oh dear

[Craig.]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68828

thats a shame, personally I think if people think silverstone is bad, they are in for a huge reality check when they pull up in the east midlands.
They say there will be a developement, but lets see how long it takes considering theres a stonking big airport parked next door.
Going to be a nightmare for both businesses come race day.

[todayshorse]

Interesting news! I didnt go the euro GP in 1993 but i have seen F1 cars run there, but Silverstone does seem to have better access and so on. Seems Bernie has finaly got his wish to dump silverstone...

[C]

Well, I'm sure Donington Park will have a very very quiet calendar next year (whilst the building work is done!). I can see the sense in the decision too - Silverstone appears to be run very much by (dithering) committee, whereas Donington has been very much headed up by the great Tom Wheatcroft - a great enthusiast, mentor and businessman in one. For him this much be the absolute pinnacle of his dream of Donington Park. Not only that, Donington has excellent transport links (right next to a major hub of the M1, cities such as Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, and with a stonking great airport next door)

Silverstone can't say they didn't have it coming - or indeed have a warning. Had it not been for Sevenoaks council, they would have lost the race to Brands Hatch a decade ago.

As for the "oh dear" comment, lets see how they do first. For the spectator I think this is an excellent move.

[HawkerTempest5]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68828

thats a shame, personally I think if people think silverstone is bad, they are in for a huge reality check when they pull up in the east midlands.
They say there will be a developement, but lets see how long it takes considering theres a stonking big airport parked next door.
Going to be a nightmare for both businesses come race day.

Don't disrespect the East Midlands until you've come and lived here! I used to work a stones throw from Donington Park and in all the years of working and travelling there when there was a huge Moto GP event on, I never had any real problems getting in and out of the area.
The only problem is the single carriage way A453 Nottingham to Donington road. It is closed every single day of the year due to a major RTA near the power station!

[Craig.]

Sorry Hawker, but when it comes to road systems, Silverstone now has Donnington beat by a mile. If they improve it then fine but I think there will be a lot of problems for the first few years. And as someone pointed out quite rightly on the autosport forums. A large portion of traffic related to Motogp fans, is bike based.

I personally dont find Donnington that exciting a track either, and for those who think it'll be the track they have for the GP, I think a lot of people will again be upset, as numerous times they have said the track will undergo changes with our favourate Tilkke at the helm.

I like Silverstone these days, the fact cars have so much downforce mean it has now just 3 proper breaking zones, it's alot of high speed action which shows off what an F1 car can do, and thats change direction faster than any other car. Turn 1 is now considered a tougher challenge than Eau Rouge, copse, maggots and beckets are legendary and Bridge is still one of those corners that if you blink you'll miss it.

The only plus side I see is, that the Museum should get a massive upgrade which would be brilliant.

[eno]

Craig is right about the transport problems associated with Donnington. Having been to a couple of motoring events there in the last couple of years and at the last one, taking nearly two hours just to get out of the car park, never mind the queues to get in. It might be right next to an airport ..... and close to the M1 but the roads linking it to both are narrow and blocked easily.... at the last event I went to the traffic caused major delays at the airport ..... and that was on a Sunday.

It's fantastic news for Donnington .... but there need to be major improvements to both the car parking and the road links.

[C]

It's fantastic news for Donnington .... but there need to be major improvements to both the car parking and the road links.

Aye, but the potential is there though, and maybe with the greater availability of other modes of transport, more lateral thinking may be involved (having seen a major airshow in the US recently where there was [b]no[/i] parking on site!

However, there is a little cynical side of me that says we'll end up with a last minute "it's not good enough", followed by a hasty relocation to you-know-where!

As for the proposed 2003 Tilkerisation:

http://theracingline.net/racingcircuits/racingcircuits/UnitedKingdom/England/Donington%202003.gif

Not bad.

[MWISimmer]

Donington needs a LOT of work to bring it up to F1 standards.. it couldn't handle the Renault World Series last year, at least twice the amount of people who attended that will (potentially) attend the GP.
Having been to Silverstone twice in the past few weeks there really is a world of difference between the two, Silverstone has the crowd capacity, facilities and access whereas Doningotn has none of these at present, especially the access.

I just hope they can upgrade in time...

[C]

Donington needs a LOT of work to bring it up to F1 standards.. it couldn't handle the Renault World Series last year, at least twice the amount of people who attended that will (potentially) attend the GP.
Having been to Silverstone twice in the past few weeks there really is a world of difference between the two, Silverstone has the crowd capacity, facilities and access whereas Doningotn has none of these at present, especially the access.

I just hope they can upgrade in time...

I suspect they may be having a quiet programme next year...

[C]

This week's Autosport is worth a read. Shows the basic plan for the new track (relocation of start finish; new infield section at Goddards (the current final turn)). Apparently the current track and run offs do meet the FIA criteria dimensionally, so new tarmac run off areas need installing. Also the circuit will run next year, with the new pits being built in the infield, and all track work being completed in the closed season of 2008/9 and 2009/10.

As for traffic, as they say themselves, its the gates that cause the queues, so they appear to have "Park and ride" in mind.

[Mushroom_Farmer]

So there will be no motorcycles there for quite a spell? Poo!