166 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
166 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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motorsport
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formulaone
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4594471
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-----
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# Donington is the 'only lifeboat' for British Grand Prix, insists Simon
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Gillett
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## Simon Gillett launched an impassioned defence of his £100million Donington
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Park project on Wednesday and pointed out that it represented the "only
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lifeboat" available to save the British Grand Prix.
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By Tom Cary 9:12PM GMT 11 Feb 2009
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[Comments][1]
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Since it was announced last July that Donington had signed a 10-year contract
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to host the event, Gillett, the chairman and chief executive of DVLL, the
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company who lease the track, has been swamped by negativity.
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Recent scrutiny of the company's 2007 accounts revealed massive debts; the
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track's security firm, McKenzie Arnold, have left in a pay dispute; and there
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has also been speculation of a rift with Donington freeholder Tom Wheatcroft.
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But Gillett made a plausible defence on all fronts. "There are lots of rumours
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flying around," he admitted, "but first up we don't have a contract with
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McKenzie Arnold. We have simply decided to bring our security in-house based
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on a review we did in January.
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"Is there a debate over things? Yes, and that's unfortunate. But all
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outstanding payments have been made to them."
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Gillett did not deny that there had been discussions with the Wheatcroft
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family over the best use of available funds, which included the issue of land
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rent, but said there was no outstanding writ for unpaid rent and insisted they
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were "working together to make things go forward".
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On the subject of the company's poor financial figures, Gillett blamed
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"accounting treatment" for the way they looked. "We're being told that we have
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a debt of £66 million, but that is an accounting treatment of a 150-year lease
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being depreciated into capital asset," he said. "You can take things in
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different ways depending on how you want to spin the figures. Financially
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we're in rude health.
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"Is this the best time to be raising money? No it isn't. Are we on the brink
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of ruin? Absolutely not."
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Gillett intends to raise the £100 million needed for the redevelopment via a
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debenture scheme similar to that employed at Wembley, details of which he will
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announce at the end of next month.
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Money is also due to be raised by the sale of 20 houses, to be built where the
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current Craner Curves suites are sited, with each property likely to cost
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around £2 million.
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They will have their own pit lane into and out of the development, and owners
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will be able to take their cars on to the track at given times, safely stored
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in a basement garage. "They are a boy's toy - and while they're not cheap, as
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value for money they are good," Gillett said.
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So if everything is so rosy, why all the scepticism? "I'm not of the
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establishment and I'm not courting the team principals," he said. "If you cut
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me open I don't ooze petrol. Instead, I ooze business - I think that's frowned
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upon a little."
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Gillett was speaking at a media event at which guests could drive around the
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new-look Donington circuit on a Williams F1 simulator. It is worth noting that
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he posted the second fastest time of the day and never once left the track.
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Maybe the British Grand Prix does have a future after all.
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[What are these?][3]
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* Share: [Share][2] [ ][4] [ ][5]
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[Tweet][6]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/4594471/Donington-is-
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the-only-lifeboat-for-British-Grand-Prix-insists-Simon-Gillett.html
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Telegraph
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## [Formula One][7]
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* ### [Sport »][8]
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* ### [Motorsport »][9]
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* ### [Motoring »][10]
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External Links
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* ### [FIA][11]
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* ### [Donington Park][12]
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In sport
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[![][13] ][14]
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### [Red Bull rule in Turkey][14]
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[![Formula One 2011: drivers' and constructors' world championships standings
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- Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton][15] ][16]
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### [F1 2011: standings][16]
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[![][17] ][18]
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### [F1 2011: full race schedule][18]
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[What are these?][3]
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Share:
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* [ ][2]
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* [ ][4]
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* [ ][5]
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* [Tweet][6]
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* FORMULA ONE ACTION PHOTOS
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Advertisement
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![][19]
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