I googled it as I thought it was a joke, but it appears it could be one of these? :Wideyed: Not sure which one though :Angelic:
No! You attract new punters too! e.g. As I'm just down the road I will go to CoW all the time. That's money I wouldn't otherwise have spent going into the economy so more money is being spent. Similarly lots of my mates wouldn't travel to Brands Hatch or Knockhill but as CoW just up the road, of course they'll go. Bikers and Joe-public may also be swayed by a new prestigious event. People from overseas may come to a new world-class circuit, offering an interesting layout with height changes. Beter than flat-as-fuck Silverstone. Also Tourists who've been thinking about travel to Wales may now be swung into coming with an International event here. Trackdays, Experience days...all that shit....all if it will tempt people to spend money they otherwise wouldn't have. So your argument that there's a fixed number of £s to go round falls flat.
I agree, i go abroad to watch motogp, if CoW was up the road i'd go there to spend my money rather than give it to the french/spanish etc. I may be biased but the tracks i've been to in the uk are run down and facilities are shocking. Why would you come from abroad to watch racing? I know someone will put figures up regarding oversea sales. Austria is already sold out, is silverstone?
Wales has got no sort of profile. Nothing like Scotland. Nothing ever seems to happen there and it is invisible to tourists. The COW is a chance to change this. If it gets world class racing events, the PR will be enormous. Most of Wales seems to be on benefits. The place needs a shot in the arm and the COW can provide this. Think back: The Olympic Stadium has been sold off to West Ham at a fraction of what it cost, so the British taxpayer is stumping up - for more South East investment. It's about bloody time that Wales got some cash. It really is the forgotten part of the UK and it's high time that changed. What F1 circuits are there in Britain? Silverstone. That's it. And is it an iconic track on the world calendar? Hardly. The COW could provide a track that Britain could be truly proud of. Silverstone is hardly a deprived area. And the gov't is already spending on people on the dole, so rechannelling some of those funds into a "white elephant" (like the Millennium Dome, or O2, then) - well, why not? I'm all in favour. All power to the Welsh elbow I say. I might even find a reason to visit the place.
Apart from the bit about "most of Wales" being on benefits, I agree wholeheartedly. If they WERE all on benefits the effing roads around here wouldn't be so clogged and I get some decent peg-down action!
Yeah, its not as bad as all that, there's a lot going on here and there's a lot of talent too, but you're right Wales has a bit of an image problem (as evidenced by the replies on this here thread). Venture up into the valleys though and it does become a bit like bandit country so a lot of positives can come from COW and I can't think of many places more deserving. BTW isn't Sport England (i.e. the tax payer) paying the rent for at least one of the English football clubs, amounting to quite a few millions? Its fine when it happens in England though, apparently.
No it hasn't. It has been rented to West Ham FC for an uncommercially low rent. This is controversial enough, but "sold off" is not correct.
Absolutely. I'm not very Welsh-like, quite arrogant and opinionated... and ambitious. Born in England see. That's pretty much the opposite of the typical Welsh self-deprecating character.
the activist in me would say that's years,decades, centuries of conditioning, the welsh cringe?. but i wont say that.
Fair enough. But it amounts to the same thing: the British taxpayer subsidises West Ham football club. It doesn't matter much. They'd be subsidising someone whatever, seeing as London doesn't need an Olympic Stadium when it already has Wembley. My point stands: if a London white elephant, why not a Welsh white elephant?
In the middle of nowhere. Just because you live there doesn't make it the centre of the universe, funnily enough.
