Donington planning delayed!

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Originally Posted by Knock-on

Sorry, Freudian slip. I get mixed up these days with which one is the Punch puppet and which one inserts his hand.

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Must be the age! :p :

Apparently, the road access issues aren't going to be a problem....because everyone's coming by bus...

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/ne...l/article.html


If they can pull this off it'll be a miracle....

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Fans could travel by bus from Nottingham, Leicester or Derby, take the train to East Midlands Parkway Station or fly to East Midlands Airport

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Don't see it somehow :dozey:

Me neither- I can just imagine the way this is going to play out- for about a fortnight after the GP every F1 forum and the letters page of Autosport will be full of comments from people who parked their cars in Nottingham or Derby at the crack of dawn, and eventually got into Donington somewhere around Lap 45 of the race because the buses were late.....

...and what odds will you give me that shortly before the race Network Rail announce major Sunday engineering works somewhere crucial on the rail route to East Mids Parkway....?

Oh this gets better and better...

I have an idea, why not host the Grand Prix at a venue which has a dual carriageway right to the front gates, oh I don't know, somewhere like, Silverstone?!

I've never been to a Formula 1 race before, and I'm certainly not going to be going now! Unless I get to Silverstone next year!

Bernie hasn't just bought a bus company has he....? LOL

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Originally Posted by wedge

Well, Bernie's business model is now showing cracks. Silverstone is your average GP venue and healthily attended, China's GP is heavily funded and struggles with attendance have already realised its an unsustainable business model.

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With due respect, all big businesses, when setting up new branches or setting up in new regions, don't expect to make money for first few years.

I work for a company, and we're expanding into a new european market every year as part of our growth, and the business plan doesn't show any profit margins targetted until the 4th year.

Sure, China been there 5 years, but its much bigger than any European economy, so obviously will take a while.

I'm sure when F1 first started in most economies, it took a while to develop into a money making success.

We can't expect 1 F1 race a year, for 5 years to make it into a huge sporting event.

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Originally Posted by Mark

Could it be that the Grand prix in Silverstone receives no goverment help unlike some other countries?

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Does Monza and other European tracks get government funding? I wasn't under the understanding that Monza, Spain, France etc all get public funding.

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Originally Posted by PolePosition_1

With due respect, all big businesses, when setting up new branches or setting up in new regions, don't expect to make money for first few years.

I work for a company, and we're expanding into a new european market every year as part of our growth, and the business plan doesn't show any profit margins targetted until the 4th year.

Sure, China been there 5 years, but its much bigger than any European economy, so obviously will take a while.

I'm sure when F1 first started in most economies, it took a while to develop into a money making success.

We can't expect 1 F1 race a year, for 5 years to make it into a huge sporting event.

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If European circuit owners/promoters struggle with making a huge profit with Grand Prixs then surely so would China. Perhaps a new business model is needed for CVC because at this rate we'll be seeing Bernie dealing with African dictators to hold an F1 race!

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Originally Posted by PolePosition_1

Does Monza and other European tracks get government funding? I wasn't under the understanding that Monza, Spain, France etc all get public funding.

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There has been government funding of the Monza pit-lane rebuild back in 2001, while the Monza Royal Park is owned by the Lombardy council.

Magny Cours was hand-picked by the French Government to be the site of the French GP on the basis that Nevers is in the middle of nowhere and they wanted to do something to promote the region.

Spain's circuits are supported heavily by the local councils.