businesses.

Whilst Bernie can be hard, he also can be funny. This from yesterday's BBC website commentary:

1157: A rather amusing exchange between BBC Radio 5 Live's Holly Samos and Bernie Ecclestone sent in from our man Andrew Benson at Silverstone...
Holly: "There has been an announcement that the British Grand Prix is moving to Donington."
Ecclestone: "Has there?"
Holly: "Yes, in the media centre. What do you think?"
Ecclestone: "The media centre's a good place to make an announcement."

:D

[moggiee]

All in all, I'm disappointed with the move. I think Silverstone has been shafted by Bernie; he's made continual demands on them which they've addressed within their (small) budget, but then the moment they do he wants more. I know F1 is a business and he's got to report these days to his shareholders, but the speed at which, following the end of the Concorde agreement, he jumped isn't fair. But then I suppose "fair" rarely comes into multi-million pound businesses.

The general feeling amongst the F1 team on radio 5 was that Silverstone and the BRDC had been given plenty of "last chances" - but that their small town, small club attitude had stopped them getting the job done.

They also reckon that Bernie is behind the money for Donnington.