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Evening gents

Does any one know whats the latest news, just been on Cadwell Parks calender and they have 2 super bike meetings this year cos of donnington parks problems.Will this effect the thoughbreds, cscc, historics etc who use the curcuit annually ?

 

Alan

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Dear or dear .... what on earth has politics to do with the shambles that is Donington Park ?

 

The person to blame is Simon Gillett, who seems to have conned Bernie into giving him a contract for the British GP, started digging, rapidly ran out of money (he didn't have much ....) and left Donington looking like a moonscape. As far as I can see, there has been absolutely no remorse.

 

The tragedy of all this is that Gillett's company has gone broke, so if Donington is ever to be repaired/restored it will have to be by the unfortunate Wheatcroft family, which owns the freehold.

 

GRAHAM ROBSON

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Dear or dear .... what on earth has politics to do with the shambles that is Donington Park ?

 

The person to blame is Simon Gillett, who seems to have conned Bernie into giving him a contract for the British GP, started digging, rapidly ran out of money (he didn't have much ....) and left Donington looking like a moonscape. As far as I can see, there has been absolutely no remorse.

 

The tragedy of all this is that Gillett's company has gone broke, so if Donington is ever to be repaired/restored it will have to be by the unfortunate Wheatcroft family, which owns the freehold.

 

GRAHAM ROBSON

 

 

Alas it is called greed Graham :( but do you not think it was inevitable from the outset, as you say it looks a total mess now and hopefully someone will bring this circuit back to life

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"Dear or dear .... what on earth has politics to do with the shambles that is Donington Park ?"

 

Quite a lot, I'd suggest, given the past involvements of the main players in this farrago.

 

It's all very well blaming Simon Gillett, but perhaps Paul White and Bernie Ecclestone might in due course be regarded by the administrators as bearing at least some degree of responsibility ?

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

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"Dear or dear .... what on earth has politics to do with the shambles that is Donington Park ?"

 

Quite a lot, I'd suggest, given the past involvements of the main players in this farrago.

 

It's all very well blaming Simon Gillett, but perhaps Paul White and Bernie Ecclestone might in due course be regarded by the administrators as bearing at least some degree of responsibility ?

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

 

 

Only a small part maybe but I doubt it

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I suspect both sides are equally to blame, but it would never have got this far if it were not for Bernie's dislike (perhaps even contempt) for Silverstone as a circuit/venue and the BRDC in particular. It's a tragedy that an excellent venue for club racing, and especially bikes, has been unnecessarily ruined and may never be fully restored to use. I can't say I like all of the changes made to Silverstone over recent years, many of them needed to provide better viewing and facilities for spectators, but primarily for the benefit of the F1 circus and much of the original character had been lost in the process.

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I think everyone is agreed that it is a travesty what has happened to Donington.

Who knows what will become of it now.

We can only hope that the Wheatcroft family, obviously now without the powerhouse patrician Tom, have both the desire and financial wherewithall to restore it to it's previous condition and regain a track licence.

 

We should all kneel beside the bed and pray tonight.

 

Dave McDonald

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One could write off conspiracy theories - Eccleston induces Gillet to make the bid, to pressure Silverstone and get them geed up to agree to whatever Eccleston eventually concedes etc. etc - if it were not for the same scenario ten years ago with Brands. Eccleston disdains Silverstone, sells contract to Brands. Did he know that planning permission would be impossible? Nicola Foulston did know and beat him at his own game, selling the complex to Octagon for £120 million before anyone else realised and disappering off to enjoy the rest of her life.

 

Could this dirty game be played again? Which circuit is next for the F1 shell game?

 

John

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OK, I now have a follow-up, which might just affect the Triumph fraternity.

 

Donington Park is now a wasteland, and will cost millions to restore.

 

Let us unhappily assume that this might never happen, or - worse - that it can be done but will need mega-bucks financing to maintain ....

 

This almost certainly means that one-make clubs will no longer be able to afford to hold events there. Worse, if this means that there is one less venue in the UK, then other venues might now charge more money for a visit to them .....

 

Doesn't look promising, does it ?. If I make little effigies of Gillett, for people to stick pins in, will it help ?

 

GRAHAM ROBSON

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"Donington Park is now a wasteland, and will cost millions to restore."

 

Perhaps it's time for the motor sporting fraternity to get stuck-in then ?

 

If 10,000 blokes turned up for the weekend, with shovels and wheelbarrows . . .and put in a 12-hour day Saturday, followed by an 8 hour day Sunday, that's 200,000 man hours. Five summer weekends and that's a million man hours. One million man hours ought to be able to shovel enough dirt to be visible from the moon. They didn't need JCBs to build the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China.

