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Lone Wolf and the problem of the British Grand Prix

NO BRITISH MOTOGP?

The prospect of Britain not staging MotoGP next year is becoming a distinct possibility. No contract, as far as we know, has been signed with Silverstone and The Circuit of Wales seems to have taken on all the characteristics of one of those rainbows, a familiar site in that part of the UK.

The British Racing Drivers Club have sold the land surrounding Silverstone to pay off their debts - £32m. A property company MEPC has acquired a 999 year lease (that's forever to you and me) and intends to develop it into a business park focusing on motor sport. But they have failed to sell the circuit, owned by their subsidiary Silverstone Circuits Ltd.

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It was their second attempt, the first being to the Quatar Investment Authority. This time they were in negotiation with Lloyds Development Capital but after an extraordinary length of time it fell apart. They are not saying what happened but it might not be unconnected with the departure of the boss of LDC, a well known petrol head. It might also, of course, because they eventually realised that they couldn't make any money!

The BRDC have issued a statement claiming, rather bravely, that despite all this the show will go on. Adding that the future of the circuit, and the British Grand Prix, has been safeguarded. Cynics would be entitled to ask why, if things are so hunky dory, did they wish to sell it in the first place?

But missing from the announcement is any mention of MotoGP. Owners Dorna must know by now that it is Silverstone or nothing for 2015. Silverstone boss Richard Phillips would, of course, love to keep it - but not at €5m a year. He has got more than enough on his plate being tied in to Bernie Ecclestone for €20m plus.

I'M GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR!

What is it with World Superbikes? It looks like being the most hard fought championship series of the year; an international punch-up between riders from the UK, France, Italy and elsewhere (punch-up being the operative term in the case of Kawasaki); plus the support of all the manufacturers. And yet attendances and viewing figures, both tv and online, are abysmal.

Marc Marquez is going to walk MotoGP having won all six rounds so far (and probably seven tomorrow) and Shane Byrne is favourite to regain his British Superbike title with three victories out of four. And yet the interest in both those series far outstrips WSBK. It was 'spot the spectator time' at Sepang, perhaps not entirely unexpected, but the turnout at Donington was deeply disappointing. Long gone and lamented are the days of Carl Fogarty.

Mention of Foggy should perhaps ring a bell. In his own way, Foggy was a star. OK, a kind of anti-hero, but he had that indefinable appeal which made him more than just a winner. And Marquez, like Rossi, and to a degree Fogarty, has been sprinkled with that indefinable magic dust. Crowds will turn up just to see this wunderkind in a one-man race.

Although he hasn't won a single TT, Guy Martin is a star of the Foggy variety. Almost nothing to do with his 'hobby' of motorbike racing or his 'day job' fixing lorries. More a rather dotty Channel 4 series about speed records on wheels. Foggy had the eyes and he was a multi-world champion. Martin has a quirky personality behind a great television face. It all counts.

World Superbikes, great as the racing is, doesn't possess a star. Nobody about whom you might tell your grandchildren, 'I once saw him race'. And now it is owned as a second-string series by Dorna, there probably never will be. They want their star to be in MotoGP from which they will make their millions when it is sold.

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Nevertheless, won't it be great to have a world champion from the UK/Ireland again? And there is every chance that we will.

A ROLLER COASTER RIDE

No race in the world stirs the emotions so much as the TT. You either love it or hate it. Sometimes both, almost at the same time. Triumph and tragedy is writ large. The risks inherent in road racing have been discussed in this column more than once. Who could fail to ask themselves 'is it all worth it?' after reading the heart-wrenching appeal for the two lovely children of Karl Harris.

Nothing in life is safe. Things can only be made safer. And while acknowledging the obvious difficulties with road circuits, the question has to be asked: "Are organisers doing enough. Is there a deeper problem?"

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The TT lost its world status because the FIM didn't want riders to be coerced into going there to gain championship points. But they still go there, not the Rossis of this world of course, or even the Crutchlows. The latter lives on the Island, presumably because it is a tax haven, it. It could be the scenery or the climate, of course, but let's assume not. It's the money.

Most TT riders, almost all, do not go for the money. In fact it costs them. They want to be there. But a few will. They will be 'names' and their appearance/expenses money plus prize money and sponsorship etc. will earn some of them a tidy sum. Often supporting their non-earning activities on British short circuits. Is there a risk they may try just a bit too hard to get that prize money (circa £300,000)?

Could more be done to prevent or cushion riders when they hit solid objects? The telegraph poles are padded. But does that make much difference? The concussive effect of a punch is said to be much the same whether the fist is clad in a boxing glove or not (witness the one punch demolition of George Groves by Carl Froch).

After 60 years visiting the TT as both spectator and rider, Mick Chatterton remains as enthusiastic as ever. And as a former President of the TT Riders Association so he should. But he believes more could, and should, be done. Boarding up gateways on sections like Bray Hill so that riders bounce off, rather than hitting, the gate posts is one of his ideas. And there are more.

Grown up people have to be left to make their own decisions. But occasionally we have to be protected from ourselves.

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