Future of Silverstone hangs in the balance as bidders pull out of deal
The future of Northamptonshire racetrack Silverstone is hanging in the balance after reports say that two potential buyers have backed out of talks.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and entrepreneur Laurence Tomlinson, who owns the Ginetta car company, have walked away from deals to buy the home of British motor racing from Silverstone’s owner, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC).
JLR is reported to have pulled out of talks in August after is came to light that Porsche could block rival manufacturers from using the track for more than 45 days a year. The firm is said to have given up on the talks altogether last Friday.
Tomlinson walked away because he had reportedly extended his offer several times and his ultimatum was that a deal had to be done by 31 October if he was to take over the track by the end of the year.
The news leaves the only remaining bidder as Jonathan Palmer, owner of the Brands Hatch circuit.
These developments comes after Silverstone chairman, John Grant, in October sent a letter to shareholders saying that the track will make a loss because “ticket revenues were well down compared with last year’s strong performance.”
The letter continued: “With an ever-increasing hosting fee, this means that the Grand Prix’s contribution to profit will be less than last year, so that we now expect to make a loss for the year and miss the year-two target of [our] three-year plan.”
Around 139,000 supporters saw Lewis Hamilton race to victory in the British Grand Prix this year, but this was offset by reduced ticket prices, which started at £99.
Silverstone’s chances of turning its financial year around look slim, say reports, as the British Grand Prix accounts for half of its parent company’s £54.7m annual revenue.
Silverstone is owned by the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), a group of 850 shareholders which includes former champions Sir Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell. In the five years to 2015, BRDC made losses of £55.9m.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has in the past threatened to pull the Silverstone race from the calendar, saying there is a clause in his contract which will allow him to drop it with immediate effect.
