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Lone Wolf and the Silverstone conspiracy theory

I suppose it was all too good to be true. And if something looks like that it usually is. But having the British round of MotoGP back at Donington, one of the (if not the) best circuits in the country was such a mouth watering prospect that we all believed it would happen.

So what went wrong?

Those of us who find conspiracy more attractive than cock-ups, plotting more interesting than planning, argument more intellectually appealing than agreement, probably thought that this was all part of a cunning plan by Silverstone to regain the second biggest event on their calendar, aided and abetted by Dorna.

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After all hadn't the British Racing Drivers Club, under newly appointed tough-nut chairman John Grant, just fired circuit boss Richard Phillips for losing the MotoGP contract to the Circuit of Wales and then being beaten by Donington in the renta-circuit race. And having done that cosied up to the Welsh developers with a sweetheart deal reducing their upfront costs as they seduce investors and wrestle with planners.

The truth, dear readers, is more simple and therefore much less interesting. Silverstone put itself up for sale last year but could not find a buyer at the right price. So the BRDC authorised Grant and new CEO Patrick Allen to implement an austerity programme following the departure of the management team. It was a massive cost cutting exercise which has kept them extremely busy and with little time for hatching plots.

Add to that the view that Silverstone and Donington are run by gentlemanly chaps who, while competing fiercely, would not indulge in what might be termed 'ungentlemanly' activity, and they stepped in only when approached by Dorna because, suddenly, MotoGP 2015 didn't have a circuit. And that would not have pleased BT television, who paid a fortune for the rights, or the manufacturers who like a British MotoGP.

So what happened between Donington and the Circuit of Wales who are paying Dorna to stage it and for 2015, and almost certainly 2016, have to rent a circuit. While blaming each other,  both Christopher Tate of Donington and Michael Carrick of the CoW are privately remaining tightlipped, but it is, of course, all about money and when it should have been paid.

Donington were having to spend a lot to bring the circuit up to the required FIM standard, including a couple of million, or thereabouts, to resurface the track - a cost brought forward and made more expensive by a change of date for the event. Staged payments had been agreed but, they allege, not been paid. The CoW, not surprisingly, have a different view. While not contesting that money had not changed hands they argued they were not in breach of the contract and Donington had got their costings wrong.

So, you pays your money (or not) and you takes your choice.  Every motorsport enthusiast wishes the brave Welsh venture well both with their fund-raising efforts and a public enquiry beginning next month. And we thank Silverstone. But wouldn't Donington have been nice. We haven't heard the fat lady singing yet!

BLUE RINSE BIKERS

The saga of pensioners insurance and travel group Saga and their takeover of one-time BSB sponsor Bennetts insurance has taken on a new dimension. The fastest growing sector in motorcycling is, wait for it, women over 50!

A story in the Daily Mail, where else, under the headline "Rise of the Blue Rinse Bikers" quotes Karen Cole, director of the Motor Cycle Industry Association, as saying:"Of all over-50s gaining a license in 2013 nearly half were women ... up from 268 in 2012 to 2,588 in 2013."

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Women-only bike gangs are proliferating. One is called, would you believe it, 'Curvy Bikers.' No I won't go there. Another, again according to this most reliable of newspapers, is 'Hells Belles'  - invitation only; or 'Lippy Ladies', a Yorkshire group for ladies with attitude.

The star of the piece is 63 year old Christine Langton, a 'slim, blonde Harley Street practice  manager, mother of three and grandmother of eight' who, after passing her test in 2011 has 'ripped through' seven rather expensive bikes.

You couldn't make it up!

HELP FOR HEROES

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The healing properties of pure oxygen administered via a pressurised tank, otherwise known as a Hyperbaric Chamber, is well known to motorcycle racers some of whom may have had their lives saved by the unit at Nobles Hospital in Douglas IoM. Now the treatment is being used on severely injured soldiers.

Eight years ago Ben Parkinson, a paratrooper, received unbelievably severe head and chest injuries from a mine blast in Afghanistan including the loss of speech and both lower legs. He was 22. Only now can he walk and his mother credits the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy unit in Edinburgh describing it as pioneering.

It is good to know that this treatment, pioneered many years ago in the Isle of Man, is now proving invaluable in the recovery of more brave people.

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