 

That's not an original idea, by the way, it came from Tom Wheatcroft himself back in the early 70s - when he was trying to finance the development of Donington circuit. The reward for the participants being to see the circuit brought back to life, and a season ticket for the first year. In the event the exercise proved unnecessary. Maybe it's time to revive the principle ?

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

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"Donington Park is now a wasteland, and will cost millions to restore."

.

.

.

If 10,000 blokes turned up for the weekend, with shovels and wheelbarrows . . .

 

Just how much is actually affected? We were there in September and there was a lot of activity on the in-field area, but track, paddock and external viewing areas were untouched then. Doubtless, since the season has ended, the JCBs have run amok?

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.

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Mass manual labour would appear to work if the Brooklands video we have just been watching is anything to go by. Sadly, most of us are no longer up to hard physical work, but we could get in a few more Eastern Europeans and have the job done in good time at minimal cost. wink.gif

[Actually, there are probably enough of them here now and since the farm work is slack they are probably already available].

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Alan w c

Your personal problems are a matter for you and your family to be aware of.

 

With regard to Donington, I really don't know exactly what is required to put it back into a useable condition. The last pictures that I saw had trenches dug across the track in several areas and massive infield earthworks ongoing. Whether they were completed or not I don't know.

The new access tunnel into the centre, meant to lead to the new pits complex which simply won't be built, was finished I believe. Unfortunately it will have little purpose in the existing scheme of things.

I'm afraid you would need an awful lot of voluntary weekend workers to rectify what just one mechanised earthworks team can accomplish in just one day.

 

Has anyone seen any Press info about what may or may not be happening?

 

Dave McDonald

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I've just had a look at the circuit on Google Earth, and it looks as though there is an event on, judging by how full the car park is!!!

 

I assumed that Google Earth was close to "real time" but this was obviously taken some months ago!

 

Regards

 

Peter

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It's only in the last couple of weeks that Google Earth has updated my home from 1999 to 2009 . . . . I can date it by the garage evolution and which cars are parked where !!

 

As for Donington, the administrators are making encouraging whispers through the grapevine about a possible deal to save the circuit, but whether that is any more than estate agents' proverbial optimism remains to be seen. There are other suggestions about the possibility of housing development - to fulfil the county's quota for new development as desired by Whitehall. Your guess is as good as mine. The bigger the stakes, the bigger the lies. That's politics.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

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There are other suggestions about the possibility of housing development - to fulfil the county's quota for new development as desired by Whitehall. Your guess is as good as mine. The bigger the stakes, the bigger the lies. That's politics.

 

 

Don't worry Alec, Donington is much too far North for this Government to be interested. There are still a few blades of grass and a tree or two in the South which haven't been concreted over or turned into a Gipsy & Traveller site yet.sad.gifmad.gif

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Alan w c

Your personal problems are a matter for you and your family to be aware of.

 

With regard to Donington, I really don't know exactly what is required to put it back into a useable condition. The last pictures that I saw had trenches dug across the track in several areas and massive infield earthworks ongoing. Whether they were completed or not I don't know.

The new access tunnel into the centre, meant to lead to the new pits complex which simply won't be built, was finished I believe. Unfortunately it will have little purpose in the existing scheme of things.

I'm afraid you would need an awful lot of voluntary weekend workers to rectify what just one mechanised earthworks team can accomplish in just one day.

 

Has anyone seen any Press info about what may or may not be happening?

 

Dave McDonald

 

 

Dave

I would guess the administrators will take 12/18 month's to sort it and then of course the probate could come into it :(

Edited by ntc
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Evening Gents

 

A quick update, I have just found 30+ pictures of the army training ground formally known to us all as Donnington park, they are on the TSSC forum sight in there general section and where posted in october by Cris Aclam ( forum Moderater ). Not a prity sight and not a quick fix by the look of it.

 

So sad

 

Alan

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Alan,

Where in the TSSC site, please?

Please post a link?

 

There are several threads about Donington on the Ten Tenths MsB:

http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119531&highlight=Donington&page=12

http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119044&highlight=Donington&page=13

 

John

Edited by john.r.davies
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john

 

Go to the thoughbreeds site. Look on the righthand side of home page, click on forum, log in and go to the forum listing (top left).Next go to the race section and scrool down until you see the first mention of donnington, its there.

 

Alan

 

Or pm your phone number and ill talk you through it.

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may be all is not lost then as the track has not been damaged to much,but who will repair it? then there is the problem of runoff areas and getting its certificate from the msa, this dose look trickey

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Interesting to see that Truck racing is there in September

 

Now thats entertaining to watch. Whilst they are there they can shift some of the earth as well :P;)

Stuart

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