I'm with Desmoboy, Brands would be fantastic, it has everything. Logistically Donington makes sense but christ it's a toilet and not great on atmosphere and Silverstone is dull to view As for Wales, one slight problem unfortunately ... it'll never get built, or at least by the time if it does get built Dorna will have sued them for breach of contract for failing to provide on time. Wanna bet?
The Circuit of Wales owners are contractually obliged to put a race on for the next 5 years now. If their circuit is not built on time, then they will have to pay either Donington or Silverstone to host the event. Imagine how much that might cost them. Brands isn't safe for Motogp racing and would never get clearance in its current format.
Someone wants to build something of interest to sporting motorcyclists and car drivers and it's being received poorly. Why not aim for a facility that exceeds the others in the uk has elevation changes that challenges riders, includes infrastructure to enrich the local community, is in an area that cill benefit from increased visitors and is on the doorstep of some of the most awe inspiring geography in Europe? lol, because we have flat silverstone and scruffy (read builders yard) Donnington? Why poo poo another facility? It's a commercial enterprise with public assisted funding, a way of recouping some of the billions we give to the united states of europe some could say. Anglesey circuit was funded with euro money and hase been a success (would be far more successful if MSV let BSB go there of course). So people, why not support it, revel in the realisation that better facilities will increase the competition in the uk and pay dividends in our enjoyment of motorcycle sport. Merthyr is not near me, but I will visit the track, spend money there, use hotels in the area, buy beer and food and fuel. And be proud that the UK can provide somewhere for others to look on with envy. Get behind it, be a Brit, do it our way - the British way and win.
I think much of the cynicism comes from the memories of the Donington F1 effort. They already had a circuit and a contract to host the biggest sports event in the country....but still failed miserably. There are some great ideas here but without the full amount of funding or the local infrastructure to support it, it wont even get off the ground. You have to have a big sense of realism when talking about funding a £300+ million project. How will 80,000 people find somewhere to sleep? Silverstone struggles with this now, so how would an area with hardly any facilities manage? Again Silverstone struggles with the traffic so how will a small area of Wales cope with 80,000 people converging on a race circuit with no major roads feeding the area?
My cynicism and objection comes from the fact that in today's economic climate there are far better causes, such as education and health care, to spend public money on rather than a folly in the arse end of nowhere.
FCC did all of the rebuilding works at Jerez a few years ago and are one of the largest principal contractors in europe, i think they have a vague idea what they are doing... 18 months is easily enough time to build a circuit and facilities ready for a race, the entire development including all of the industrial units may take a bit longer but as a Civil Engineer i see no reason from a construction programme point of view as to why the circuit could not be ready for a race in 2016. That as may be but if FCC use local workers they are on to a loser. The Welsh builder we've had at our place has taken over a month to lay a 5 mtr long path.
My two penny worth? Bring it on. We could end up with a top quality track in mid wales. What's wrong with that? About 45 mins off the M5? 25 mins off the end of the M50? Not exactly in the middle of nowhere?
Don't forget M4 it's not far from there and I believe it's dual carriage way to the track The heads of the valley road is now a much nicer run Couple of roundabouts for a few knee downs on the way up It's doable as all the other circuits It will be nice not to travel 3/4 hours to a racetrack Bring it on Also it's so deprived it needs a big massive injection of life into the area The big asda at the top of the heads served my area and many would and still do visit it's massive
not seen the plans but it should incorporate every aspect of motor and motorcycle sport. including motocross and trials. motocross being my thing. in fact screw wales they should build it in argyll.
the plans include a world championship grade mx track as well as a world championship grade karting track.
have we, as the majority uk tax payer got to throw loads of money at it ............only for them to start to bleat about wanting independence....
I have mentioned it myself and accept that its true but just exactly what is it about Brands that falls short of safety standards ? Whatever it is could be overcome surely. I remember watching World supers at Brands until recently and BSB every year. The world supers guys are not travelling much slower than Motogp and the crashes have for the most part not been worse than elsewhere.
I suspect the Clearways run off and Paddock Hill dip are the biggest issues. I remember James Whitham having a horrendous crash at Clearways in WSS and there are plenty of places where there is little run off.
It makes no difference to me where the money is coming from as I'm Welshist and would rather go overseas to watch a MotoGP race than go there. But I'm not going to start worrying about it yet as I don't think it will ever get off the ground.
