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SILVERSTONE: Formula One chiefs announced at the British Grand Prix
weekend at the beginning of July that the F1 race here will move to
Donington Park from 2010 onwards in a 10-year deal. The announcement
from F1’s governing body, the FIA, signals the end of
Silverstone’s grip on one of the most prestigious Grands Prix on
the calendar.
The Silverstone circuit, which had first hosted
F1 racing in 1948 and every year since 1987, lost its place on the
F1 calendar after F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone cited a lack of
investment in facilities as the reason.
“Finally, the uncertainty is over. A contract
has been signed with Donington Park and the future of the British
Grand Prix is now secure,” Ecclestone said.
“We wanted a world-class venue for Formula One
in Britain, something that the teams and British F1 fans could be
proud of. The major development plans for Donington will give us
exactly that. A venue that will put British motor sport back on the
map,” he added.
The news come as a bitter blow for
Silverstone’s owners, the British Racing Driver’s Club, who had
fought desperately to keep the race.
Donington Park have some F1 history as it hosted
the 1993 European Grand Prix won by the legendary Brazilian driver
Ayrton Senna. It will become the fifth home of the British GP which
has also been held at Brooklands, Aintree and Brands Hatch.
-- AFP
. . . While Australia gets to host twilight
Grand Prix until 2015
MELBOURNE: Australia has secured the rights to
host the F1 GP in Melbourne until 2015, with a new twilight start to
reach a greater television audience overseas, officials said on July
4.
“Next year’s later start time will mean even
greater television audiences in the United Kingdom, Asia and
European markets, which means more exposure for Melbourne than ever
before,” Victorian Premier John Brumby said in a statement.
-- AFP
FIA head Mosley denies sex scandal was ‘sick
Nazi orgy’
LONDON: Max Mosley’s sadomasochistic session
with five women contained “not even a hint” of Nazi behavior, he
told a court here on July 7, as he launched a breach of privacy
action. Kicking off his case against News Group Newspapers in the
High Court, the 68-year-old said he could think of “few things
more unerotic than Nazi role-play.”
Mosley, the president of F1’s governing body
the International Automobile Federation (FIA), does not deny that
the events took place but strongly contests the description that it
was a “sick Nazi orgy.” The News of the World, Britain’s
biggest-selling newspaper, ran the story in March with photos and
film clips on its website.
The FIA chief is the son of Sir Oswald Mosley,
the founder of the 1930s British Union of Fascists.
News Group Newspapers is strongly contesting the
action, which includes an unprecedented claim in a privacy case for
exemplary or punitive damages as well as compensatory damages, and
was to argue that publication was justified in the public interest.
Mosley has fought off attempts to have him removed as the FIA head
in the wake of the scandal.
-- AFP
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